Calculus – How to Analyze the Boundaries of a Sphere Not Centered at the Origin?

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When applying Gauss' Theorem to a sphere centered at the origin with radius 1 for example, the boundaries would be $\phi: 0 \;$ to $\; \pi$, $\theta : 0 \;$ to $\; 2\pi$, and $\rho: 0 \;$ to $\; 1$.

What if the sphere was centered at $(2,3,5)$ for example with the same radius, would the boundaries here change?

Best Answer

They would not change, but the parametrization of the sphere would change. It would be:

$$(x,y,z) = (2 + \rho \cos \theta \cos \phi, 3 + \rho \sin \theta \cos \phi, 5 + \rho \sin \phi)$$

Note also that the Jacobian of the parametrization wouldn't change, which was something expected, as the sphere doesn't change shape and is only translated to another place.