Flux Calculations for Open and Closed Cylinders?

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The discussion revolves around the interpretation of a problem involving flux calculations for open and closed cylinders. The first part requires calculating the flux through a closed cylinder, which includes its top and bottom disks. The second part focuses on the flux through only the curved surface of an open cylinder, leading to questions about the wording of the problem. Participants clarify that "open" and "closed" refer to the inclusion of the cylinder's caps, highlighting the topological distinctions. The consensus is that the terminology may be misleading, but the mathematical implications are clear.
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I have a quick question about the wording of a problem I have. It's in two parts.

The first part asks me to find the flux of a given vector field through the closed cylinder of given dimensions. That's fine, no problem.

The second part then asks me to find the flux of the same field through the curved sides of the open cylinder in the previous part.


Is this just poor wording, or is there actually a difference that I am not seeing?

Thanks for your help!
 
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I'm guessing the closed one has caps on it (ie, it includes the disk at each end of the cylinder) and the open one one doesn't. "Open" and "closed" have precise topological meanings, but no surface can be open in R^3, so this can't be what they mean.
 

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