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Problems Lecture 3 & 4 2013

This document contains 4 problems related to hydrostatic equilibrium of stars. [1] It asks to calculate gravitational potential energy and internal pressure for stars with constant and non-constant density, and how pressure depends on distance from the center. [2] For a star of constant density, it asks to find the pressure at the core. [3] For a hypothetical star of ionized hydrogen at constant temperature, it asks to derive equations for mass within a radius and density as a power law function of radius. [4] It asks to show that a function decreases with radius, use this to derive an inequality for central pressure, and estimate pressure at the Sun's center using its average density

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Punit Dagur
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54 views

Problems Lecture 3 & 4 2013

This document contains 4 problems related to hydrostatic equilibrium of stars. [1] It asks to calculate gravitational potential energy and internal pressure for stars with constant and non-constant density, and how pressure depends on distance from the center. [2] For a star of constant density, it asks to find the pressure at the core. [3] For a hypothetical star of ionized hydrogen at constant temperature, it asks to derive equations for mass within a radius and density as a power law function of radius. [4] It asks to show that a function decreases with radius, use this to derive an inequality for central pressure, and estimate pressure at the Sun's center using its average density

Uploaded by

Punit Dagur
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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ASTROPHYSICS- 2013-14

Problems: Lecture 3 & 4: Hydrostatic Equilibrium

1. Consider a sphere of mass M and radius R. Calculate the gravitational potential energy of the sphere assuming (a) a density which is independent of the distance from the center and (b) a density which increases towards the center according to (r) = c 1 r R

In both cases (a) and (b), also write down the average internal pressure needed for hydrostatic equilibrium and determine how the pressure within the sphere depends on the distance from the center.

2. Assume that a star of mass M and radius R has a constant density. Find the pressure at the core. For the Sun, compute the value of the central pressure and compare it with the known value of 2 1011 N m2 .

3. Consider a hypothetical spherical star described by the ideal gas equation of state. Throughout this star, the temperature is constant with T = T0 , and the star consists of only fully ionized hydrogen. Note that for fully ionized gas, pressure is contributed not only by ions but also by electrons. a) Write down the equation of hydrostatic equilibrium for this star. And derive an expression for the mass M (r) contained within radius r. b)Apply the proper equation(s) to derive a second-order dierential equation that involves the density , radius, T0 and other physical constants. c)Find a power-law solution ( = Arn ) to the above dierential equation. i.e., nd the values of A and n. Is the mass nite for our hypothetical star?

4. A star with mass M and radius R is in hydrostatic equilibrium. Show that the function P (r) + GM 2 (r) 8r4

decreases with increasing r. Using this fact, show that the central pressure Pc satises 1 Pc > 6 4 3
1/3

G( )4/3 M 2/3

where is the average density of the star. Given that the average density of the Sun is 1400 kg m3 , estimate the pressure at the center of the Sun.

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