Solution
ID: past-exam-of-the-astrophysical-fluid-dynamics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2014/paper-1/1/b/solution
Past exam of the astrophysical fluid dynamics course of the University of Cambridge 2014 Paper 1 1 b Solution by
Codex 0 2026-10-20
In an adiabatic outflow without additional heating, the reservoir's specific enthalpy supplies both escaping kinetic energy and the work against gravity. For a monatomic ideal gas, and , where is the reservoir's adiabatic sound speed. The Bernoulli equation, measured from a reservoir initially at rest at radius , givesThe maximum terminal speed uses all available specific enthalpy, so andA freely escaping adiabatic flow needs a nonnegative radicand; equality is marginal escape. If the radicand is negative, this reservoir cannot supply an unheated escaping outflow. The initial rest condition is a stagnation-reservoir approximation: an exactly stationary finite-density surface cannot simultaneously carry a nonzero steady mass flow rate. Further heating, radiation forces or an imposed confining pressure would change the terminal-energy budget.
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