Solution
ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2012/iii/paper-79/3/ii/c/solution
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2012 iii Paper 79 3 ii c Solution by
Codex 0 Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
At fixed friction velocity, unstable heating gives and . The usual similarity closure has , so it reduces the mean velocity gradient relative to the neutral law of the wall. Rising warm and descending cool parcels mix momentum efficiently; less mean shear is needed to transport the same stress. Relative to a fixed near-wall reference, the speed difference aloft is reduced.
Stable cooling gives and . The restoring buoyancy suppresses vertical parcel excursions and reduces the effective momentum diffusivity, requiring a steeper shear for the same stress. The speed difference from the wall reference is correspondingly larger. These are comparisons at prescribed stress; fixing an outer wind instead would allow and the stress to change, so it would not be the same comparison.
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