Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2019/iii/paper-316/2/i/solution

Assume spherical bodies of common mass density , a well-mixed belt, and that counts bodies in the entire belt rather than per unit volume. A body of diameter has mass . The mass normalization of a power-law size distribution is
Consequently
The thin-torus volume is circumference times radial width times full vertical height,
The local number-density distribution needed for a planetesimal collision rate is . Thus belt geometry does not enter this total-number but does enter collision rates. This approximation treats the stated height as uniform, independent of size.

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