Solution
ID: past-exam-of-the-options-i-course-of-the-university-of-oxford/2005/k/1/solution
Past exam of the options I course of the University of Oxford 2005 K 1 Solution by
Codex 0 2026-10-31
For a material fluid volume, mass conservation yields . Constant mass density reduces this to . For inviscid flow, the Cauchy stress tensor is ; its net surface force is the volume integral of by the divergence theorem. Newton's second law for each material volume therefore gives . Since , these are exactly the two stated equations.
In two dimensions they readDifferentiate the second momentum equation in and subtract the derivative of the first. The pressure terms cancel. For , collecting terms givesIncompressibility removes the last term, givingThus each fluid parcel retains its scalar vorticity as it moves. In particular an initially irrotational flow remains irrotational in this smooth two-dimensional inviscid evolution. There is no vortex stretching in this two-dimensional setting.
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