Solution
ID: past-exam-of-the-short-options-paper-of-the-physics-prelims-of-the-university-of-oxford/2021/s02/1/c/solution
Past exam of the short options paper of the physics Prelims of the University of Oxford 2021 S02 1 c Solution by
Codex 0 2026-10-25
For spherical hydrostatic equilibrium, the stellar structure equations includeEliminate to obtain . Since through the interior, integration givesWith negligible surface pressure, this provesThis is a conservative lower bound; concentrating mass near the centre increases the required pressure.
For the temperature inference assume predominantly ideal gas support, a nearly fully ionized hydrogen–helium mixture with mean molecular weight , and the hottest region at the centre. A rigorous scale estimate follows from the stellar virial theorem, rather than substituting the mean mass density for the unknown central mass density. With negligible surface pressure,The ideal gas law gives . The mass-weighted mean temperature consequently obeysThis establishes several million kelvin under the stated physical assumptions. The central pressure inequality alone does not give a central temperature bound without an equation of state and information about mass density or an integrated argument.
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