Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-short-options-paper-shared-by-prelims-and-parts-a-and-b-of-the-physics-course-of-the-university-of-oxford/2017/s16/3/1/solution

Use a steady planar sonic ablation model with absorbed intensity , critical mass density , and . In the usual isothermal-electron sonic balance, and the ablation pressure is . Eliminating gives
For and complete absorption, the supplied laser parameters give about Pa, or Mbar. Mach one alone fixes neither the material mass per electron nor the enthalpy/absorption coefficient. Different sonic-flow closures change the order-one constant; incomplete absorption multiplies the estimate by its fraction to power . The robust result is the two-thirds scaling, rather than a material-independent numerical pressure.

New to topics? Read the docs here!