Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2017 iii Paper 329 3 c Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Put the fixed outer centre at the origin, and let the moving inner centre be . This reverses the sign of the vertical offset used in the previous parts: now . At concentricity rotation produces no force and translation has isotropic resistance . Balancing the external load givesThere is no inertial acceleration in this Stokes flow model; velocity is determined instantaneously by force balance.
For the subsequent motion, the full-film journal bearing assumption matters: pressure is single-valued around the whole annulus, with no specified cavitation boundary. Let , , , and be its radial and tangential unit vectors. The squeeze resistance of an eccentric journal bearing has radial and tangential coefficientsFor completeness, rotate coordinates until points along , so . Radial translation gives squeezing flux and resistance proportional to . Tangential translation gives ; the constant enforces periodic pressure. Its resistance usesThese expressions supply both translation directions; retaining only the vertical squeezing formula would miss the moving axle's horizontal dynamics.
The rotational fluid force from the earlier calculation points along , with magnitude . Superposing rotation and translation by Linearity of Stokes flow, and resolving the load, givesFor positive the axle initially moves down, then to the right because the rotation-generated force is perpendicular to the downward eccentricity. The equilibrium is displaced horizontally to the right, at the same height as the outer axis. Its eccentricity is the unique solutionThe rotational force then points upwards and balances the load. For negative the displacement is to the left, using in the magnitude equation. Uniqueness follows because the logarithmic derivative of has positive numerator after a common positive denominator. If and , no separated static equilibrium exists in this ideal model. If , concentricity remains a solution.
One should not assert that this full-film model necessarily settles to the equilibrium. It predicts full-film journal-bearing whirl. For , eliminate time from the two boxed evolution equations and put . The orbit starting at concentricity obeysso, with its zero initial horizontal displacement,The orbit begins on the lower branch, turns at before contact, and returns along the upper branch, forming a closed orbit through concentricity. The ratio of the right-hand side to increases from zero to infinity, giving a unique turning eccentricity below one. Linearizing at equilibrium likewise gives and with : the eigenvalues are imaginary, not damped. Thus the equilibrium position exists, but the initially concentric axle circulates around it in the stated ideal full-film approximation. Cavitation or additional mechanical constraints would change the model; none were specified.
The normalized centre trajectory below illustrates the full-film prediction for . The dashed circle is the contact locus of the axle centre, not either cylinder wall.
Journal-bearing geometry and whirl
. Details. Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2017 iii Paper 342 1 a Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
Take positive downwards and write for the filament bending modulus. Under the material-modulus interpretation of the printed as Young's modulus, the circular cross-section gives the second moment of area and bending modulusIndeed a small curvature gives axial strain , so integrating over the section gives bending energy per unit length. Keeping this distinction is essential to the powers of radius in the answer.
After allowing for buoyancy, the effective downward force per unit length isThe filament loses potential energy as it moves down; the displaced fluid's hydrostatic contribution is included through the density difference. For an inextensible filament with arc-length coordinate , the geometric bending and gravitational energy is , up to a constant. For the small-slope Monge representation this reduces toThe upward-positive convention reverses the sign of and the gravitational term together. There is no stretching contribution at this order when bending a slender filament without imposed axial tension. The wording does not explicitly distinguish a material elastic modulus from a flexural modulus: if instead denotes the filament bending modulus in the intended convention, set throughout; then the factor is already included in .
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2017 iii Paper 342 1 b Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
Use the downward-positive displacement and the filament bending modulus and load density defined above. Two applications of integration by parts give the first variationThus the elastic-plus-gravitational force density is . In resistive-force theory, transverse motion has drag per unit length . Neglecting filament and fluid inertia, instantaneous force balance gives the forced small-slope elastohydrodynamic filament equationClamping fixes position and tangent, while the free end has zero bending moment and zero transverse shear force. ThereforeThe last two conditions also follow as natural boundary conditions from the variation, since the free-end values of and are arbitrary. Distributed weight does not add a concentrated force or moment at the tip.
At steady state, . Integrating first from the free end gives and . Integrating twice more with the clamp conditions gives the uniform-load bending of a clamped filament:In particular the free-end displacement is and the total buoyancy-corrected gravitational load is . Thus the tip stiffness of a uniformly loaded cantilever isThe last expression uses as Young's modulus; if itself is flexural rigidity, the same result reads . This is Hooke's law for the specified loading pattern. It is not the stiffness for a point force at the tip, which would be ; replacing a distributed force by its resultant does not preserve its bending moment distribution.
For dimensional analysis, force/length squared, length to the fourth power, hence force times length squared. Consequently force/length, as required for a spring constant. Also force times time/length squared makes , and all forces per unit length. Neither viscosity nor density enters the stiffness, although viscous drag controls the rate of approach to the steady shape. The small-slope approximation requires , since .
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2017 iii Paper 345 3 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
Take the current to be dilute, vertically well mixed and Boussinesq approximation, with constant channel width , a horizontal absorbing bed, negligible ambient fluid entrainment, negligible bed friction, and no resuspension. The shallow-water approximation neglects vertical inertia and gives hydrostatic pressure. Particle loss alters reduced gravity but does not alter the leading-order carrier-fluid volume or inertia; otherwise additional mass and momentum terms would be necessary. The current occupies depth , has depth-uniform speed , and has particle volume fraction , with and constant .
Volume conservation of a short channel segment gives . Its suspended particle amount per unit bed area is , and the downward particle deposition flux is . Thus , which becomes on multiplying by .
At vertical coordinate above the bed, excess hydrostatic pressure divided by reference mass density is . Integrating across the depth gives the depth-integrated force flux . The horizontal momentum per unit bed area is and the advected kinematic momentum flux is . The resulting variable-buoyancy shallow water equations areThe derivative of the pressure term acts on both and ; treating reduced gravity as horizontally constant while particles settle would lose part of the force.
For a steady interior, let denote volume flux per unit width. Then the particle balance is a first-order linear differential equation,Here , is constant, and deposited particles are not returned to the current. In particular the decay length is for , and the cancellation of depth follows from : dilution and transit time compensate in the deposition balance.
The steady momentum equation also givesThe inlet depth selects . Depth and speed at every downstream position are determined by the continuous positive root of a polynomial inThis implicit expression also makes clear why the inlet condition is needed: there are generally two possible positive depths.
The depth branches of a steady depositing gravity current are distinguished by the Froude number . Differentiating the momentum invariant, and using the exponential decay of reduced gravity, givesFor , supercritical flow has and decreasing depth, with and as . Subcritical flow has and increasing depth, with . This indefinitely deepening branch eventually violates the assumed shallow or confined-channel geometry. Hence the depth does not universally decrease: that conclusion needs a supercritical inlet.
For fixed , has its unique minimum at , with . The two positive roots when lie below and above . Since decreases downstream while is constant, an initially strict branch remains separate from the other branch and cannot cross a critical point. A critical inlet with has no finite depth derivative: at the first differentiated equation would equate zero to a positive value. It requires a singular entrance adjustment or physics beyond this steady model. If , both reduced gravity and the continuous depth branch are constant. These steady solutions describe the supplied current interior, not a moving finite-release front.
For two particle populations, write and , allowing different constant particle-density conversion factors. The bidisperse particle-laden gravity current equations areFor the steady case,Thus the depth is obtained from the same cubic polynomial invariant with the sum of the two exponentially decreasing reduced gravity contributions.
The local deposit consists of the two particle deposition fluxes and . For a positive total deposition rate, the bidisperse gravity-current deposition fraction by particle volume isIf the particles have a common material density, this is also their local mass fraction. If they have common , it can be written in the source's buoyancy notation asFor unequal replace each by . The exponent sign matters: with both populations present and , the faster-settling population has decreasing local deposit fraction downstream, since . Equal positive settling speeds give a constant fraction. A nonsettling population contributes no deposit; if the entire local deposition rate is zero the deposit fraction is undefined.
If “fraction of particles” means number fraction rather than particle-volume or mass fraction, let be a single particle's volume in population . The correct weights are then , soSettling speeds alone do not determine without particle properties and a drag law. Finally, if the intended deposit is cumulative over the bed from to , rather than local at , integrating particle deposition flux gives the species volumes per unit channel width . The cumulative particle-volume fraction isFor both , its limit at infinity is the incoming particle-volume fraction, whereas its limit as is the local deposition fraction at the inlet. Local sorting and the cumulative inventory are different observables.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2017 ii Paper 3 35D Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-05
The Maxwell equations with vacuum permittivity and permeability give and . The current identity is the Ampère-Maxwell equation, and Faraday's law gives . With ,The identity , and its electric analogue, turn this into the divergence of the Maxwell stress tensor . Thus the tensor in the question is its negative:The vector is electromagnetic momentum density, and is the outward flux of its th component across a surface normal in the direction. In static conditions the total force on matter is ; generally subtract the time derivative of the enclosed electromagnetic field momentum as well.
For the two infinite sheets, superposition and the electromagnetic field jumps give , between them and zero outside. Substitution yields exactlyA thin pillbox enclosing the sheet has only its face in the interior electromagnetic field. ThereforeDirectly, omit the sheet's self-electromagnetic field: the other sheet supplies and . The Lorentz force per area is , giving the same result. The electric contribution is attractive and the magnetic contribution repulsive.
If for a single moving charge population, use to obtain . For physical this is attractive, so motion of these charges cannot make the force repulsive. Independently imposed currents need not satisfy that restriction on .
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2018 iii Paper 345 1 b Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-05
At the change in buoyancy frequency, continuity of vertical velocity and fluid pressure givesThe background mass density is continuous, so there is no interfacial density jump or separate surface restoring force. Since , these internal-wave transmission across a stratification step conditions are continuity of and . The buoyancy perturbation need not be continuous, because the background density gradient jumps.
Let and . The lower unstratified layer obeys and the upper radiation condition givesPropagating these matching data downward givesThe kinematic boundary condition at the moving lower boundary therefore givesThe upper vertical-displacement complex amplitude at isIn particular, . The unstratified layer attenuates and phase-shifts the transmitted internal gravity wave. The matching height is in the original PDF; the TeX transcription's is a typo.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2018 iii Paper 345 3 b Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-05
For a neutrally buoyant horizontal turbulent round jet, a segment's horizontal momentum flux changes only if an external horizontal force or ambient momentum input exists. Neither is present, soPositive buoyancy adds a vertical force, not a horizontal one. Therefore remains true for an inclined forced plume even when ; in general .
The net upward force on a segment is . Since and , vertical momentum balance givesIn kinematic plume fluxes, the equations are , , where . The centreline geometry satisfiesFor , beyond the source, and an initially nonvertical turbulent round jet pointing right, increases and the centreline turns toward the vertical. The magnitude of momentum flux is not conserved once the tangent has a vertical component.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2018 iii Paper 345 4 a Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Let . A spherical grain has submerged weightNeglect lift and contact torque, and use a sliding static friction model with normal reaction . The inertial quadratic drag iswhere the last equality fixes the convention . Equivalently is the bed shear velocity and is an effective drag coefficient referred to it. A literal grain-level flow speed can differ from the shear velocity; that conversion must then be absorbed into .
Downstream sliding begins when . Defining the Shields parameter by , the threshold force balance isThe grain moves downstream above this threshold in the stated sliding model. Real grain motion can instead involve lift, rolling, irregular contacts, or viscous drag; the printed constant belongs to the particular inertial-drag convention and force balance above.
Grain force balances on horizontal and inclined beds
. Details. The normal contact force and resisting static friction balance the drag force and submerged weight at impending motion. The right panel uses locally bed-tangent drag force.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2019 ia Paper 4 11A a i Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-29
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2019 ia Paper 4 11A b Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-29
Write and . The constant electric force gives momentumCombining with the relativistic energy-momentum relation givesThe dimensional analysis from part (a) confirms that has the dimensions of momentum, so is dimensionless and the expression has the dimensions of velocity.
The speed increases monotonically from zero and approaches the speed of light asymptotically:Integrating in the direction of the field givesAt small times, the Taylor expansion of the square root gives the nonrelativistic limitwhich is motion from rest with the constant acceleration .
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2019 iii Paper 329 3 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-05
Reflection in preserves the prescribed translational velocity and axial angular velocity. A force transforms as a polar vector, whereas a torque transforms as an axial vector; consequently . Reflection in reverses both imposed motions but preserves the normal force component. The linearity of Stokes flow then gives . Thus only and can be nonzero.
There is a sign inconsistency in the printed question. In right-handed coordinates, gives a rotational velocity at the sphere's lowest point. The printed shear and force formulas instead use the opposite rotational sense. Below, let be the right-handed component along ; the paper's displayed formulas are recovered by setting .
In the translating frame, the parabolic gap and leading boundary velocities areThe no-slip boundary condition and lubrication theory giveThe gap is stationary in this frame, so . The Reynolds lubrication equation is thereforeSince and ,Differentiating the velocity profile gives the leading shear stressesThe first expression becomes the printed formula after .
For the logarithmic lubrication resistance of a sphere near a wall, write . The logarithmic region is , where . ConsequentlyThese follow from and , with a fixed small outer cutoff. The general logarithmic radial numerator is over ; the numerator in the printed integration hint appears to have a typographical error.
The force exerted on the fluid through the upper gap boundary includes pressure acting on its slope:The pressure cancels the term, givingPressure exerts no torque about the centre of a sphere because its traction is radial. To logarithmic order, the shear has lever arm , soThe other components vanish by parity: involves an integral of the term, and has an integrand odd in . The combined hydrodynamic resistance matrix isIts equal off-diagonal coefficients are required by the Lorentz reciprocal theorem for Stokes flow. It is a positive-definite matrix, as required by viscous dissipation.
In the rotational convention of the printed force formula, set and measure the scalar couple along , so . ThenFor sedimentation under the buoyancy-adjusted weight , a uniform sphere is torque-free. Thus , and the force balance givesThe rotational scalar in the paper's displayed-force convention is . The sphere rolls in the right-handed sense but still slips: its lowest point has laboratory velocity . The signs and coefficients of the right-handed resistance agree with the rigid-wall terms of Bertin et al., equations (4.4)–(4.5), after reversing the forces and torques there from fluid-on-sphere to sphere-on-fluid.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2023 ib Paper 2 13C b ii Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-25
Integrating the ordinary differential equation four times gives a quartic polynomial. It is useful to use the linearity of the equation and split the solution into a gravity part and a force part:wheresatisfies the clamped and torque-free boundary conditions with , whilesatisfies the homogeneous equation and contributes the endpoint force. Direct differentiation verifiesThusthe clamped-free beam under uniform load and endpoint force.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2023 ib Paper 2 13C b iv Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-25
Substitute into the energy functional and integrate the resulting polynomial:The term linear in cancels. HenceAs required, is independent of the force and is a quadratic function of it.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2023 ib Paper 2 13C b v Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-03
Taking the derivative of the force-dependent energy givesThus the derivative of the additional minimized internal energy with respect to the applied force equals the resulting endpoint displacement. This is the endpoint force derivative of clamped-free beam energy.
In cylindrical coordinates,Differentiating the position vector twice gives the velocity and accelerationThis derives acceleration in cylindrical coordinates rather than assuming it.
At a fixed time, the wire has parametrization . Its derivative is the nonzero tangent vectorA smooth wire exerts a constraint force with . Because is the gravitational acceleration, the gravitational force is ; the printed is interpreted per unit mass. Projecting Newton's second law, , along eliminates :The chain rule gives . Rearrangement yieldsThis is the governing equation for a bead on a uniformly rotating wire. Its azimuthal acceleration contributes nothing to the projection because .
Define the classical axial spin by the axial angular velocity of a symmetric top,Since is a unit vector, . The vector triple product identity applied to givesThe inertia tensor multiplies the component perpendicular to by and the component along by . Therefore the angular momentum about isIts time derivative isbecause .
Write . Since , the total torque simplifies toTaking the dot product of the equation of motion with gives : both torque terms are perpendicular to , as are the other terms on the left. HenceTaking the dot product of with the fixed vector givesThese are conservation of the axial spin and of the vertical component of angular momentum.
For energy, the kinetic energy and potential energy areDot the equation of motion, with , with . The cross product identity givesIt follows thatsoThe applied force is conservative even if is negative: its potential energy is . This is a symmetric top with a quadratic alignment potential.
Assume is mass per unit equilibrium length, the tension has constant magnitude , the string has negligible bending stiffness, and there is no damping or external transverse force. Assume small slopes and purely transverse motion. Then a short segment has mass to first order. If is the angle of its tangent, the small-slope approximation gives .
Put . The spring exerts the force by Hooke's law, while Coulomb's law gives the attractive force . Newton's second law therefore gives the equation of motionFor , the derivative is . Thus increases up to and decreases thereafter. Also at both ends of the positive half-axis. Its unique maximum isThere are therefore two equilibrium points precisely whenWriting them , the linearization has exponentially growing solutions at and oscillatory solutions at . Equivalently, the potential energy has a strict local maximum at and a strict local minimum at . Hence the smaller equilibrium point is an unstable equilibrium; the larger is a stable equilibrium, with no damping to make it attracting.
At equality there is one degenerate equilibrium point ; it is unstable, since a displacement to its left gives a leftward force. For there are no equilibrium points.
In cylindrical coordinates, and . ThusThe acceleration isA tangent vector along the wire is . Because the wire is smooth, its constraint force is orthogonal to . Taking the dot product of Newton's second law with eliminates that force; gravitational weight contributes . HenceMultiplying by gives

