Put and under the literal mass convention. Their dimensions are and . Dimensional analysis gives
The jet length compares source momentum with buoyancy. The region near the source behaves as a turbulent round jet; sufficiently far away, the forced plume behaves like a pure plume. With the constant entrainment coefficient retained explicitly, substantial turning occurs over a length of order , where . Statements involving or normally hold this dimensionless coefficient fixed.
Near the point source, and the Batchelor entrainment hypothesis gives . Therefore
Integrating the centreline tangent gives
To leading order the centreline is a straight turbulent round jet at its source inclination. For the horizontal source, the first curvature is the horizontal forced-plume trajectory
For a vertical source, , the trajectory stays vertical rather than developing this cubic transverse displacement. If , there is no finite buoyancy-induced jet length and the turbulent round jet remains straight.