Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2019 iii Paper 315 3 a Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-05
For a spherical planet, combine the hydrostatic pressure support equation with :Neglect surface pressure. Since , the hydrostatic lower bound on planetary central pressure isFor a physically usual mass density decreasing outward, the mean interior density exceeds the global mean. Hence , giving the sharper minimum within this class,Uniform mass density attains the sharper bound; direct integration with gives . Real planets are centrally concentrated through compression and dense cores, so their central pressure is higher.