Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge / 2017 / ii / Paper 4 / 9C / a / Solution

For a thin spherical shell, the radial pressure force per unit volume is $-dP/dr$. By the shell theorem, the inward gravitational acceleration is $GM(r)/r^2$, because exterior spherical shells contribute no force. Balancing force densities in hydrostatic equilibrium givesThe second equation is mass conservation; it closes the pressure-support equation once an equation of state is supplied.