Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2006 iii Paper 78 3 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
The material derivative follows surfactant carried by the moving interface. The term is dilution or concentration by tangential area expansion or contraction. The term is the additional area change produced by normal motion of a curved interface. The term represents surface diffusion, while relaxes the concentration towards a reservoir value through exchange. All these terms refer to concentration per surface area, as in surfactant transport with exchange relaxation.
In the steady bubble frame, the spherical interface has . Write with uniform and regard both and as first order in the rising speed. Advection of and its product with surface dilation are second order. Hence the linear steady equation isSpherical symmetry and linearity leave only the tangential projection of the imposed translation vector: . An azimuthal term would change sign under reflection and is excluded for this non-chiral rising bubble. The degree-one forcing does not excite other spherical-harmonic degrees in the linear problem.
On , differentiating givesEach component of is a degree-one spherical harmonic, soOne may also obtain the coefficient from : its surface Laplacian gives , while rotational symmetry makes the vector Laplacian parallel to . Expanding then yieldsThe candidate therefore solves the linear transport equation ifIts spherical mean is zero. This is the dipolar surfactant distribution. Assuming , its consistency condition isDiffusion or exchange must restore uniform concentration faster than the interfacial flow redistributes it: this holds with a small surface Péclet number, fast exchange, or sufficiently immobilized surface velocity. These same conditions justify neglecting the perturbation's advection. Small capillary number and sufficiently small buoyancy-induced shape distortion are separate requirements for a spherical interface.
Take to mean the outer liquid, the bubble interior and outward from the bubble. The general interfacial stress balance with variable surface tension isFor , its tangential part is . Thus the requested form isThis positive parameter measures the strength of the restoring Marangoni stress relative to viscous stress, including the relaxation of concentration by diffusion and exchange.
The far velocity is produced by the constant harmonic vector potential . The two independent decaying degree-one modes are the force-carrying vector potential and the scalar dipole . They are harmonic outside the bubble and have precisely the symmetry of uniform translation. The Unscaled Papkovich–Neuber representation gives, at arbitrary radius,The velocity at agrees with the printed expression. However, the original PDF's traction formula has a factor-of-two error. Direct differentiation with givesnot the printed prefactor . This is traction of translating-sphere Papkovich–Neuber potentials. The term follows immediately from the Stokeslet stress, and the scalar-potential part gives ; neither contribution contains the extra factor two.
With this consistent traction, no penetration requires , tangential velocity requires , and tangential stress balance requires . Solving,For comparison, taking the printed literally would instead giveThose solve the supplied algebraic pair but not the Newtonian stress calculated from the supplied potentials. The factor-six result is the physically consistent translating surfactant-coated bubble solution.
As , and : the clean bubble has a mobile interface and zero tangential traction. As , , and : the interface becomes immobilized and the exterior flow approaches that past a no-slip rigid sphere. The limiting tangential traction is , a useful check on the correct normalization.
The normal dynamic traction isapart from an arbitrary constant pressure. In the normal stress balance on a translating bubble, its degree-one part is balanced by the buoyant hydrostatic pressure difference and by the variation of normal capillary stress. A uniform internal gas pressure balances the constant Laplace-pressure term but cannot by itself balance this angular variation. If is upwards and is liquid minus bubble mass density, the degree-one balance can be writtenIt fixes , tending to the clean-bubble and rigid-sphere rise speeds. A degree-one radial displacement translates a sphere rather than changing its curvature, so a supposed dipolar shape distortion cannot replace this force balance.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2006 iii Paper 78 4 iii Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Let , and use local distance from the closest pole. The gap isHorizontal rotation has nonzero wall speed at this pole. In the broad region with , shear is , the area is and the lever arm is . Its torque is therefore . The smallest gap patch has radius and area ; its shear is . It gives the same bounded torque scale.
These are the two estimates requested in the paper. They omit an intermediate annulus, so the printed uniform assertion is not correct as . For , . An annular shear-torque contribution scales asIntegrating between the inner and outer scales produces .
A viscous dissipation lower bound makes this conclusion independent of possible signs of local tractions. A fluid velocity changing by between two no-slip walls dissipates at least per unit area, by the Cauchy-Schwarz inequality in the cross-gap coordinate. The lubrication velocity profile gives more explicitlywith no cross term. The second term is nonnegative. Thus the annulus entails a logarithmic divergence in total power and hence in , since the centre is held fixed and all boundary work is .
The horizontal rotation in a nearly touching spherical shell calculation also gives the corrected force scale. Choose local along and put with its signed value. At leading order the stationary-gap Reynolds lubrication equation isFor it has the particular pressurewhich satisfies the equation by direct differentiation. The pressure itself gives no torque about the centre of an exactly spherical inner body, because its normal is radial. It does contribute to tangential shear through the pressure gradient.
For any fixed local outer cutoff, the logarithmically divergent integrals areThe resisting tangential traction is . Integration by parts gives torque magnitude to logarithmic order. Consequently, at leading order in ,The strict corrected order is ; the paper's scale is the bounded contribution of each of its two nominated regions, not the full asymptotic answer.
For the horizontal force, pressure dominates shear by a factor . Its horizontal projection on the inner sphere has normal component , giving . Hence the required holding-force magnitude isThe broad region and smallest patch each supply ; the intermediate annulus again supplies the extra logarithm. The shear force is smaller by . These expressions assume the completely filled lubrication film of the problem.
The vertical holding force is zero. The geometry is invariant under a half-turn about the vertical axis. That operation reverses the horizontal angular velocity but leaves a vertical force component unchanged. Linearity would reverse that force component too, forcing it to vanish. Equivalently, the induced pressure has the first azimuthal harmonic, whose vertical-force integral over azimuth is zero. The horizontal holding force is the negative of the fluid's horizontal force on the body.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2006 iii Paper 78 4 ii Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Axisymmetric rotation about the offset axis gives wall velocity . Its azimuthal Couette flow has no pressure-driving divergence, so pressure remains constant. The fluid-on-inner-sphere tangential traction is . Multiply it by the moment arm and integrate:Putting and using the second supplied identity with its generic parameter equal to gives the axial rotational resistance of eccentric nested spheres:The continuous limit at is , consistent with a concentric narrow spherical shell. At , the torque tends to : it remains finite because the rotational wall speed vanishes at the closest pole.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2007 iii Paper 76 2 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
The inextensible fibre constraint gives . Write the fibre direction and its transverse unit direction asThen and . In plane strain, incompressibility gives . Decomposing the second column of the deformation gradient along therefore gives , where . HenceThis is a local rotation followed by simple shear.
The compatibility of the deformation map requires . Since and , this isTaking components gives the compatibility relations for incompressible inextensible-fibre plane strain:Along a reference curve,Thus is constant when . The equivalent condition also covers . Its current tangent is proportional to , so these transverse curves are straight wherever the deformation is regular.
To construct the stress with zero body force, specify the local shear stress as the material's function or functional of under simple shear. The normal stresses are constraint reactions: incompressibility supplies pressure, and the inextensible fibre constraint supplies fibre tension. WriteThe compatible geometry has with , so , , and . Resolving along the two directions givesThe triangular equilibrium construction for inextensible-fibre plane strain now determines by integration along fibres and then along transverse curves. Thus any regular compatible deformation has a local zero-body-force stress construction once the shear law and suitable boundary integration data are supplied. There is no additional constitutive normal-stress law to specify: the two normal components are fixed by force balance and boundary tractions. This does not assert that arbitrary separately prescribed boundary tractions can accompany an arbitrary deformation.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2008 ii Paper 3 36A Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-14
For two-dimensional incompressible flow, introduce the stream function by , . The scalar vorticity is . Taking the curl of the Stokes equations gives , and taking their divergence gives . Thus the biharmonic stream function for planar Stokes flow satisfies .
The far-field shear has stream function . For a cylinder in a simple shear Stokes flow, the axisymmetric biharmonic terms and the angular terms suffice to impose at without changing the leading far field. They giveDifferentiation supplies the flow everywhere outside the cylinder:Both velocity components vanish at , and their far-field values are precisely the cylindrical components of . The pressure follows by substitution into the Stokes equations.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2009 ii Paper 2 38A Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-14
The displacement equation is . With and divergence-free vector-potential gauge, divergence and curl give wave equations withThus and , up to gauge constants. The P wave displacement is parallel to its propagation direction; S wave displacement is perpendicular, with two transverse polarizations.
Take the plane of incidence to be . Let be the shared tangential wave number, and . Incident P, reflected P and reflected SV waves have respectively wave vectors , and . Thus the reflected P angle equals and . No SH wave is excited by this planar P incidence.
Use scalar potentials , with incident potential amplitude one, reflected P amplitude , and reflected SV amplitude . At the surface their phases are common. Vanishing and tractions gives, with ,Eliminating givesThere is no reflected P wave precisely when . If and , then , and . Substitution provesThe condition applies only to incidence angles in the physical range ; it need not have a solution for every elastic-modulus ratio.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2010 iii Paper 66 1 b Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Let denote the applied force, and take the normal outward from the solid. At leading order the Stokes drag law and the torque on a rotating sphere in Stokes flow giveThe exact no-slip boundary condition and the exact resultant-load conditions areThe stress condition specifies the total force and torque, not a pointwise prescribed traction.
For the boundary perturbation of a nearly spherical particle, evaluate the no-slip condition at . Taylor expansion givesThere is no term because . Therefore
To expand the integral conditions correctly, use surface independence of Stokes force and torque integrals. The Stokes equation implies , and symmetry of the stress tensor implies that the angular-momentum flux is divergence-free as well. Evaluate the exact force and torque on a fixed sphere of radius enclosing the perturbed particle. There are then no geometric terms: the integrals of on that fixed sphere vanish because the external force and torque have no corrections. Each perturbation field solves the homogeneous exterior Stokes equations, so the divergence theorem transfers those integrals back to . HenceIf the integrals are expanded directly on the displaced surface, terms involving the displaced evaluation of , the changed normal and the changed area do appear individually. Their sum vanishes by the same surface-independence identity. Thus their absence in the final equations is a cancellation, not permission to omit geometric terms independently.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2010 iii Paper 66 1 c Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Write the first-order surface velocity as , where the previous derivative givesAs a test field, choose a sphere translating with arbitrary velocity . Its surface velocity is and its traction is . The Lorentz reciprocal theorem for Stokes flow givesTerms at infinity vanish because both velocities decay. Since , the rotation term has zero surface average. The arbitrary test velocity therefore gives the first-order mobility of a nearly spherical particle:
For the ellipsoidal perturbation, the second spherical moment gives . The supplied fourth moment gives, componentwise,Substitution yieldswhere the last notation uses symmetry of the tensor.
One can also use a rotating-sphere test with surface traction . Its reciprocal integral, together with zero first-order torque, givesHere , so the last integrand is odd and its integral vanishes. Thus . Inversion symmetry forbids a translation-to-rotation coupling for this centred ellipsoidal perturbation.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2011 ii Paper 3 37B Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-14
Write and use repeated-index summation. Because every is a harmonic function,andThus , the incompressible Stokes equation. MoreoverThe antisymmetric first two terms cancel in the sum with , giving the Newtonian fluid Cauchy stress tensorFor , harmonic outside the origin,At this gives , where , so the normal velocity is zero. AlsoHence on the surface,a purely normal traction, appropriate to a shear-free sphere rather than a no-slip solid sphere. Finally rotational symmetry gives , so the fluid's force on the sphere isThis is the clean-bubble Stokes drag in the far-field velocity .
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2015 ii Paper 1 36E ii Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-06
Put . Differentiate the given Stokeslet velocity:Symmetrizing and subtracting the pressure term cancels the diagonal terms, leaving the Cauchy stress tensorOn the radius- surface with outward sphere normal , the force exerted by the exterior fluid on the sphere is the tractionUse and to findThe factors cancel, proving independence of radius. This calculation uses the printed far-field Stokeslet; higher multipoles of the exact sphere flow have zero net force through enclosing surfaces.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2016 iii Paper 329 1 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Let be the rate-of-strain tensor and the Newtonian fluid stress tensor. The viscous dissipation is . The Minimum-dissipation theorem for Stokes flow compares the Stokes flow with every sufficiently regular incompressible flow in the same domain having the same prescribed boundary velocity, with no body force or with a conservative body force absorbed into the fluid pressure. A trial field need not satisfy the Stokes flow equations. Write it as , with and on the boundary. Integration by parts, the symmetry of the Newtonian fluid stress tensor, and giveConsequently the Stokes flow minimizes dissipation:Equality requires a rigid body motion of , which the prescribed boundary eliminates. Extending the flow inside the inserted particle as its rigid body velocity produces an admissible comparison field with zero internal rate-of-strain tensor; hence the extra dissipation due to a rigid inclusion is nonnegative.
Here and below on points into the particle, so the traction represents force exerted by the particle on the fluid. Apply the Lorentz reciprocal theorem for Stokes flow in the fluid region to and the restriction of . The equal outer boundary velocities yieldThe boundary-work formula for viscous dissipation therefore gives . The last integral is zero: is symmetric and divergence-free throughout the particle's original volume, so its total force and torque there vanish, and on is a rigid body velocity. This also allows the sign of this zero-work term to be reversed, giving exactly
With the particle's centre as origin, define , and the particle stresslet tensor . Contracting the linear background velocity with the traction givesThe background rate-of-strain tensor is symmetric and trace-free; the trace of this unprojected particle stresslet tensor does not affect the contraction.
For the straight-rod resistance in a linear flow, write , , , and , . The slender-body force density becomes . The integrals of and are and , respectively, soFor a force-free, torque-free rod, and the perpendicular component of is . Axial spin is not determined by this leading, zero-thickness slender-body theory; it has no effect on . Put . The vector identity givesThe force-free straight-rod orientation equation combines the background rotation with the part of strain that turns the rod; removing preserves its unit length. A rigid body cannot undergo the axial extension or compression imposed by , so opposite axial forces resist that deformation. No leading slender-body force density is needed when , even though the rod may rotate. Its particle stresslet tensor and viscous dissipation are
In the simple shear flow, , and . Thus the rod excess dissipation in shear isThe maxima at correspond to strongest axial extension and compression. The zeros at correspond to zero axial strain: a rod aligned with the velocity or its gradient needs no leading force at that instant. For , with the continuous branch and . Reversing the shear flow reverses the traversal. Substitution givesThe tails make the total finite; the instantaneous zero at lies between two maxima.
For a dilute rod suspension, the added bulk stress is the number density times the orientation average of the particle stresslet tensor. In this ideal infinitely slender, non-interacting model, rods approach alignment with the shear flow and their excess viscous dissipation decays. A real finite-aspect-ratio rod continues to tumble; rotational diffusion and interactions also maintain a spread of orientations. One therefore expects increased effective viscosity, with alignment offering a mechanism for reduced excess viscosity at strong shear flow. This is a qualitative expectation, not a claim that a finite rod suspension has zero steady excess stress.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2016 iii Paper 329 2 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
In the surfactant transport with exchange relaxation, is the material derivative following an interfacial material element. The term accounts for dilution by tangential stretching, while accounts for changing area through normal motion and curvature. The surface diffusion term redistributes surfactant down concentration gradients. The exchange term relaxes its concentration towards , through adsorption or desorption from a surrounding reservoir, on time scale .
In the bubble frame the spherical interface is stationary and impermeable. A steady material derivative is . For a linear response in the rising speed this and are second order, whereas stretching of is first order. ThusRotational symmetry, linear response to , and zero normal velocity allow only , where is the surface tangent projector. This is the dipolar, axisymmetric sector; axisymmetry alone, without the linear-response assumption, would allow other angular dependence.
On a sphere and . Applying the surface tangent projector to the derivative gives the sphere surface derivative identitiesFor example, taking a second surface divergence of the first identity yields the third. Equivalently, the components of are degree-one spherical harmonics. Hence a dipolar surfactant distribution solves the linear equation:The required smallness condition is . Surface diffusion or exchange must smooth the concentration faster than it is redistributed by the actual interfacial velocity. We require , and ; with neither process there is no such steady linear balance at nonzero . A small capillary number also justifies the spherical approximation.
Take the normal from the inner bubble to the outer liquid, define , and set . The interfacial stress balance with variable surface tension isBecause and , its tangential part becomesThis is a Marangoni stress: surface-tension gradients oppose the clean-bubble circulation.
Use the Unscaled Papkovich–Neuber representation, and . The constant vector potential gives . In the decaying, linear axisymmetric sector, a vector monopole and scalar dipole provide the two constants needed at the sphere; other equivalent potential choices amount to a representation freedom. The PDF potential contains the factor omitted in the TeX aid. With that factor restored, the exterior velocity isAt the interface, no penetration gives , and the tangential velocity gives . Using the traction coefficient printed in equation (3), the tangential stress condition gives . The requested algebraic answers are therefore
There is a factor-of-two error in the PDF traction. Direct differentiation of the preceding velocity with the Newtonian fluid stress tensor givesrather than its printed coefficient . In particular the tangential traction is . Keeping the same definition of , the physically consistent translating surfactant-coated bubble instead has andThe two sets must not be silently conflated. As a useful check, the no-slip limit has the usual total Stokes flow drag with the corrected traction; the printed traction would double it.
Both versions give , , when : the interface is tangentially stress-free and circulates as a clean inviscid bubble. For , , , : the interface is immobile in the bubble frame and behaves as a no-slip sphere. The Marangoni stress remains finite because has a nonzero limit. The concentration smallness condition still has to hold; large is not by itself a complete linearization criterion.
The normal component is balanced by the inner gas pressure and the normal capillary stress , including the variation of , together with the hydrostatic pressure difference responsible for buoyancy. A spatially uniform inner pressure alone cannot balance the dipolar traction. To make the normal stress balance on a translating bubble explicit, let be the outer-minus-inner mass density. After removing the equilibrium Laplace pressure, the corrected outer normal traction has dynamic part . Its degree-one balance isThus, if a terminal speed is desired, , interpolating between the clean-bubble and rigid-sphere speeds. A degree-one shape displacement is merely a translation of the sphere, so the balance determines its rise speed, rather than a dipolar shape distortion.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2016 iii Paper 329 4 i Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
Write , , and choose the common undisturbed interface pressure . The hydrostatic pressure is in the upper fluid and in the lower fluid. Continuity of hydrostatic pressure across both current interfaces givesThus and . This isostatic depth partition of an interfacial current expresses local vertical buoyancy balance: a displaced column with an imbalance would move vertically until the partition was restored. With the hydrostatic pressure subtracted, the pressure within the current is , whereThe equivalent body force is outward for a profile decreasing with . Its magnitude is ; the derivative without an absolute value is a signed quantity.
For an ambient-controlled interfacial plug current, integrating the body force through depth gives radial force per area . The ambient Stokes flow varies over distance , exerting traction , so . The current's internal shear supports the ambient traction with a velocity difference ; requires . The force per area from its in-plane viscous extension is , negligible against ambient traction when . Together these give the viscosity window for an interfacial plug currentFixed volume gives , and the spreading velocity has the scale . Thus andChoosing so that exactly, the similarity solution has , , and . In radial conservation , substitution gives . Regularity and no source at the centre remove the integration constant. Therefore the radial plug velocity is linear:
For the disc-traction analogy for an interfacial current, subtract the imposed straining flow from the stationary-disc solution. The perturbation has velocity on the disc and zero far-field velocity. Reverse its sign: the resulting Stokes flow is driven by a radially expanding disc with velocity in otherwise quiescent fluid. The background straining flow contributes no radial shear traction on , so the given disc traction changes sign. This step uses Linearity of Stokes flow, Uniqueness of Stokes flow, and the no-slip boundary condition. The thin plug current has the same leading boundary velocity and hence the same ambient resistance. Each face contributes ; both faces must be counted. With , radial force balance isIntegrate with . The interfacial plug-current similarity profile isVolume integration gives . Eliminating gives the full prefactor:The formal edge slope diverges, so a narrow edge region lies outside the thin-current approximation. Its traction and volume contributions are integrable, and this is a leading thin-current solution rather than a uniformly valid edge description.
For a diffusion-controlled solute gravity current, excess solute mass, not enriched-fluid volume, is conserved. At late times the effective mass density excess is proportional to solute concentration, so , and . The same ambient resistance scaling givesThis scaling does not determine a universal numerical prefactor. The mass diffusivity controls the growing depth, while dilution weakens buoyancy; assuming a fixed current volume would incorrectly retain the law. The thin-layer requirement becomes ; when only dissolved solute changes the upper fluid, its viscosity is of order the ambient viscosity, consistent with the plug-current window.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2017 ib Paper 1 17D a Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-14
Choose downslope along the rigid plane and normal to it into the fluid, with the wall at and the flat free surface at . The gravitational body force per unit volume has components . The wind's tangential traction on the top surface is in the direction; the atmospheric normal traction is in the direction. At the wall there is no-slip boundary condition, and the wall supplies the opposing normal force and a tangential traction whose sign depends on the wind strength.
The velocity is parallel to the plane, . Its velocity profile is a concave quadratic, with and negative slope at the free surface when . The diagram uses moderate wind, for which the flow is still everywhere downslope. Stronger wind can reverse the upper portion, or the entire moving layer; the later cases quantify this.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2017 ib Paper 1 17D b Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-05
For an inclined viscous film with opposing surface shear, the steady parallel velocity automatically satisfies the continuity equation and the advective acceleration vanishes. The two components of the Navier-Stokes equations reduce toThe uniform thickness and constant atmospheric pressure make . The boundary conditions areThese are respectively no-slip boundary condition, imposed tangential traction on the surface with outward normal , and the normal stress condition on the flat free surface. The normal viscous stress is zero because the normal velocity vanishes. Integrating givesIn particular is the downslope tangential traction exerted by the fluid on the wall. The wall's tangential traction on the fluid has the opposite sign, because the outward normal of the fluid at its bottom is . This fixes the potentially confusing wall sign convention.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2017 iii Paper 342 4 b Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
Let point from the sphere into the exterior fluid, so the surface position relative to the centre is . The physical surface velocity isFree rotation means the actual body is torque-free: the total hydrodynamic torque vanishes. Use the auxiliary rotating sphere in Stokes flow with arbitrary , boundary velocity and the given traction . The auxiliary flow is the decaying exterior rotation of a sphere, not a rigid rotation of the entire infinite fluid.
The left-hand cross-work in the Lorentz reciprocal theorem for Stokes flow isThe other cross-work becomesThe spherical integral identities areUsing , the rotational contribution is . The slip contribution is . Since is arbitrary, the torque-free rotation of a spherical squirmer satisfiesThe viscosity cancels, as expected for a kinematically prescribed slip in a linear viscous problem. If the freely moving sphere also has a translation , its added cross-work is zero because the auxiliary rotating sphere has zero total force, . Thus translation does not alter this rotational formula. Without the torque-free assumption an external-torque contribution would have to be retained.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2019 iii Paper 329 2 b Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-05
Each broad face supplies surface tension pulling the rounded hole edge into the remaining sheet. Their resultant is per unit circumference. At the inner boundary the fluid's outward normal is , so the boundary traction is outward in the radial direction when . The right panel of the preceding diagram shows these two capillary pulls.
With uniform thickness and , the axisymmetric viscous-sheet stretching equations reduce toThis Euler-Cauchy equation gives . The fixed outer rim imposes , hence . Because , conservation of mass gives , independent of . Thus a uniform sheet remains uniform.
The radial stress is . Its value at the hole edge determinesThe edge is material, so andNeglecting the initially tiny hole's volume, conservation of mass gives , or with . Therefore the capillary growth of a hole in a viscous sheet obeysFor a finite initial hole , replace in the denominator by . A nonzero seed is needed: the exact initial condition gives the stationary solution of this differential equation. For a small positive seed, initially grows exponentially at rate .
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2019 iii Paper 329 2 Solution Created 2026-10-05 Updated 2026-10-14
For the stated axisymmetric flow, the diagonal components of the rate-of-strain tensor areTheir sum is , the incompressibility condition. In the leading thin-sheet approximation, vanishing tangential traction makes independent of . The normal stress boundary condition is , so the Newtonian fluid stress tensor givesThereforeFor the small annular sector, the inner and outer radial faces contribute in the radial direction. The two azimuthal faces contribute : their hoop tractions have inward radial components. The combined radial force of the external pressure on the sloping upper and lower surfaces is .
Neglecting inertia, force balance is thusSubstituting the two stresses cancels the terms involving and gives the axisymmetric viscous-sheet stretching equations:Finally, conservation of mass in the sector gives
Past exam of the physics B course of the University of Cambridge 2010 Paper 1 Section B B9 Solution 2026-10-20
stress describes internal force per area. A cut with unit normal has traction ; its normal component is and its remainder is shear traction. force balance constrains the stress divergence, while ordinary local angular-momentum balance makes the Cauchy stress tensor symmetric in a medium without body couples.
strain describes deformation rather than force. For small displacement gradients,The antisymmetric displacement-gradient part is a rigid rotation to first order and contributes no infinitesimal strain. Engineering shear strain is , so it must not be confused with the tensor component. stress has units of pressure; strain is dimensionless.
An isotropic linear elastic solid obeysTwo independent moduli are required. The shear modulus and bulk modulus must be positive for stability. Young's modulus and Poisson ratio satisfyFor a tensile specimen with free side faces, gives and . Pure shear gives ; hydrostatic loading gives . The incompressible limit has at finite shear stiffness, not vanishing shear resistance. Crystals can be anisotropic and need a fourth-rank elastic stiffness tensor instead of the isotropic two-constant law.
elastic deformation is recoverable on unloading; it need not remain linear at large strain. Beyond yield, irreversible rearrangements such as dislocation motion cause plastic strain, often followed by hardening. Ductile samples can neck before fracture; brittle failure has much less plastic deformation. Engineering stress uses initial area, while true stress uses the changing instantaneous area. A decreasing engineering stress during necking therefore need not mean that local true stress decreases. stress concentrations, flaws and loading geometry can determine failure before a uniform-material strength is reached. Viscoelastic materials also show rate dependence, creep and stress relaxation; their losses cannot be described by a static Hooke law alone.
A tensile test should measure force and gauge-length extension independently, correct machine compliance, align the grips, and control strain rate and temperature. Unloading distinguishes recoverable strain from a residual plastic extension. Separate shear or hydrostatic tests determine moduli that one axial measurement does not fix. Compression specimens need friction and buckling checks. Work per volume is ; the recoverable part is elastic energy, while a dissipative cycle produces a loss rather than creating energy. The original loading/unloading curve below is a chosen constitutive sketch, not measured material data.
The depth-averaged added horizontal compressive stress is . Resolving its traction on a plane dipping at angle gives the fault shear stress from a plate-integrated force,Keeping the previous topographic correction gives about . This is the mean additional shear from ridge push, assuming the force is transmitted through thickness and resolving the nonisotropic stress increment. An isotropic lithostatic pressure adds normal traction but no shear. The force integral alone does not specify the local stress at each point on the fault or establish failure.



