Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2013 iii Paper 68 1 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-07
For an incompressible flow, write the Newtonian fluid stress tensor as , where is the rate-of-strain tensor. The Stokes equation gives . Symmetry of the Cauchy stress tensor therefore givesIntegrating and applying the divergence theorem expresses the viscous dissipation as boundary power:At a moving rigid body, the surface velocity is . Its boundary-power contribution is , with the force and torque evaluated using the fluid's outward normal vector. Both resultants vanish for a force-free, torque-free inclusion. Thus the new viscous dissipation comes entirely from the unchanged outer boundary velocity. Subtracting the particle-free boundary power givesApply the Lorentz reciprocal theorem to and in the fluid outside the inclusion. On the outer boundary , soWriting for the particle's outward normal vector gives the required extra dissipation due to a rigid inclusion:This subtraction already accounts for the fluid volume displaced by the inclusion; it is not just the integral of the disturbance's local viscous dissipation.
For the sphere, the ambient rate-of-strain tensor is symmetric and trace free. The sphere in a uniform straining Stokes flow has zero translational and rotational velocity: inversion symmetry eliminates its force, and symmetry of eliminates its torque. To derive the disturbance, put , and seekThe incompressible flow condition and Stokes equation reduce toA decaying family satisfying these equations is , , . The no-slip boundary condition requires and , so and . ConsequentlyThe total velocity is zero at , and the disturbance decays as . The pressure constant has been set to zero. These boundary and far-field conditions, together with Uniqueness of Stokes flow, establish the solution. There is no rotational background in a pure strain flow.
On the sphere . Contracting the supplied Newtonian fluid stress tensor with makes its two terms proportional to cancel, leaving . Hence the extra dissipation due to a rigid inclusion isHere . Taking the large outer boundary limit only after using the fixed-boundary power identity avoids replacing that prescribed boundary by an uncontrolled boundary at infinity.
If denotes the number of spheres per unit volume, . ThusAdd this to the particle-free viscous dissipation density . Comparing with gives the Einstein viscosity formula for a dilute suspension:to first order in . The hydrodynamic interactions neglected here contribute beyond that dilute order.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2013 iii Paper 72 2 a Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-07
It is important to distinguish loss of forward-going surface-gravity-wave energy from conversion of mechanical energy into heat. Scattering attenuation by ice floes redirects energy; it can attenuate a coherent transmitted wave without dissipating the total energy.
For fixed floe geometry, increasing frequency usually increases attenuation over the relevant swell range: shorter wavelengths respond more strongly to the contrast between water and the elastic plate, and to repeated floe edges. Long surface gravity waves have weak curvature and often penetrate much farther. This is a trend over a specified frequency range, not a theorem excluding resonances.
The diameter dependence is governed by . An ice floe much smaller than the wavelength moves nearly with the water and scatters weakly. Scattering becomes appreciable when floe size is comparable with the wavelength, and interference between its two edges can give maxima and minima. At fixed ice concentration, larger ice floes also mean fewer edges per unit propagation distance, roughly proportional to . Consequently the attenuation coefficient need not increase monotonically with diameter: the single-floe reflection and the number of encounters must both be considered. Thickness increases areal inertia as and bending stiffness as , generally increasing wave mismatch and reflection, although detailed frequency-dependent resonances again prevent a universal monotonic law.
When , particularly for frazil ice and pancake ice, weak individual scattering leaves other processes dominant. Relative crystal and water motion causes viscous dissipation; an aggregate layer can behave as a viscous or viscoelastic material, and pancake ice collisions, rubbing and overwash remove energy. Their importance depends on concentration and wave amplitude.
For a uniform continuous sheet with horizontal dimensions much greater than the wavelength, there are no repeated floe edges in its interior. A perfectly elastic sheet over inviscid water supports undamped flexural-gravity waves, so internal scattering is not an explanation of decay there. Real attenuation can instead arise from internal ice anelasticity or viscoelasticity, a dissipative sub-ice viscous boundary layer, turbulence, cracks and brine-related processes. Small-floe mixtures and continuous sheets require dissipation models beyond the isolated-floe scattering picture.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2014 iii Paper 77 2 f Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-07
At the undeformed boundary, the screened first-order transverse sheet flow has and . Hence the normal stress is . The sheet does work on the upper fluid at rate , where points from the sheet into that fluid. To second order only the first-order normal velocity and stress are needed. The power of a Brinkman sheet per projected area on one side isFor fluid on both sides, double this answer. At the one-sided power is , so the fixed-stroke cost increases by . The mechanical energy supplied to the fluid accounts for both viscous dissipation and work against the matrix drag; the stress still has the printed Newtonian form. Enhanced speed therefore comes with increased energetic cost.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2016 iii Paper 321 1 b i Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
The four equations describe, respectively, vertical hydrostatic equilibrium in the central object's gravity, the vertical divergence of radiative flux balancing viscous dissipation, optically thick radiative diffusion, and the equation of state combining ideal gas gas pressure with radiation pressure. Here is dynamic viscosity, not the mean molecular weight ; is the opacity, the Stefan-Boltzmann constant, and the local orbital frequency.
In the radiation-pressure limit, , so radiative diffusion givesCompare this with vertical hydrostatic equilibrium. Wherever ,At fixed radius, constant opacity makes . The viscous dissipation equation therefore yieldsindependent of height within the optically thick radiation-supported layer. The result assumes the supplied gravity, heating and diffusion equations; optically thin surface corrections are outside that approximation.