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AM 5117: Analytical Methods!

Assignment 1 -Modeling and Dimensional Analysis!
Due date: August 25, 2015

end x = L. Tension is caused by its own

1. A heavy chain is hung at one ned
weight. Show that for small oscillations, the lateral displacement u(x, t)
satisfies
@
@u
@2u
g
x
= 2.
@x @x
@t

2. A spherical homogeneous (i.e., purely mathematical) egg of radius a is

placed in cold water at temperature T0 , the egg initially being at this
temperature too. Over a time t0 , the water temperature Tw is increased
linearly to T1 , where it is held constant. The temperature T in the egg is
modeled by the heat conduction equation
c

@T
= kr2 T,
@t

where, is the density, c the specific heat capacity and k the thermal
conductivity of the egg, all assumed constant, with the Newton boundary
condition
@T
= h(T Tw ).
k
@r r=a
Make the model dimensionless and identify the dimensionless parameters.
What possible regimes might there be and how can you identify them by
looking at the sizes of the dimensionless parameters?

3. Consider a shallow aquifer on an impermeable rock. Let h(x, t) be the

depth of the water table above the rock base, which coincides with the
x-axis. The horizontal seepage velocity u and the water table gradient
can be described by Darcys law
u=

@h
.
@x

Show first that mass conservation requires

@h @(uh)
+
= 0.
@t
@x
Then derive the governing equations for h(x, t). If h departs from constant
0
0
H only by a small amount, i.e., h = H + h , with h H, find the
0
linearised equation for h .

AM 5117: Analytical Methods!

Assignment 1 -Modeling and Dimensional Analysis!
Due date: August 25, 2015

4. Consider a tall chimney standing vertically on the ground. Assume that

the height is measured along the vertical axis x with x = 0 at the ground.
Under horizontal seismic loadings, the boundary condition of the chimney, modeled as a cantilever beam, is replaced from y(0, t) = 0 under no
earthquake condition to
y(0, t) = a cos !t.
Here, y(x, t) represents the transverse deflections of the chimney in the
vertical plane. The other boundary conditions are not aected by the
earthquake loading and remains as
yx (0, t) = 0, yxx (L, t) = yxxx (L, t) = 0,
where, the subscripts denote partial dierentiation. Non-dimensionalize
the unsteady unforced beam equation
4
@2y
2@ y
=0
A 2 + EAk
@t
@x4

using the time scale 1/! implicit in the boundary condition. What is the
appropriate scale for y?

5. Suppose a population has a size distribution (a, t), where a is age and
t is time; this implies that the number of members
in the population at
R a2
time t with age between a1 and a2 is given by a1
a. The birth rate b(a)
depends on age, as does the mortality rate m(a). These may also depend
on time through social eects. Thus, m(a) (a, t) a is the number per
unit time, dying at time t with age between a and a + a. A cohort of
individuals age at a constant rate a = 1, while their numbers decline at a
rate m(a), where = m . Then the population growth is modeled by
the following boundary value problem
t

m ,

known as the Von Foerster equation, and the birth rate appears in the
boundary condition
Z 1
(0, t) =
b(a) (a, t) da.
0

Show that the steady size distribution with age of a population satisfying
the above two equations is given by the linear integral equation
Z 1
G(a, ) () d,
(a) =
0

where, G(a, ) should be specified.