A white dwarf star is essentially a degenerate electron gas, with a bunch of nuclei mixed in to balance the charge and to provide the gravitational attraction that holds the star together. In this problem you will derive a relation between the mass and the radius of a white dwarf star, modeling the star as a uniform-density sphere. White dwarf stars tend to be extremely hot by our standards; nevertheless, it is an excellent approximation in this problem to set T = O. The equilibrium radius of the white dwarf is that which minimizes the total energy Ugrav + Ukinetic. Sketch the total energy as a function of R, and find a formula for the equilibrium radius in terms of the mass. As the mass increases, does the radius increase or decrease? Does this make sense?

icon
Related questions
Question

A white dwarf star is essentially a degenerate electron gas, with a bunch of nuclei mixed in to balance the charge and to provide the gravitational attraction that holds the star together. In this problem you will derive a relation between the mass and the radius of a white dwarf star, modeling the star as a uniform-density sphere. White dwarf stars tend to be extremely hot by our standards; nevertheless, it is an excellent approximation in this problem to set T = O.

The equilibrium radius of the white dwarf is that which minimizes the total energy Ugrav + Ukinetic. Sketch the total energy as a function of R, and find a formula for the equilibrium radius in terms of the mass. As the mass increases, does the radius increase or decrease? Does this make sense?

Expert Solution
trending now

Trending now

This is a popular solution!

steps

Step by step

Solved in 10 steps with 121 images

Blurred answer
Similar questions
  • SEE MORE QUESTIONS