Boundary condition for PDE heat eqaution

Taylor_1989
Messages
400
Reaction score
14

Homework Statement


I am having an issue, not with the maths but with the boundary conditions for this question.

A bar 10 cm long with insulated sides, is initially at ##100 ^\circ##. Starting at ##t=0##
Find the temperature distribution in the bar at time t.

The heat flow equation is

$$\frac{\partial ^2u}{\partial x^2}=\frac{1}{k}\frac{\partial u}{\partial t}$$

where ##u(x,t)## is the tempreture, Because the sides of the bar are insulated, the heat flows only in the, the same happens for a slab of finite thickness but infinitely large.

The initial condition is ##u(x,0)=100## and the boundary condition for ##t>0## is ##
u
(0
,t
) =
u
(10
,t
) = 0.
##

Have read this incorectly but if the sides are insulated then surely the boundary condtions are,

##U_{x}(0,t)=U_{x}(L,t)=0##

as the heat is moving along the x direction?
 
Physics news on Phys.org
Taylor_1989 said:
Have read this incorectly but if the sides are insulated then surely the boundary condtions are,

##U_{x}(0,t)=U_{x}(L,t)=0##

as the heat is moving along the x direction?
No. The sides that are insulated are the curved sides, not the ends. That is what makes it a one dimensional flow equation with the heat flowing through the ends. So those partials with respect to ##x## are not zero.
 
There are two things I don't understand about this problem. First, when finding the nth root of a number, there should in theory be n solutions. However, the formula produces n+1 roots. Here is how. The first root is simply ##\left(r\right)^{\left(\frac{1}{n}\right)}##. Then you multiply this first root by n additional expressions given by the formula, as you go through k=0,1,...n-1. So you end up with n+1 roots, which cannot be correct. Let me illustrate what I mean. For this...
Back
Top