Hydrostatic equlibrium and Centre of pressure

AI Thread Summary
The discussion focuses on deriving the center pressure of a uniform star using the hydrostatic equilibrium equation. The user correctly assumes that the star's density is constant with respect to radius and substitutes the mass function into the hydrostatic equation. They derive the expression for pressure at the center, initially assuming the surface pressure is zero. There is some confusion regarding the treatment of density in the equations, leading to corrections in their calculations. The final corrected expression for center pressure is presented as P_c = (2/3)GπR^2<ρ>^2, which the user believes to be accurate.
Taylor_1989
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Homework Statement


A uniform star has a mass of M and radius of R,use the hydrostatic equilibrium equation to find its centre pressure. (note: not the minimum
centre pressure)

Homework Equations


$$\frac{dp}{dr}=-\frac{Gm\left(r\right)\rho \left(r\right)}{r^2}[1]$$

The Attempt at a Solution


Have I followed the right assumptions in my working? The reason I followed this is because it states uniform star.

I assume density of the star dose not change w/r to radius

$$M(r)=4/3 \pi r^3<\rho> [2]$$

subbing [2] into [1]

$$\frac{dp}{dr}=\frac{-G4\pi \:r^3<\rho >\:}{3r^2}=\frac{-G4\pi \:r<\rho \:>\:}{3}[3]$$

$$\int _{P_c}^0\:dp=\int _0^{R_s}\:\frac{-G4\pi \:r<\rho \:>\:}{3}[4]$$

$$P_c=\:\frac{-G2\pi \:R_s^2<\rho \:>\:}{3}[5]$$

So my ##<\rho>## is the average density of the star and as the pressure at the centre of the star is much greater than the surface I have assumed the pressure at the surface is 0.

I am a bit ifify on this as it the uniform mass which is tripping me up, so I just thought how I would do it, if I asked the question my self, have I missed something in the question should I assume mean density of the star?
 
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What happened to the ρ(r) term in eqn 1?
 
haruspex said:
What happened to the ρ(r) term in eqn 1?

Sorry my corrections as follows:
$$\frac{dp}{dr}=-\frac{4}{3}G\pi r<\rho >^2$$

carrying through my edit

$$P_c=\frac{2}{3}G\pi R^2<\rho >^2$$
 
Taylor_1989 said:
Sorry my corrections as follows:
$$\frac{dp}{dr}=-\frac{4}{3}G\pi r<\rho >^2$$

carrying through my edit

$$P_c=\frac{2}{3}G\pi R^2<\rho >^2$$
Looks right to me.
 
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