B2.25

Waves in Fluid and Solid Media
Part II, 2003

Starting from the equations for the one-dimensional unsteady flow of a perfect gas of uniform entropy, derive the Riemann invariants

u±2γ1c= constant u \pm \frac{2}{\gamma-1} c=\text { constant }

on characteristics

C±:dxdt=u±cC_{\pm}: \frac{d x}{d t}=u \pm c

A piston moves smoothly down a long tube, with position x=X(t)x=X(t). Gas occupies the tube ahead of the piston, x>X(t)x>X(t). Initially the gas and the piston are at rest, and the speed of sound in the gas is c0c_{0}. For t>0t>0, show that the C+C_{+}characteristics are straight lines, provided that a shock-wave has not formed. Hence find a parametric representation of the solution for the velocity u(x,t)u(x, t) of the gas.