In: Advanced Math
An environmentally toxic radioactive chemical is continually released at a constant rate of 1 (mg per vol per time) at the midpoint of a canal of length L with still water. As it diffuses through the canal with diffusion constant D = 1, it decays at rate λ (per unit time) The ends of the canal are connected to large bodies of toxic-free water. Set up the model equations and the boundary conditions. Find the steady-state concentration and sketch its spatial profile for different values of L and λ.
[Hint: Break the problem up into two parts, on each side of the source. At the source the concentration must be continuous, and in a small interval about the source, the ‘flux in’ minus the ‘flux out’ equals one.]