In: Physics
Isolated molecular clouds can have a temperature as low as 20 K and a particle density as great as 1.2×105 per cubic centimeter.
What is the minimum mass that a cloud with these properties needs in order to form a star?
Mcloud= _________ MSun
GIVEN:
The temperature of the molecular clouds,
The number of particles per unit volume,
TO FIND the minimum mass that a cloud with these properties needs in order to form a star
ASSUMPTION: The molecular cloud is assumed to be entirely made up of Hydrogen.
APPROACH:
The minimum mass of stability is often called as Jean's mass . It is a critical mass for the star formation, if the cloud collapses under its own gravity and if there is not sufficient gravity to support the pressure and the cloud may fragment.
This Jean mass is given as
here is the boltzmann constant,
is the universal gravitational constant
is the mass of the hydrogen atom
is the temperature of the molecular cloud
is the number of hydrogen atoms per unit volume.
Substituting the corresponding values of the constant we get,
This is the minimum mass of the cloud that could form a star.
The mass of the sun is ,
Therefore, the mass of the cloud