BSYSE 558: Groundwater Flow and Contaminant Transport

Homework 6

Due: Friday, November 18

1. Refer to your class notes on the lecture of “Analytical Solutions” (Week 9)

(a) Why would the constant G have to be zero—neither positive nor negative—in order for the solution to
the boundary-value problem to be physically meaningful?
(b) Why would the constant C have to be zero when invoking the Neumann boundary condition?

2. (a) The direction and rate of advective mass transport coincide with the ground water in which the mass
is dissolved—with the assumption that the mass transport does not influence ground-water flow. What
would happen if this assumption fails? Describe a real situation where this assumption may fail.
(b) There are occasions where the mean ground-water velocity is different from the advective velocity of
the solute. Provide an example.
(c) In the absence of dispersion or other processes, do the loading function and the breakthrough curve
differ in shape?
(d) What is the m ajor distinction between a 1- d longitudinal dispersion and a 2- d or 3- d dispersion
occurring in more than one direction?
(e) Would a solute move if Lh = 0? Why?
(f) What are the causes of mechanical dispersion in solute transport? Provide a real example.
(g) Provide a case where the 1-d advective front would not correspond to a C/C0 value of 0.5?

3. (a) Problem 5, Textbook, p. 236

(b) Problem 6, Textbook, p. 236 (Note: in part a, there is a typo in the problem statement—Eq 10.17 instead of Eq 10.7.)

4. (a) Problem 7, Textbook, p. 236

(b) Problem 8, Textbook, p. 236

5. (a) Problem 1, Textbook, p. 302

(b) Problem 1, Textbook, p. 371

At Duke University, there were four sophomores taking organic chemistry. They did so well on all the quizzes, midterms and labs, etc.,
that each had, up to that point, an “A” for the semester. These four friends were so confident that the weekend before finals, they decided
to go up to University of Virginia and party with some friends up there. They had a great time; however, after all the hardy partying, they
slept all day Sunday and didn’t make it back to Duke until early Monday morning. Rather than taking the final then, they decided to find
their professor after the final and explain to him why they missed it. They explained that they had gone to Univ. VA for the weekend with
the plan to come back to study but, unfortunately, they had a flat tire on the way back, didn’t have a spare tire, and couldn’t get help for
a long time. As a result, they had missed the final. The professor thought it over and then agreed that they could make up the test. The
guys were elated and relieved. They studied that night and went in the next day at the time the professor had told them. He placed them
in separate rooms and handed each of them a test booklet, and told them to begin. They looked at the first problem, worth 5 points,
something simple about free radical formation. “Cool,” they thought at the same time, each one in his separate room, “this is going to
be easy.” Each finished the problem and then turned the page. On the second page was written: “(For 95 points): Which tire was flat?”