El limite de Chandrasekhar para principiantes / Chandrasekhar limit for beginners

TL;DR

This paper provides a simple, accessible explanation of the Chandrasekhar limit, detailing its derivation and historical context using basic physics and algebra suitable for beginners.

Contribution

It offers a heuristic derivation of the Chandrasekhar limit and clarifies its historical discovery and conceptual foundations for a general audience.

Findings

Derivation of the Chandrasekhar limit using high school algebra

Historical clarification of Chandrasekhar's discovery

Conceptual explanation accessible to non-specialists

Abstract

In a brief article published in 1931 and expanded in 1935, the Indian astrophysicist Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar shared an important astronomical discovery where he introduced what is now known as Chandrasekhar limit. This limit establishes the maximum mass that a white dwarf can reach, which is the stellar remnant that is generated when a low mass star has used up its nuclear fuel. The present work has a double purpose. The first is to present a heuristic derivation of the Chandrasekhar limit. The second is to clarify the genesis of the discovery of Chandrasekhar, as well as the conceptual aspects of the subject. The exhibition only uses high school algebra, as well as some general notions of classical physics and quantum theory.