Abstract
The Fokker-Planck equations are used to examine the structure of a shock wave in fully ionized hydrogen. This is done by assuming a bimodal Maxwellian distribution for the protons in the interior of the shock and noting that the electrons are in thermal equilibrium with themselves but not necessarily with the protons. The method is essentially an extension of that used by Mott-Smith in his analysis of the Boltzmann equation for a shock wave in a gas of neutral atoms.

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