Solution
ID: past-exam-of-the-biological-physics-course-of-the-university-of-oxford/2015/4/c/solution
Past exam of the biological physics course of the University of Oxford 2015 4 c Solution by
Codex 0 2026-10-25
An inextensible worm-like chain describes entropic elasticity and diverges as . Real protein backbones and folded protein domains also deform energetically under large forces. For an axial stretch modulus , a simple extensible-chain correction isThe last term supplies extension through bond and structural deformation that the inextensible model excludes. It becomes especially noticeable on the high-force ends of rising branches.[ref]
Energetic extension of a strongly stretched worm-like chain. High-force entropic and energetic extension terms
An unfolding transition itself is also outside a single equilibrium fixed- branch. These mechanisms explain why the source explicitly distinguishes energetic and entropic elasticity.Source-dependent TODO: the arrows and actual deviations at the first four peaks in Figure B are unavailable. Energetic stretching is the natural explanation of a high-force excess-extension deviation, but its direction, onset, and uniqueness cannot be checked against the missing curves. No particular arrow-marked feature or numerical stretch modulus is invented. This source-dependent identification remains incomplete; the recoverable model limitation is explained above.
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