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ID: past-exam-of-the-mphil-in-micro-and-nanotechnology-enterprise-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2019/paper-2/section-b/23/i/solution

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Past exam of the MPhil in micro- and nanotechnology enterprise course of the University of Cambridge / 2019 / Paper 2 / Section B / 23 / i / Solution by

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An amphiphile has a solvent-compatible polar head and a hydrophobic tail region. The three geometrical parameters are the tail volume

v

, effective head-group area

a_{0}

at the interface, and maximum effective tail length

ℓ_{c}

. Their dimensionless combination is the amphiphile packing parameter,

P = v / (a_{0} ℓ_{c})

Figure 1.
Head area, hydrophobic volume and tail length control preferred aggregate curvature
. **Source**. **Details**.

The head area is an effective interfacial area affected by solvent, electrostatic repulsion and composition; it is not simply a fixed atomic cross-section.

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