Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-quantum-condensed-matter-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2007/section-a/a1/b/solution

For a spherical micelle of sodium dodecyl sulfate with molecules and a sharp tail-filled core of radius , volume and head-group area give and . Dividing gives the spherical micelle geometry
There is a consistency limit: exceeds the supplied maximum tail length . Equivalently the amphiphile packing parameter is , outside the strict spherical-core bound. Thus the requested spherical assumption gives these estimates, but the three molecular dimensions cannot all be exact within that ideal sharp-core geometry. Effective head area, core structure or aggregate shape must adjust; silently replacing by would no longer satisfy both packing equations.

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