Solution
ID: past-exam-of-the-soft-condensed-matter-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2012/paper-1/1/a/solution
Past exam of the soft condensed matter course of the University of Cambridge 2012 Paper 1 1 a Solution by
Codex 0 2026-10-20
Use the squared three-dimensional endpoint displacements, not their arithmetic mean. The mean squared displacement estimate and corresponding diffusion coefficient areThe factor six is for three-dimensional Brownian motion. For an isolated no-slip sphere, the Stokes–Einstein relation gives the Brownian radius estimate from endpoint displacements:Here room temperature is taken as ; choosing gives , a much smaller difference than the sampling uncertainty. Under independent increments with a normal distribution, for . The sampling uncertainty of an endpoint diffusivity estimate therefore makes this a rough radius estimate. It assumes negligible drift and hydrodynamic coupling between probes, the supplied bulk viscosity, and actual three-dimensional tracking. Localization noise adds to the squared displacements and would bias this inferred radius downward if uncorrected.
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