Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2003 iii Paper 71 5 a Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
The numerical contour length is , and . Begin with a three-dimensional freely jointed chain in which each chemical monomer is also an independent statistical link of length . This neglects excluded volume, hydrodynamic effects on equilibrium statistics, and stretching of the chemical backbone.
An applied force gives a one-link canonical partition functionThe mean extension is . Expanding the Langevin function at small force gives . The three-dimensional entropic chain stiffness is thusThe unforced root-mean-square end-to-end distance is , not the contour length. This response is entropic straightening of a fluctuating coil. Axial stretching of a straight material rod instead has stiffness , and is a different phenomenon. Aqueous solvent does not by itself prove ideal-chain statistics: a good-solvent self-avoiding walk has a different coil size and susceptibility. The estimate above states explicitly the model under which the supplied link data suffice.