ABSTRACT
The structural components of cells can often be considered as collections of many smaller, individual pieces. As we discussed in Chapter 2, polymers are large molecules consisting of individual monomers or groups of individual mon omers joined together. It can be beneficial to determine how the properties of the smaller pieces affect the collective behavior of the whole. We might want to determine how much a given polymer curves (an experimentally observable, “macroscopic” property) as a function of some “microscopic” property, such as the number, size, charge, of the monomers. Alternatively, we may want to deter mine the force required to straighten the polymer, or to extend it to a certain length, as a function of these same microscopic properties. These questions can be addressed using the analytical framework of statistical mechanics. In statisti cal mechanics, our goal is to relate the behavior of a system’s macroscopic behav ior (characterized by “macrostates”) to what we know about its microscopic properties and behavior (characterized by “microstates”).
