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Useful Data
Earth data and gravity
Me Mass of the earth 5.98 * 1024 kg
Re Radius of the earth 6.37 * 106 m
g Free-fall acceleration 9.80 m/s2
G Gravitational constant 6.67 * 10-11 N # m2 /kg 2
Thermodynamics
kB Boltzmann constant 1.38 * 10-23 J/K
R Gas constant 8.31 J/mol # K
NA Avogadro’s number 6.02 * 1023 particles/mol
T0 Absolute zero -273°C
patm Standard atmosphere 101,000 Pa
u Atomic mass unit (Dalton) 1.66 * 10 -27 kg
Speeds of sound and light
vsound Speed of sound in air at 20°C 343 m/s
c Speed of light in vacuum 3.00 * 108 m/s
Electricity and magnetism
K Coulomb constant ( 1/4pP0 ) 8.99 * 109 N # m2 /C 2
P0 Permittivity constant 8.85 * 10-12 C 2 /N # m2
m0 Permeability constant 1.26 * 10-6 T # m/A
e Fundamental unit of charge 1.60 * 10-19 C
Quantum and atomic physics
h Planck constant 6.63 * 10-34 J # s 4.14 * 10-15 eV # s
U Planck constant 1.05 * 10-34 J # s 6.58 * 10-16 eV # s
aB Bohr radius 5.29 * 10-11 m
Particle masses
mp Mass of the proton (and the neutron) 1.67 * 10-27 kg
me Mass of the electron 9.11 * 10-31 kg
Common Prefixes Conversion Factors

Prefix Meaning Length Time
femto- 10 -15 1 in = 2.54 cm 1 day = 86,400 s
pico- 10-12 1 mi = 1.609 km 1 year = 3.16 * 107 s
1 m = 39.37 in
nano- 10-9 1 km = 0.621 mi Force
micro- 10-6 1 lb = 4.45 N
milli- 10-3 Velocity
1 mph = 0.447 m/s Pressure
centi- 10-2
1 m/s = 2.24 mph = 3.28 ft/s 1 atm = 101 kPa = 760 mm Hg
kilo- 103 1 atm = 14.7 lb/in2
mega- 106 Mass and energy
giga- 109 1 u = 1.66 * 10-27 kg Rotation
terra- 1012 1 cal = 4.19 J 1 rad = 180°/p = 57.3°
1 eV = 1.60 * 10-19 J 1 rev = 360° = 2p rad
1 rev/s = 60 rpm
Greek Letters Used in Physics Mathematical Approximations

Alpha a Nu n (1 + x)n ≈ 1 + nx if x V 1
Beta b Pi Π p sin u ≈ tan u ≈ u and cos u ≈ 1 if u V 1 radian
ln11 + x2 ≈ x if x V 1
Gamma Γ g Rho r
Delta ∆ d Sigma g s
Epsilon P Tau t
Eta h Phi Φ f
Theta 𝚹 u Psi c
Lambda l Omega Ω v
Mu m
Brief Contents
P ART I Force and Motion 2
Chapter 1 Physics for the Life Sciences 4
2 Describing Motion 25
3 Motion Along a Line 52
4 Force and Motion 90
5 Interacting Systems 124
6 Equilibrium and Elasticity 163
7 Circular and Rotational Motion 199
8 Momentum 230
9 Fluids 256
P ART II Energy and Thermodynamics 308

Chapter 10 Work and Energy 310
11 Interactions and Potential Energy 337
12 Thermodynamics 378
13 Kinetic Theory 422
14 Entropy and Free Energy 459
P ART III Oscillations and Waves 506

Chapter 15 Oscillations 508
16 Traveling Waves and Sound 543
17 Superposition and Standing Waves 578
P A RT IV Optics 620
Chapter 18 Wave Optics 622
19 Ray Optics 656
20 Optical Instruments 692
P A RT V Electricity and Magnetism 728

Chapter 21 Electric Forces and Fields 730
22 Electric Potential 770
23 Biological Applications of Electric Fields and Potentials 811
24 Current and Resistance 842
25 Circuits 871
26 Magnetic Fields and Forces 907
27 Electromagnetic Induction and Electromagnetic Waves 949
P A RT VI Modern Physics 990

Chapter 28 Quantum Physics 992
29 Atoms and Molecules 1025
30 Nuclear Physics 1058
University Physics
FOR THE LIFE SCIENCES
University Physics
FOR THE LIFE SCIENCES
RANDALL D. KNIGHT BRIAN JONES STUART FIELD

California Polytechnic State University, Colorado State University Colorado State University
San Luis Obispo
With contributions by Catherine Crouch, Swarthmore College
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Knight, Randall Dewey, author. | Jones, Brian, author. | Field, Stuart, author.
Title: University physics for the life sciences / Randall D. Knight,
California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, Brian Jones,
Colorado State University, Stuart Field, Colorado State University;
with contributions by Catherine Crouch, Swarthmore College.
Description: Hoboken: Pearson, 2021. | Includes index. | Summary:
“University Physics for the Life Sciences has been written in response
to the growing call for an introductory physics course explicitly
designed for the needs and interests of life science students
anticipating a career in biology, medicine, or a health-related field”—Provided by publisher.
Identifiers: LCCN 2020053801 | ISBN 9780135822180 (hardcover) | ISBN
9780135821053 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Physics—Textbooks.
Classification: LCC QC23.2 .K658 2021 | DDC 530—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020053801
Cataloging-in-Publication Data is on file at the Library of Congress.
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ISBN-13: 978-0-135-82129-9
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About the Authors
Randy Knight taught introductory physics for thirty-two years at Ohio State University and Cal-
ifornia Polytechnic State University, where he is Professor Emeritus of Physics. Professor Knight
received a PhD in physics from the University of California, Berkeley, and was a postdoctoral
fellow at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics before joining the faculty at Ohio
State University. A growing awareness of the importance of research in physics education led
first to Physics for Scientists and Engineers: A Strategic Approach and later to College Physics:
A Strategic Approach. Professor Knight’s research interests are in the fields of laser spectroscopy
and environmental science. When he’s not in front of a computer, you can find Randy hiking,
traveling, playing the piano, or spending time with his wife Sally and their five cats.
Brian Jones has won several teaching awards at Colorado State University during his thirty
years teaching in the Department of Physics. His teaching focus in recent years has been the
College Physics class, including writing problems for the MCAT exam and helping students
review for this test. In 2011, Brian was awarded the Robert A. Millikan Medal of the American
Association of Physics Teachers for his work as director of the Little Shop of Physics, a hands-
on science outreach program. He is actively exploring the effectiveness of methods of informal
science education and how to extend these lessons to the college classroom. Brian has been
invited to give workshops on techniques of science instruction throughout the United States and
in Belize, Chile, Ethiopia, Azerbaijan, Mexico, Slovenia, Norway, Namibia, and Uganda. Brian
and his wife Carol have dozens of fruit trees and bushes in their yard, including an apple tree
that was propagated from a tree in Isaac Newton’s garden.
Stuart Field has been interested in science and technology his whole life. While in school he
built telescopes, electronic circuits, and computers. After attending Stanford University, he
earned a Ph.D. at the University of Chicago, where he studied the properties of materials at
ultralow temperatures. After completing a postdoctoral position at the Massachusetts Institute
of Technology, he held a faculty position at the University of Michigan. Currently at Colorado
State University, Stuart teaches a variety of physics courses, including algebra-based introduc-
tory physics, and was an early and enthusiastic adopter of Knight’s Physics for Scientists and
Engineers. Stuart maintains an active research program in the area of superconductivity. Stuart
enjoys Colorado’s great outdoors, where he is an avid mountain biker; he also plays in local ice
hockey leagues.
Contributing author Catherine Hirshfeld Crouch is Professor of Physics at Swarthmore

College, where she has taught since 2003. Dr. Crouch’s work developing and evaluating cur-
riculum for introductory physics for life science students has been used by faculty around the
country and has been supported by the National Science Foundation. She earned her PhD at
Harvard University in experimental condensed matter physics, and then remained at Harvard
in a dual postdoctoral fellowship in materials physics and physics education with Eric Mazur,
including developing and evaluating pedagogical best practices for undergraduate physics. She
has published numerous peer-reviewed research articles in physics education and experimental
physics, and has involved dozens of Swarthmore undergraduate students in her work. She is
married to Andy Crouch and they have two young adult children, Timothy and Amy.
v
To the Student
If you’re taking a physics course that uses this text, chances calculus can be an important thinking and reasoning tool. In
are that you intend a career in medicine or the life sciences. fact, many students find they understand calculus best after
What are you expected to learn in physics that’s relevant to using it in physics. It’s important to become comfortable with
your future profession? calculus because it is increasingly used as a quantitative tool
Understanding physics is essential to a mastery of the life in the life sciences.
sciences for two key reasons:
■ Physics and physical laws underlie all physiological pro- How To Learn Physics
cesses, from the exchange of gases as you breathe to the
There’s no single strategy for learning physics that works for
propagation of nerve impulses.
everyone, but we can make a few suggestions that will help
■ Many of the modern technologies used in biology and
most students succeed:
medicine, from fluorescent microscopy to radiation ther-
apy, are based on physics concepts. ■ Read all of each chapter! This might seem obvious,
but we know that many students focus their study on the
Because of this critical role, physics is a major component of
worked examples. The worked examples are important and
the MCAT.
helpful, but to succeed on exams you will have to apply
Biological systems are also physical systems, and a deep
these ideas to completely new problems. To do so, you
knowledge of biology requires understanding how the laws
need to understand the underlying principles and logic that
of physics apply to and sometimes constrain biological pro-
are explained in the body of the chapter.
cesses. One of our goals in this text is to build on the science
■ Use the chapter summaries. The chapter summaries are
you’ve learned in biology and chemistry to provide a solid
designed to help you see the big picture of how the pieces
understanding of the physical basis of biology and medicine.
fit together. That said, the summaries are not a substitute
Another important goal is to help you develop your quan-
for reading the chapter; their purpose is to help you consol-
titative reasoning skills. Quantitative reasoning is more than
idate your knowledge after you’ve read the chapter. Notice
simply doing calculations. It is important to be able to do cal-
that there are also part summaries at the end of each of the
culations, but our primary focus will be to discover and use
text’s six parts.
patterns and relationships that occur in nature. Right away,
■ Actively participate in class. Take notes, answer ques-
in Chapter 1, we’ll present evidence showing that there’s a
tions, and participate in discussions. There is ample
quantitative relationship between a mammal’s mass and its
evidence that active participation is far more effective for
metabolic rate. That is, knowing the metabolic rate of a mouse
learning science than passive listening.
allows you to predict the metabolic rate of an elephant. Mak-
■ Apply what you’ve learned. Give adequate time and
ing and testing predictions are at the heart of what science and
attention to the assigned homework questions and prob-
medicine are all about. Physics, the most quantitative of the
lems. Much of your learning occurs while wrestling with
sciences, is a great place to practice these skills.
problems. We encourage you to form a study group with
Physics and biology are both sciences. They share many
two or three classmates. At the same time, make sure you
similarities, but learning physics requires a different approach
fully understand how each problem is solved and are not
than learning biology. In physics, exams will rarely test your
simply borrowing someone else’s solution.
ability to simply recall information. Instead, the emphasis will
■ Solve new problems as you study for exams. Questions
be on learning procedures and skills that, on exams, you will
and problems on physics exams will be entirely new prob-
need to apply to new situations and new problems.
lems, not simply variations on problems you solved for
You may be nervous about the amount of mathematics
homework. Your instructor wants you to demonstrate that
used in physics. This is common, but be reassured that you can
you understand the physics by being able to apply it in new
do it! The math we’ll use is overwhelmingly the algebra, ge-
situations. Do review the solutions to worked examples
ometry, and trigonometry you learned in high school. You may
and homework problems, focusing on the underlying rea-
be a bit rusty (see Appendix A for a review of the math we’ll
soning rather than the calculations, but don’t stop there. A
be using), and you almost certainly will understand this math
much better use of time is to practice solving additional
better after using it in physics, but our many years of teaching
end-of-chapter problems while, as much as possible, refer-
experience find that nearly all students can handle the math.
ring only to the chapter summaries.
This text does use some calculus, and your instructor
will decide how much or how little of that to include. Many Our sincere wish is that you’ll find your study of physics to be
of the ideas of physics—how fast things happen, how things a rewarding experience that helps you succeed in your chosen
accumulate—are expressed most naturally in the language of field by enhancing your understanding of biology and medi-
calculus. We’ll introduce the ideas gently and show you how cine. Many of our students report this was their experience!
vi
To the Instructor
University Physics for the Life Sciences has been written Many topics of biological importance are missing in a
in response to the growing call for an introductory physics standard introductory physics textbook. These include viscos-
course explicitly designed for the needs and interests of life ity, surface tension, diffusion, osmosis, and electrostatics in
science students anticipating a career in biology, medicine, or salt water. Applications such as imaging, whether in the form
a health-related field. The need for such a course has been of fluorescence microscopy or scanning electron microscopy,
recognized within the physics education community as well are barely touched on. A physics course designed for life sci-
as by biological and medical professional societies. The Con- ence students must be grounded in the fundamental laws of
ference on Introductory Physics for the Life Sciences Report physics, a goal to which this text remains firmly committed.
(American Association of Physics Teachers, 2014, available But how those laws are applied to the life sciences, and the
at compadre.org/ipls/) provides background information and examples that are explored, differ significantly from their ap-
makes many recommendations that have guided the develop- plication to engineering and physics.
ment of this text. To endeavor to connect physics to the life sciences, we
This new text is based on Knight Physics for Scientists have added many topics that are important for biologists
and Engineers (4th edition, 2017) and Knight, Jones, Field and physicians. To make time for these, we’ve scaled back
College Physics (4th edition, 2019). As such, it is a research- some topics that are important for physicists and engineers
based text based on decades of studies into how students learn but much less so for students in the life sciences. There’s less
physics and the challenges they face. It continues the engaging, emphasis on standard force-and-motion problems; circular
student-oriented writing style for which the earlier books are and rotational motion has been de-emphasized (and the text
known. At the same time, we have fully rethought the content, has been written to allow instructors to omit rotation entirely);
ordering, examples, and end-of-chapter problems to ensure some aspects of electricity and magnetism have been reduced;
that this text matches the needs of the intended audience. and relativity is omitted. After careful consideration, and con-
sultation with experts in biology and physics education, we’ve
made the choice that these topics are less relevant to the audi-
Objectives ence than the new content that needed to be added.
Our goals in writing this textbook have been: The most significant change is in the treatment of energy
and thermodynamics. Energy and entropy are crucial to all
■ To produce a textbook that recognizes and meets the needs living systems, and introductory physics could play a key role
of students in the life sciences. to help students understand these ideas. However, physicists
■ To integrate proven techniques from physics education re- and biologists approach these topics in very different ways.
search and cognitive psychology into the classroom in a The standard physics approach that emphasizes conserva-
way that accommodates a range of teaching and learning tion of mechanical energy provides little insight into biological
styles. systems, where mechanical energy is almost never conserved.
■ To help students develop conceptual and quantitative rea- Further, biologists need to understand not how work is per-
soning skills that will be important in their professional formed by a heat engine but how useful work can be extracted
lives. from a chemical reaction. Biologists describe energy use in
■ To prepare students to succeed on the Chemical and terms of enthalpy and Gibbs free energy—concepts from
Physical Foundations of Biological Systems portion of the chemistry—rather than heat and entropy. A presentation of
MCAT exam. energy and entropy must connect to and elucidate reaction dy-
namics, enthalpy, and free energy if it is to help students see
the relevance of physics to biology.
Content and Organization Thus we’ve developed a new unit on energy and
Why develop a new textbook? What is needed to best meet the thermodynamics that provides a coherent development of en-
needs of life science students? The purpose of this text is to ergy ideas, from work and kinetic energy through the laws of
prepare students to grasp and apply physics content as need- thermodynamics. Students bring a knowledge of atoms and
ed to their discipline of choice—biology, biochemistry, and/ molecules to the course, so a kinetic-theory perspective is
or health sciences. However, the introductory physics course emphasized. Molecular energy diagrams and the Boltzmann
taken by most life science students has for decades covered factor are used to understand what happens in a chemical re-
pretty much the same topics as those taught in the course for action, and ideas about randomness lead not only to entropy
engineering and physics majors but with somewhat less math- but also to Gibbs free energy and what that tells us about the
ematics. Few of the examples or end-of-chapter problems deal energetics of reactions.
with living systems. Such a course does not help life science This text does use simple calculus, but more lightly than
students see the relevance of physics to their discipline. in the calculus-based introductory course for physicists and
vii
viii To the Instructor
engineers. Calculus is now a required course for biology majors Instructor Resources
at many universities, it is increasingly used as a quantitative
analysis tool in biological research, and many medical schools A variety of resources are available to help instructors teach
expect at least a semester of calculus. Few results depend on more effectively and efficiently. Most can be downloaded
calculus, and it can easily be sidestepped if an instructor de- from the Instructor Resources area of MasteringTM Physics.
sires an algebra-based course. Similarly, there are topics where ■ Ready-To-Go Teaching Modules are an online instruc-
the instructor could supplement the text with a somewhat more tor’s guide. Each chapter contains background information
rigorous use of calculus if his or her students have the neces- on what is known from physics education research about
sary math background. student misconceptions and difficulties, suggested teaching
Although this text is oriented toward the life sciences, it strategies, suggested lecture demonstrations, and suggested
assumes no background in biology on the part of the instructor. pre- and post-class assignments.
Examples and problems are self-contained. A basic familiarity ■ Mastering Physics is Pearson’s online homework system
with chemistry and chemical reactions is assumed. through which the instructor can assign pre-class reading
quizzes, tutorials that help students solve a problem with hints
Key Features and wrong-answer feedback, direct-measurement videos,
and end-of-chapter questions and problems. Instructors can
Many of the key features of this textbook are grounded in
devise their own assignments or utilize pre-built assignments
physics education research.
that have been designed with a good balance of problem
■ Annotated figures, now seen in many textbooks, were types and difficulties.
introduced to physics in the first edition of Knight’s ■ PowerPoint Lecture Slides can be modified by the instructor
Physics for Scientists and Engineers. Research shows that but provide an excellent starting point for class preparation.
the “instructor’s voice” greatly increases students’ ability The lecture slides include QuickCheck questions.
to understand the many figures and graphs used in physics. ■ QuickCheck “Clicker Questions” are conceptual ques-
■ Stop to Think Questions throughout the chapters are tions, based on known student misconceptions. They
based on documented student misconceptions. are designed to be used as part of an active-learning
■ NOTES throughout the chapters call students’ attention to teaching strategy. The Ready-To-Go teaching modules
concepts or procedures known to cause difficulty. provide information on the effective use of QuickCheck
■ Tactics Boxes and Problem-Solving Strategies help stu- questions.
dents develop good problem-solving skills. ■ The Instructor’s Solution Manual is available in both
■ Chapter Summaries are explicitly hierarchical in design Word and PDF formats. We do require that solutions for
to help students connect the ideas and see the big picture. student use be posted only on a secure course website.
Instructional Package
University Physics for the Life Sciences provides an integrated teaching and learning package of support material for students
and instructors.
NOTE For convenience, instructor supplements can be downloaded from the Instructor Resources area of Mastering Physics.
Instructor
or Student
Supplement Print Online Supplement Description
Mastering Physics ✓ Instructor This product features all of the resources of Mastering
with Pearson eText and Student Physics in addition to the new Pearson eText 2.0. Now
Supplement available on smartphones and tablets, Pearson eText 2.0
comprises the full text, including videos and other rich
media.
Instructor’s ✓ Instructor This comprehensive solutions manual contains com-
Solutions Manual Supplement plete solutions to all end-of-chapter questions and
problems.
TestGen Test Bank ✓ Instructor The Test Bank contains more than 2,000 high-quality
Supplement problems, with a range of multiple-choice, true/false,
short answer, and regular homework-type questions.
Test files are provided in both TestGen® and Word
format.
Instructor’s Resource ✓ ✓ Instructor All art, photos, and tables from the book are available
Materials Supplement in JPEG format and as modifiable PowerPointsTM. In
addition, instructors can access lecture outlines as well
as “clicker” questions in PowerPoint format, editable
content for key features, and all the instructor’s re-
sources listed above.
Ready-to-Go ✓ Instructor Ready-to-Go Teaching Modules provide instructors
Teaching Modules Supplement with easy-to-use tools for teaching the toughest top-
ics in physics. Created by the authors and designed to
be used before, during, and after class, these modules
demonstrate how to effectively use all the book, media,
and assessment resources that accompany University
Physics for the Life Sciences.
ix
x Instructional Package
Acknowledgments Product Manager Science–Physical Sciences, Darien Estes;

Senior Analyst HE Global Content Strategy–Physical Sci-
We have relied on conversations with and the written pub- ences, Deborah Harden; Senior Development Editor, Alice
lication of many members of the physics education com- Houston; Development Editor, Edward Dodd; Senior Content
munity and those involved in the Introductory Physics for Producer, Martha Steele; Senior Associate Content Analyst
Life Sciences movement. Those who may recognize their Physical Science, Pan-Science, Harry Misthos; and all the
influence include the late Lillian McDermott and members other staff at Pearson for their enthusiasm and hard work on
of the Physics Education Research Group at the University this project. It has been very much a team effort.
of Washington, Edward “Joe” Redish and members of the Thanks to Margaret McConnell, Project Manager, and
Physics Education Research Group at the University of Mary- the composition team at Integra for the production of the text;
land, Ben Dreyfus, Ben Geller, Bob Hilborn, Dawn Meredith, Carol Reitz for her fastidious copyediting; Joanna Dinsmore
and the late Steve Vogel. Ben Geller of Swarthmore College for her precise proofreading; and Jan Troutt and Tim Brum-
provided useful insights into teaching thermodynamics and mett at Troutt Visual Services for their attention to detail in the
contributed to the Ready-To-Go Teaching Modules. rendering and revising of the art.
We are especially grateful to our contributing author And, last but not least, we each want to thank our wives
Catherine Crouch at Swarthmore College for many new ideas and for their encouragement and patience.
examples, based on her experience developing a course for life
science majors, and for a detailed review of the entire manuscript. Randy Knight
Thanks to Christopher Porter, The Ohio State University, California Polytechnic State University.
for the difficult task of writing the Instructor’s Solutions Man-
ual; to Charlie Hibbard for accuracy checking every figure Brian Jones
and worked example in the text; to Elizabeth Holden, Univer- Colorado State University.
sity of Wisconsin-Platteville, for putting together the lecture
slides; and to Jason Harlow, University of Toronto, for updat- Stuart Field
ing the QuickCheck “clicker” questions. Colorado State University
We especially want to thank Director HE Content
Management Science & Health Sciences, Jeanne Zalesky;
Reviewers and Classroom Testers

Ward Beyermann, University of California–Riverside David Joffe, Kennesaw State University
Jim Buchholz, California Baptist University Lisa Lapidus, Michigan State University
David Buehrle, University of Maryland Eric Rowley, Wright State University
Robert Clare, University of California–Riverside Josh Samani, University of California–Los Angeles
Carl Covatto, Arizona State University Kazumi Tolich, University of Washington
Nicholas Darnton, Georgia Tech Luc Wille, Florida Atlantic University
Jason Deibel, Wright State University Xian Wu, University of Connecticut
Deborah Hemingway, University of Maryland
Detailed Contents
To the Student vi Chapter 4 Force and Motion 90
To the Instructor vii 4.1 Motion and Forces: Newton’s
First Law 91
P A RT I Force and Motion 2 4.2 Force 92
4.3 A Short Catalog of Forces 95
OVERVIEW The Science of Physics 3 4.4 What Do Forces Do? 98
4.5 Newton’s Second Law 100
4.6 Free-Body Diagrams 102
4.7 Working with Vectors 106
4.8 Using Newton’s Laws 111
SUMMARY 116
QUESTIONS AND PROBLEMS 117
Chapter 5 Interacting Systems 124

Chapter 1 Physics for the Life Sciences 4 5.1 Systems and Interactions 125
1.1 Why Physics? 5 5.2 Mass and Weight 125
1.2 Models and Modeling 7 5.3 Interactions with Surfaces 129
1.3 Case Study: Modeling Diffusion 8 5.4 Drag 135
1.4 Proportional Reasoning: Scaling 5.5 Springs and Elastic Forces 141
Laws in Biology 14 5.6 Newton’s Third Law 144
1.5 Where Do We Go from Here? 20 5.7 Newton’s Law of Gravity 150
SUMMARY 21 SUMMARY 155
QUESTIONS AND PROBLEMS 21 QUESTIONS AND PROBLEMS 156
Chapter 2 Describing Motion 25 Chapter 6 Equilibrium and Elasticity 163

2.1 Motion Diagrams 26 6.1 Extended Objects 164
2.2 Position, Time, and 6.2 Torque 164
Displacement 27 6.3 Gravitational Torque and the Center
2.3 Velocity 30 of Gravity 168
2.4 Acceleration 33 6.4 Static Equilibrium 172
2.5 Motion Along a Straight Line 36 6.5 Stability and Balance 176
2.6 Units and Significant Figures 41 6.6 Forces and Torques in the Body 179
SUMMARY 46 6.7 Elasticity and Deformation 182
QUESTIONS AND PROBLEMS 47 SUMMARY 190
Chapter 3 Motion Along a Line 52
3.1 Uniform Motion 53 Chapter 7 Circular and Rotational Motion 199
3.2 Instantaneous Velocity 56 7.1 Uniform Circular Motion 200
3.3 Finding Position from Velocity 60 7.2 Dynamics of Uniform Circular
3.4 Constant Acceleration 62 Motion 202
3.5 Solving Kinematics Problems 67 7.3 The Rotation of a Rigid Body 208
3.6 Free Fall 69 7.4 Rotational Dynamics and Moment
3.7 Projectile Motion 72 of Inertia 212
3.8 Modeling a Changing Acceleration 76 7.5 Rolling Motion 219
SUMMARY 80 SUMMARY 222
QUESTIONS AND PROBLEMS 81 QUESTIONS AND PROBLEMS 223
xi
xii Detailed Contents
Chapter 8 Momentum 230 10.4 Dissipative Forces and Thermal

8.1 Momentum and Impulse 231 Energy 322
8.2 Conservation of Momentum 235 10.5 Power and Efficiency 324
8.3 Collisions and Explosions 240 SUMMARY 330
8.4 Angular Momentum 244 QUESTIONS AND PROBLEMS 331
SUMMARY 248
QUESTIONS AND PROBLEMS 249 Chapter 11 Interactions and
Potential Energy 337
Chapter 9 Fluids 256 11.1 Potential Energy 338
9.1 Properties of Fluids 257 11.2 Conservation of Energy 340
9.2 Pressure 258 11.3 Elastic Potential Energy 346
9.3 Buoyancy 266 11.4 Energy Diagrams 350
9.4 Surface Tension and Capillary Action 272 11.5 Molecular Bonds and Chemical
9.5 Fluids in Motion 279 Energy 354
9.6 Ideal Fluid Dynamics 281 11.6 Connecting Potential Energy
9.7 Viscous Fluid Dynamics 284 to Force 359
9.8 The Circulatory System 289 11.7 The Expanded Energy Model 360
SUMMARY 295 11.8 Energy in the Body 362
QUESTIONS AND PROBLEMS 296 SUMMARY 370
PART I SUMMARY Force and Motion 304 QUESTIONS AND PROBLEMS 371
ONE STEP BEYOND Dark Matter and the Structure
of the Universe 305 Chapter 12 Thermodynamics 378
PART I PROBLEMS 306 12.1 Heat and the First Law
of Thermodynamics 379
12.2 Thermal Expansion 383
PART II Energy and 12.3 Specific Heat and Heat of
Transformation 385
Thermodynamics 308
12.4 Calorimetry 390
OVERVIEW Energy and Life 309 12.5 Heat Transfer 393
12.6 The Ideal Gas: A Model System 398
12.7 Thermodynamics of Ideal Gases 404
12.8 Enthalpy 409
SUMMARY 414
Chapter 13 Kinetic Theory 422

13.1 Connecting the Microscopic
and the Macroscopic 423
13.2 Molecular Speeds and Collisions 423
13.3 The Kinetic Theory of Gases 425
Chapter 10 Work and Energy 310
13.4 Thermal Energy and Specific Heat 431
10.1 Energy Overview 311 13.5 kBT and the Boltzmann Factor 437
10.2 Work and Kinetic Energy 313 13.6 Reaction Kinetics and Catalysis 441
10.3 Work Done by a Force That
13.7 Diffusion 445
Changes 319 SUMMARY 452
Detailed Contents xiii
Chapter 14 Entropy and Free Energy 459 16.5 Circular and Spherical Waves 560
14.1 Reversible and Irreversible 16.6 Power, Intensity, and Decibels 562
Processes 460 16.7 The Doppler Effect 565
14.2 Microstates, Multiplicity, and SUMMARY 570
Entropy 463 QUESTIONS AND PROBLEMS 571
14.3 Using Entropy 468
14.4 Spontaneity and Gibbs Free Energy 474 Superposition and
Chapter 17
14.5 Doing Useful Work 479 Standing Waves 578
14.6 Using Gibbs Free Energy 483
14.7 Mixing and Osmosis 485 17.1 The Principle of Superposition 579
SUMMARY 495 17.2 Standing Waves 580
QUESTIONS AND PROBLEMS 496 17.3 Standing Waves on a String 583
17.4 Standing Sound Waves 587
PART II SUMMARY Energy and Thermodynamics 502 17.5 The Physics of Speech 591
ONE STEP BEYOND Entropy and the Living World 503 17.6 Interference Along a Line 593
PART II PROBLEMS 504 17.7 Interference in Two and Three
Dimensions 599
17.8 Beats 603
PART III Oscillations and SUMMARY 607
Waves 506 QUESTIONS AND PROBLEMS 608
OVERVIEW Motion That Repeats 507 PART III SUMMARY Oscillations and Waves 616
ONE STEP BEYOND Waves in the Earth and the Ocean 617
PART III PROBLEMS 618
PART IV Optics 620

OVERVIEW The Wave Model of Light 621
Chapter 15 Oscillations 508

15.1 Simple Harmonic Motion 509
15.2 SHM and Circular Motion 513
15.3 Energy in SHM 516
15.4 Linear Restoring Forces 520
15.5 The Pendulum 525
15.6 Damped Oscillations 528 Chapter 18 Wave Optics 622
15.7 Driven Oscillations and Resonance 531 18.1 Models of Light 623
SUMMARY 534 18.2 Thin-Film Interference 625
QUESTIONS AND PROBLEMS 535 18.3 Double-Slit Interference 630
18.4 The Diffraction Grating 634
Chapter 16 Traveling Waves and Sound 543 18.5 Single-Slit Diffraction 638
16.1 An Introduction to Waves 544 18.6 Circular-Aperture Diffraction 642
16.2 Visualizing Wave Motion 546 18.7 X Rays and X-Ray Diffraction 644
16.3 Sinusoidal Waves 550 SUMMARY 648
16.4 Sound and Light 555 QUESTIONS AND PROBLEMS 649
xiv Detailed Contents
Chapter 19 Ray Optics 656 21.6 The Motion of a Charged Particle in an

19.1 The Ray Model of Light 657 Electric Field 754
21.7 The Torque on a Dipole in an Electric
19.2 Reflection 659
19.3 Refraction 662 Field 756
19.4 Image Formation by Refraction 667 SUMMARY 761
19.5 Thin Lenses: Ray Tracing 668 QUESTIONS AND PROBLEMS 762
19.6 The Thin-Lens Equation 674
19.7 Image Formation with Spherical Chapter 22 Electric Potential 770
Mirrors 677 22.1 Electric Potential Energy 771
19.8 Color and Dispersion 680 22.2 The Electric Potential 778
SUMMARY 685 22.3 Calculating the Electric Potential 781
QUESTIONS AND PROBLEMS 686 22.4 The Potential of a Continuous
Distribution of Charge 787
22.5 Sources of Electric Potential 791
Chapter 20 Optical Instruments 692
22.6 Connecting Potential and Field 793
20.1 Lenses in Combination 693 22.7 The Electrocardiogram 797
20.2 The Camera 694 SUMMARY 802
20.3 The Human Eye 697 QUESTIONS AND PROBLEMS 803
20.4 Magnifiers and Microscopes 702
20.5 The Resolution of Optical Chapter 23 Biological Applications of
Instruments 706 Electric Fields and Potentials 811
20.6 Microscopy 710
23.1 Capacitance and Capacitors 812
SUMMARY 717
23.2 Combinations of Capacitors 816
23.3 Dielectrics 819
PART IV SUMMARY Optics 724 23.4 Electrostatics in Salt Water 824
ONE STEP BEYOND Phase-Contrast Microscopy 725 23.5 The Membrane Potential of a Cell 829
PART IV PROBLEMS 726 SUMMARY 835
PART V Electricity and Chapter 24 Current and Resistance 842

Magnetism 728 24.1 A Model of Current 843
OVERVIEW Charges, Currents, and Fields 729 24.2 Defining Current 844
24.3 Batteries and emf 848
24.4 Resistance and Conductance 850
24.5 Ohm’s Law and Resistor Circuits 853
24.6 Energy and Power 856
24.7 Alternating Current 859
SUMMARY 864
Chapter 25 Circuits 871
25.1 Circuit Elements and Diagrams 872
25.2 Using Kirchhoff’s Laws 873
Chapter 21 Electric Forces and Fields 730
25.3 Series and Parallel Circuits 876
21.1 The Charge Model 731 25.4 Measuring Voltage and Current 881
21.2 A Microscopic Model of Charge 737 25.5 More Complex Circuits 882
21.3 Coulomb’s Law 740 25.6 Electric Safety 885
21.4 The Electric Field 744 25.7 RC Circuits 888
21.5 The Electric Field of Multiple 25.8 Electricity in the Nervous System 891
Charges 747 SUMMARY 898
Detailed Contents xv
Chapter 26 Magnetic Fields and Forces 907 28.3 Photons 1000

26.1 Magnetism 908 28.4 Matter Waves 1003
26.2 The Magnetic Field of a Current 911 28.5 Energy Is Quantized 1005
26.3 Magnetic Dipoles 915 28.6 Energy Levels and Quantum Jumps 1007
26.4 The Magnetic Force on a Moving 28.7 The Uncertainty Principle 1009
Charge 920 28.8 Applications of Quantum Physics 1012
26.5 Magnetic Forces on Current- SUMMARY 1017
Carrying Wires 927 QUESTIONS AND PROBLEMS 1018
26.6 Forces and Torques on Magnetic
Dipoles 929 Chapter 29 Atoms and Molecules 1025
26.7 Magnetic Resonance Imaging 932 29.1 Spectroscopy 1026
SUMMARY 940 29.2 Atoms 1027
QUESTIONS AND PROBLEMS 941 29.3 The Hydrogen Atom 1033
29.4 Multi-electron Atoms 1037
Chapter 27 Electromagnetic Induction 29.5 Excited States and Spectra 1040
and Electromagnetic Waves 949 29.6 Molecules 1043
27.1 Induced Currents 950 29.7 Fluorescence and Bioluminescence 1046
27.2 Motional emf 951 29.8 Stimulated Emission and Lasers 1047
27.3 Magnetic Flux and Lenz’s Law 955 SUMMARY 1051
27.4 Faraday’s Law 960 QUESTIONS AND PROBLEMS 1052
27.5 Induced Fields 963
27.6 Electromagnetic Waves 965 Chapter 30 Nuclear Physics 1058
27.7 Polarization 968 30.1 Nuclear Structure 1059
27.8 The Interaction of Electromagnetic 30.2 Nuclear Stability 1063
Waves with Matter 971 30.3 The Strong Force 1066
SUMMARY 977 30.4 Radiation and Radioactivity 1069
QUESTIONS AND PROBLEMS 978 30.5 Types of Nuclear Decay 1074
PART V SUMMARY Electricity and Magnetism 986 30.6 The Interaction of Ionizing
ONE STEP BEYOND The Greenhouse Effect and Global Radiation with Matter 1079
Warming 987 30.7 Nuclear Medicine 1082
PART V PROBLEMS 988 30.8 The Ultimate Building Blocks
of Matter 1086
SUMMARY 1091
PART VI Modern Physics 990 QUESTIONS AND PROBLEMS 1092
OVERVIEW New Ways of Looking at the World 991 PART VI SUMMARY Modern Physics 1098
ONE STEP BEYOND The Physics of Very Cold Atoms 1099
PART VI PROBLEMS 1100
Appendix A Mathematics Review A-1

Appendix B Periodic Table of Elements A-5
Appendix C Studying for and Taking
the MCAT Exam A-7
Appendix D Atomic and Nuclear Data A-11
Answers to Odd-Numbered Problems A-15
Credits C-1
Chapter 28 Quantum Physics 992 Index I-1
28.1 Physics at the Atomic Level 993
28.2 The Photoelectric Effect 994
PA R T
I Force and Motion
Elite athletes push the human body’s physical limits. What forces act on
this sprinter as she accelerates? How much force can her muscles, tendons,
and bones endure? How much air can flow into her lungs? How rapidly can
blood be pumped through her veins? These are physics questions that help
us understand human performance, questions we’ll address in Part I.
2
OVERVIEW
The Science of Physics

Physics is the foundational science that underlies biology, chemistry, earth science,
and all other fields that attempt to understand our natural world. Physicists couple
careful experimentation with theoretical insights to build powerful and predictive
models of how the world works. A key aspect of physics is that it is a unifying dis-
cipline: A relatively small number of key concepts can explain a vast array of natural
phenomena. In this text, we have organized the chapters into parts according to six
of these unifying principles. Each of the six parts opens with an overview that gives
you a look ahead, a glimpse of where your journey will take you in the next few
chapters. It’s easy to lose sight of the big picture while you’re busy negotiating the
terrain of each chapter. In Part I, the big picture is, in a word, change.
Why Things Change

Simple observations of the world around you show that most things change. Some
changes, such as aging, are biological. Others, such as the burning of gasoline in
your car, are chemical. In Part I, we will look at changes that involve motion of one
form or another—from running and jumping to swimming microorganisms.
There are two big questions we must tackle to study how things change by moving:
■ How do we describe motion? How should we measure or characterize the mo-

tion if we want to analyze it quantitatively?
■ How do we explain motion? Why do objects have the particular motion they
do? When you toss a ball upward, why does it go up and then come back down
rather than keep going up? What are the “laws of nature” that allow us to predict
an object’s motion?
Two key concepts that will help answer these questions are force (the “cause”) and
acceleration (the “effect”). Our basic tools will be three laws of motion worked out
by Isaac Newton to relate force and motion. We will use Newton’s laws to explore
a wide range of problems—from how a sprinter accelerates to how blood flows
through the circulatory system. As you learn to solve problems dealing with motion,
you will be learning techniques that you can apply throughout this text.
Using Models
Another key aspect of physics is the importance of models. Suppose we want to
analyze a ball moving through the air. Is it necessary to analyze the way the atoms in
the ball are connected? Or the details of how the ball is spinning? Or the small drag
force it experiences as it moves? These are interesting questions, of course. But if
our task is to understand the motion of the ball, we need to simplify!
We can conduct a perfectly fine analysis of the ball’s motion by treating the
ball as a single particle moving through the air. This is a model of the situation. A
model is a simplified description of reality that is used to reduce the complexity of a
problem so it can be analyzed and understood. Both physicists and biologists make
extensive use of models to simplify complex situations, and in Part I you’ll begin to
learn where and how models are employed and assessed. Learning how to simplify
a situation is the essence of successful problem solving.
3
1 Physics for the Life
Sciences
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is
just one of many ways that physics
has contributed to biology and
medicine. We’ll look at how images
like this are created in Chapter 26.
LOOKING AHEAD
Chapter Previews Modeling Scaling
Each chapter starts with a preview outlining A dialysis machine serves as an artificial kid- If you know the metabolic rate of a hamster,
the major topics of the chapter and how they ney by having waste products diffuse through you can calculate the metabolic rate of a
are relevant to the life sciences. a membrane from blood into a dialysis liquid. horse—or of any other mammal.
Studies find that your understanding of a You’ll see how physicists model complex You’ll learn how scaling laws connect many
chapter is improved by knowing what key situations as we construct a model of dif- basic physiological processes to body size
points to look for as you read. fusion based on the idea of a random walk. or body mass.
GOAL To understand some of the ways that physics and quantitative reasoning shed light on biological processes.
PHYSICS AND LIFE

Biology Is Subject to the Laws of Physics
The rich diversity of life on our planet shares one thing in common: All living organisms are
subject to the laws of physics. Physical laws, such as energy conservation and the laws of
fluid flow, constrain what is possible for life, and life has responded to the challenge spec-
tacularly. Physics also provides powerful tools for the life sciences, enabling us to image
and measure cells and organisms ranging from viruses to humans. Biologists and physicians
emphasize the importance of understanding how these tools work—particularly, recognizing
when tools aren’t working correctly or won’t work effectively in a certain situation. Our goal
in this text is to help you understand living systems and biomedical tools more deeply by
exploring the physical mechanisms at work from large scales to small, from organisms down This scanning electron microscope image
shows Salmonella bacteria (red) invading
to molecules. This first chapter will introduce you to several key ideas. immune cells. You’ll learn about electron
microscopes in Chapter 28.
1.1 Why Physics? 5
1.1 Why Physics?

Why take physics? Does knowing about projectiles, pendulums, or magnetic fields
help you understand biological systems? Do doctors or microbiologists or ecologists
think about or use the principles of physics?
Actually, the answer to these questions is Yes. The existence of separate biology,
chemistry, and physics departments may make it seem like these are distinct sci-
ences, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. Our overarching goal in this text is
to help you discover the central importance of physics to the life sciences. Biological
systems are part of the physical world, and biological processes are physical pro-
cesses, so the laws of physics can help you understand a great deal about biology,
biochemistry, and medicine. Let’s look at some examples:
Physics in biology
The circulatory system, from the heart to Neurons signal each other via electric The light-emitting properties of the green
the capillaries, is governed by fluid pulses that travel along axons. This is a fluorescent protein are used to visualize
dynamics. You’ll study the physics of topic we’ll visit in Chapter 25. cell structure. Fluorescence is covered in
circulation in Chapter 9. Chapter 29.
Physics in biomechanics
The physics of locomotion affects how Physics helps us understand the limits of And physics explains how sap rises in trees
fast an animal can run. Locomotion is the athletic performance. Chapter 11 looks at through the xylem. This somewhat counter-
topic of several chapters in Part I. how the body uses energy. intuitive fluid flow is described in Chapter 9.
Physics in medicine
Pulse oximetry measures blood oxygen A patient prepares to have cancer treated Lasers are used for high-precision eye surgery
with a clip-on device. Chapter 29 discusses by proton irradiation. Radiation and radia- of both the cornea and the retina. Chapter 20
how blood absorbs different colors of light. tion therapy are topics in Chapter 30. covers the optics of the human eye.
6 CHAPTER 1 Physics for the Life Sciences
These are among the many applications of physics to the life sciences that you’ll
learn about in this book. That said, this is a physics textbook, not a biology textbook.
We need to develop the underlying principles of physics before we can explore the ap-
plications, so we will often start with rolling balls, oscillating springs, and other simple
systems that illustrate the physical principles. Then, after laying the foundations, we will
move on to see how these ideas apply to biology and medicine. As authors, our sincere
hope is that this course will help you see why many things in biology happen as they do.
Physics and Biology

TABLE 1.1 Characteristics of biology Physicists and biologists are scientists: They share many common views of what sci-
and physics ence is and how science operates. At the same time, as TABLE 1.1 illustrates, physicists
Biology Physics and biologists often see the world in rather different ways. Your physics course will
Irreducibly complex Simple models be less stressful and more productive if you’re aware of these differences.
systems Physics tries to get at the essence of a process by identifying broad principles,
More quantitative
such as energy conservation, and applying them to systems that have been greatly
More qualitative
simplified by stripping away superfluous details. This approach is less common in
Focus on specific Focus on broad biology, where systems often can’t be simplified without throwing out details that
examples principles
are essential to biological function. You may have taken biology courses in which
you were expected to memorize a great deal of information; there’s much less to
memorize in physics. Instead, most physicists agree that students demonstrate their
understanding of physics by using general principles to solve unfamiliar problems.
With that in mind, we can establish four large-scale goals for this text. By the end,
you should be able to:
• Recognize and use the principles of physics to explain physical phenomena.
• Understand the importance of models in physics.
• Reason quantitatively.
• Apply the principles of physics to biological systems.
The examples in this text will help you at each step along the way, and the end-of-
chapter problems will provide many opportunities for practice.
Mathematics
Physics is the most quantitative of all the sciences. As physics has developed, the
laws of physics have come to be stated as mathematical equations. These equations
can be used to make quantitative, testable predictions about nature, whether it’s the
orbit of a satellite or the pressure needed to pump blood through capillaries. This
approach to science has proven to be extremely powerful; much of modern bio-
medical technology—from electron microscopes to radiation therapy—depends on
the equations of physics.
But math is used in physics for more than simply doing calculations. The equa-
tions of physics tell a story; they’re a shorthand way to describe how different
concepts are related to one another. So, while we can use the ideal-gas law to calcu-
Seeing the details A scanning electron
microscope produces highly detailed images late the pressure in a container of gas, it’s more useful to recognize that the pressure
of biological structures only a few nanome- of a gas in a rigid container (one that has a constant volume) increases in exactly the
ters in size. The level of detail in this image same proportion as the absolute temperature. Consequently, doubling the tempera-
of a budding HIV virus can provide new ture causes the pressure to double. The ideal-gas law expresses a set of deep ideas
understanding of how the virus spreads and about how gases behave.
how it might be stopped. Physics has been at
the forefront of developing a wide variety of So, yes, we will often use equations to calculate values. But, more fundamentally,
imaging technologies. physics is about using math to reason and to analyze; that is, math is a thinking tool
as much as it is a calculation tool. This may be a new way of using math for you,
but—with some practice and experience—we think you’ll come to recognize the
power of this way of thinking.
The math used in this book is mostly math you already know: algebra, geometry,
and some trigonometry. You might need some review (see Appendix A), but we’re
confident that you can handle the math. Physics does use many symbols to represent
1.2 Models and Modeling 7
quantities, such as F for force, p for pressure, and E for energy, so many of our
equations—like the ideal-gas law—are algebraic equations that show how quanti-
ties are related to one another. It’s customary to use Greek letters to represent some
quantities, but we’ll let you know what those letters are when we introduce them.
We will, in some chapters, use a little bit of the calculus of derivatives and inte-
grals. Don’t panic! Our interest, once again, is not so much in doing calculations as in
understanding how different physical quantities are related to one another. And we’ll
remind you, at the appropriate times, what derivatives and integrals are all about. In
fact, most students feel that they come to understand calculus much better after study-
ing physics because physics provides a natural context for illustrating why calculus
is useful.
1.2 Models and Modeling

The real world is messy and complicated. A well-established procedure in phys-
ics is to brush aside many of the real-world details in order to discern patterns that
occur over and over. For example, an object oscillating back and forth on a spring,
a swinging pendulum, a vibrating guitar string, a sound wave, and an atom jiggling
in a crystal seem very different—yet perhaps they are not really so different. Each
is an example of a system oscillating around an equilibrium position. If we focus on
understanding the properties of a very simple oscillating system, we’ll find that we
understand quite a bit about the many real-world manifestations of oscillations.
Stripping away the details to focus on essential features is a process called model-
ing. A model is a simplified picture of reality, but one that still captures the essence
of what we want to study. Thus “mass on a spring” is a model of almost all oscillat-
ing systems. Models allow us to make sense of complex situations by providing a
framework for thinking about them.
A memorable quote attributed to Albert Einstein is that physics “should be as
simple as possible—but not simpler.” We want to use the simplest model that al-
lows us to understand the phenomenon we’re studying, but we can’t make the model
so simple that essential features of the phenomenon are lost. That’s somewhat of a
problem in this text because understanding the physics of a biological system is not
the same as understanding the biology. Our models of biological systems may seem
to throw out much of the relevant biology, but keep in mind that our goal is to un-
derstand the ways in which the physical properties of the system have a meaningful
effect on aspects of the biology.
We’ll develop and use many models throughout this textbook; they’ll be one of
our most important thinking tools. These models will be of two types:
• Descriptive models: What are the essential characteristics and properties of a phe-
nomenon? How do we describe it in the simplest possible terms? For example,
we will often model a cell as a water-filled sphere. This omits all the details about
what’s inside, but for some purposes, such as estimating a cell’s mass or volume,
we don’t need to know what’s inside.
• Explanatory models: Why do things happen as they do? What causes what?
Explanatory models have predictive power, allowing us to test—against experi-
mental data—whether a model provides an adequate explanation of an observed
phenomenon. A spring-like model of molecular bonds will allow us to explain
many of the thermal properties of materials.
Biologists also use models. A biological model, often qualitative rather than
quantitative, is a simplified representation of the structure and function of a biologi- The eyes have it We study a model organ-
cal system or a biological process. The cell model is a simplified presentation of an ism not to learn details about the organism
immensely complex system, but it allows you to think logically about the key pieces but because the organism lends itself to the
understanding of broad biological principles.
and processes of a cell. Mice, fruit flies, and nematodes are important model organ- Drosophila melanogaster, a common fruit
isms that lend themselves to the study of particular biological questions without fly, has provided immeasurable insights into
unnecessary complications. genetics for more than a century.
At the same time, biology and medicine are becoming increasingly quantitative,
with models more and more like those constructed by physicists. For example:
• Mathematical models of enzyme kinetics provide quantitative predictions of
complex biochemical pathways.
• Neural network models improve our understanding of both real brains and artifi-
cial intelligence.
• Epidemiological models increase our knowledge of how disease spreads.
• Global climate models that illustrate the earth’s climate and how it is changing
depend on a complex interplay between living (e.g., photosynthesis) and nonliv-
ing (e.g., solar radiation) processes.
These models skip over many details in order to provide a big-picture understand-
ing of the system. That’s the purpose of a model. This is not to say that details are
unimportant—most scientists spend most of their careers studying the details—but
that we don’t want to let the trees obscure our view of the forest.
1.3 Case Study: Modeling Diffusion

Diffusion is one of the most important physical processes in biology. Oxygen diffuses
from your lungs to your blood, and neurotransmitters diffuse across the synapses that
connect one neuron to the next. We’ll study diffusion extensively in Chapter 13, but
as a case study let’s see how a physicist might model diffusion and conclude when
diffusion has biological significance. That is, our goal is to create a model that makes
testable predictions of how far molecules can diffuse and how long it takes them to
do so.
NOTE ▶ The analysis in this section is more complex than you are expected to
do on your own. However, it is expected that you will follow the reasoning and be
FIGURE 1.1 The possible motion of able to answer questions about the procedure and the results. ◀
one molecule as it collides with other
molecules.
On a microscopic scale, molecules are constantly jostling around and colliding
with one another, an atomic-level motion we’ll later associate with thermal energy.
Any one molecule moves only a short distance before a collision sends it off in a dif-
ferent direction. Its trajectory, if we could see it, might look something like FIGURE 1.1:
lots of short, straight segments of apparently random lengths in what appear to be
random directions.
This is a chaotic and complex motion. The essence of modeling is to make simpli-
fying assumptions, so how might we begin? The photographs in FIGURE 1.2 provide a
clue. The left photo shows blue dye carefully deposited as a thin layer in a test tube
of agar gel. The right photo is the same test tube one week later. It’s a slow process,
but the dye has diffused both up and down in a symmetrical pattern. This suggests
FIGURE 1.2 Vertical diffusion of blue dye. that we start not with the complex three-dimensional motion of a molecule but with
the simpler case of diffusion along a one-dimensional linear axis.
A sidewalk is a linear axis. Suppose you stand at one location on an east-west
sidewalk and flip a coin. If it’s heads, you take one step to the east; if tails, one step
to the west. Then you toss the coin again, and again, and again, each time randomly
taking a step to the east or to the west. You would be engaged in what physicists and
mathematicians call a one-dimensional random walk. Because collisions randomly
redirect molecules, let’s see what we can learn by modeling molecular motion as a
random walk.
NOTE ▶ Variations on the random-walk model are used in applications rang-
ing from protein folding and genetic drift to predicting share prices on the stock
market. ◀
In particular, let’s imagine a molecule that starts at the origin, x = 0, and then
takes a random walk along the x-axis. That is, the molecule, at regular intervals,
1.3 Case Study: Modeling Diffusion 9
randomly takes a step whose length we’ll call d in either the +x@direction or the FIGURE 1.3 The first 10 steps of one
-x@direction. At each step there’s a 50% chance of going either way. To help make possible random walk.
this clear, FIGURE 1.3 shows what might be the first 10 steps of the molecule. The first Each step is
10
two steps are to the right, the third back to the left, and so on. The molecule seems equally likely to
x10 9
go right or left.
to wander aimlessly—that’s the essence of random motion—and after 10 steps its 8
position is x 10 = -2d. 7 Step number
6
Now diffusion involves not one molecule but many, so imagine that we have a very 5
large number of molecules that each move in one dimension along the x-axis. Assume x10 is the molecule’s x4
4
position at the end
that each molecule starts at the origin and then undergoes a random walk. What can of step 10.
3
2
we say about the collective behavior of a large number of random-walking molecules? x0
1
This is a problem that can be worked out exactly by using statistics, but the x
mathematical manipulations are a bit tricky. Instead, we’ll explore the model as a -3d -2d -d 0 d 2d 3d
computer simulation, one that you could do yourself in a spreadsheet. Suppose you
put a zero in a spreadsheet cell to show a molecule’s starting position. In the cell to
the right, you use the spreadsheet’s random-number generator—a digital coin flip—
to either add d to the initial position (a step to the right) or subtract d from the initial
position (a step to the left). Then you do the same thing in the next cell to the right,
and then the next cell to the right of that, and so on, each time adding or subtracting
d from the previous cell with a 50% chance of each. The 101st cell will be the mol-
ecule’s position after taking 100 random steps.
Now you can add a second row of cells for a second molecule, a third row for
a third molecule, and so on. It might take a big spreadsheet, but you can have as
many molecules and as many steps as you wish. We’ve used exactly this procedure
to simulate the random walks of 1000 molecules for 100 steps each. FIGURE 1.4 gives
the result by using dots to show the final positions of each of these molecules. Note
that all molecules must be at an even multiple of d after an even number of steps, so
the possible positions after 100 steps are 0, {2d, {4d, and so on. You can see that the
first molecule—the top row—ends up at x 100 = 4d while the 453rd molecule in
the 453rd row ends at x 100 = 24d.
FIGURE 1.4 The result of 1000 molecules following a random walk for 100 steps.
Molecule 1 ends
up at x100 = 4d.
1
Molecule number
Molecule 453 ends

up at x100 = 24d.
1000
-30d -20d -10d 0 10d 20d 30d
Position on the x-axis after 100 steps
The motion may be random, but the collective motion of many molecules reveals
a pattern. Figure 1.4 shows that roughly half the molecules end up to the right of the
origin and half to the left. That’s exactly what we would expect from randomly tak-
ing steps to the right or left. Mathematically, we can say that the average position of
all 1000 molecules is x avg = 0. That is, the center of this array of dots is at the origin.
You can see this in the second photo of Figure 1.2: The dye has spread, but it has
done so symmetrically so that the center of the dye, its average position, is still in the
middle of the test tube.
The center may not have moved, but the molecules are spreading out, which is
exactly what diffusion is. However, the spreading is perhaps not as much as you
might have expected. After 100 steps, a molecule could have reached x = 100d, but
you can see from Figure 1.4 that, in fact, most are less than 10d from the origin.
Even the most adventuresome molecule—one in a thousand—has moved out a dis-
tance of only 30d. A moment’s thought tells why. Any molecule’s position after 100
steps is determined by 100 coin tosses. Although you don’t expect to get exactly
50 heads and 50 tails, you do expect the number of heads to be fairly similar to the
number of tails. In the same way, a molecule won’t move very far from the origin if
FIGURE 1.5 A histogram of the 1000 the number of steps it takes to the right is fairly similar to the number it takes to the
molecular positions in Figure 1.4. left. Reaching x = 100d would require tossing 100 heads in a row, an outcome that
The most likely xrms is extraordinarily unlikely.
Number of occurrences
80 final position is We can analyze the 1000 molecular positions in Figure 1.4 by creating the
x100 = 0.
60 histogram of FIGURE 1.5. A histogram is a bar chart that shows how many molecules
end up at each position. The histogram is a bell curve, showing that x 100 = 0 is the
40
most likely final position, occurring 80 times out of the 1000 molecules, and that
20 final positions becomes less likely as you move away from the origin. The computer-
simulation bell curve is a bit ragged with only 1000 molecules, but, as you can
0
-30d -20d -10d 0 10d 20d 30d imagine, it would become a very smooth curve if we could run the simulation with
Position on the x-axis after 100 steps billions of molecules.
Measuring the Spread Due to Diffusion

Diffusing molecules spread out, and that’s exactly what the molecules in our model
are doing. How can we measure this? What quantity describes the amount of spread-
ing? Averaging the positions of all the molecules results in zero, as we’ve seen, so the
average position doesn’t tell us anything about spreading. You might think of averag-
ing the absolute values of the positions; those are all positive, and their average—
which is not zero—really would give some information about spreading. However, it
turns out that working with absolute values presents mathematical difficulties.
FIGURE 1.6 A graph showing how x 2 Rather than averaging absolute values, let’s average the squares of the positions
changes for one molecule and, on of each of the molecules. That is, we square the positions of all 1000 molecules,
average, for 1000 molecules during the
first 100 steps of a random walk.
add the squares, and then divide by 1000 to find the average. We’ll use the nota-
tion (x 2)avg to indicate this average of the squares of the positions. Squares are
x2 (x2)avg for 1000 molecules positive, so (x 2)avg is not zero. But is it useful? To find out, FIGURE 1.6 graphs x 2
2
100d during the 100 steps of our computer simulation both for one molecule and for
80d 2 x2 of one molecule (x 2)avg when averaged over all 1000 molecules.
60d 2 The graph for one molecule is always positive, as it must be, but not very useful.
It looks like the molecule managed to walk out to x = {8d in 33 steps, making
40d 2
x 2 = 64d 2, then returned to the origin after 43 steps, got as far as x = {9d after 87
20d 2 and 89 steps, but ended back at x = {6d. All in all, it’s pretty much what you might
0 expect for one molecule engaged in a random walk.
0 20 40 60 80 100
But averaging the squares of the positions of a large number of molecules tells a
Number of steps
different story. You can see that (x 2)avg increases linearly with the number of steps,
and the average becomes a better and better straight line if we increase the number of
molecules in the average. Furthermore, it appears that (x 2)avg ≈ 50d 2 after 50 steps
and (x 2)avg ≈ 100d 2 after 100 steps. That is, our computer simulation suggests that
(x 2)avg = nd 2 after n steps. And, indeed, a rigorous statistical analysis proves that this
is true.
The square root of (x 2)avg is called the root-mean-square distance x rms, often
called the rms distance. Taking the square root of (x 2)avg = nd 2 gives
x rms = 2(x 2)avg = 1n d (1.1)
The root mean square—the square root of the mean (i.e., the average) of the
squares—is a useful way of describing the spread of a set of values that are sym-
metrical about zero. We’ll revisit this concept at several points throughout this text.
is simply the step size d multiplied by the square root of n. Thus x rms = 116 d = 4d
For our random-walking molecules, the root-mean-square distance x rms after n steps
after 16 steps and x rms = 1100 d = 10d after 100 steps, as our simulations showed.
The root-mean-square distance is shown on the histogram of Figure 1.5, and you can
see that x rms is a reasonably good answer to the question: What is the typical distance
that the molecules have spread after n steps?
It can be shown, using the tools of probability and statistics, that x rms is the stan-
dard deviation of the histogram, a term you may have encountered in statistics. One
can show that, on average, 68% of all the molecules have positions between -x rms
and +x rms, while only 5% have traveled farther than 2x rms. Of our 1000 molecules
that took 100 steps and have x rms = 10d, we would expect 680 to have traveled no
farther than 10d from the origin and only 50 to have exceeded 20d. This is a good
description of the results shown in Figures 1.4 and 1.5. Thus x rms appears to be quite
a good indicator of about how much spreading has occurred after n steps. We can say
that x rms is the diffusion distance.
EXAMPLE 1.1 Diffusive spreading

What is the diffusion distance as a fraction of the maximum For the different values of n we can compute
possible travel distance after 102, 106, and 1012 steps?
for n = 102
= • 10-3
10-1
PREPARE The maximum possible travel distance increases x diff
for n = 106
linearly with the number of steps n, but the diffusion distance x max
10-6 for n = 1012
increases more slowly, with the square root of n.
SOLVE If a molecule moves in the same direction for every ASSESS Compared to how far a molecule could travel, the diffu-
step, it will travel distance x max = nd in n steps. This is the sion distance rapidly decreases as the number of steps increases.
x diff = x rms = 1n d. Thus

maximum possible travel distance. The diffusion distance is Diffusion is 10% of the maximum distance after 100 steps but
only one-millionth of the maximum distance after 1012 steps, a
1n d
number that is comparable to the number of collisions a molecule
1n
x diff 1 undergoes each second. Having lots of collisions does not mean
= =
x max nd rapid spreading.
NOTE ▶Worked examples in this text will follow a three-part problem-solving

strategy: Prepare, Solve, and Assess. These examples are intended to illustrate
good problem-solving procedures, and we strongly encourage you to use the
same approach in your own work. We’ll look at this problem-solving strategy in
more detail in Chapter 3. ◀
Connecting to the Real World

Our analysis of the random walk has revealed some interesting similarities to what
is known about diffusion, but how can we judge whether this model is an accurate
description of diffusion? What quantitative prediction can we make to connect this
model to what happens in the physical world?
Two things that we can easily measure are distance and time, so let’s work out
the relationship between the diffusion distance and the length of time that the sys-
tem spends diffusing. We can then compare measurements to the predictions of this
model to see how good the model is. First, let’s represent the time interval between
steps of the random walk by the symbol ∆t, where ∆ is an uppercase Greek delta.
As you’ll see in Chapter 2, we use the symbol t to represent a specific instant of time
and ∆t to represent an interval of time. If the molecules start moving at time t = 0,
then at a later time t they will have taken n = t/∆t steps. If, for example, a step is
1
taken every ∆t = 10 s, there will have been 100 steps at t = 10 s . We can write x rms
in terms of t and ∆t as
x rms = 1n d = = 1v d t
A ∆t B ∆t
t td 2
d=
For the last step we used the fact that d/∆t = distance/time, as in miles per hour or
meters per second, is the molecule’s speed. Throughout this text we’ll use the symbol v
(from velocity) to represent speed, with v = d/∆t.
Let’s define the diffusion coefficient D to be

1 d2 1
D= = vd (1.2)
2 ∆t 2
The diffusion coefficient connects our model to the physical world because it de-
pends on the speed v of molecules and the distance d traveled between collisions. A
factor of 12 is included in the definition to avoid a factor of 2 in an important equation
that you’ll meet in Chapter 13. Thus our model predicts that the root-mean-square
distance should increase with time as
x rms = 22D t (1.3)
The real world is three dimensional, not a straight line. That turns out to be an easy
extension of our model. Suppose each step is {d along the x-axis and {d along
starting point is r = 2x 2 + y 2 + z2. Averaging the squares, as we did above, gives

the y-axis and {d along the z-axis. In this 3D world, a molecule’s distance from the
(r 2)avg = (x 2)avg + (y 2)avg + (z2)avg

The x-axis does not differ from the y-axis or the z-axis, so averages should be the
same along each axis. Thus
(r 2)avg = (x 2)avg + (y 2)avg + (z2)avg = 2Dt + 2Dt + 2Dt = 6Dt (1.4)
If we define the three-dimensional root-mean-square distance as rrms = 2(r 2)avg ,
then
rrms = 26D t (1.5)
This is our model’s prediction for how far molecules will diffuse in three dimensions
in time t.
Equation 1.5 is a quantitative, testable prediction of our model. It says that the
distance molecules diffuse should increase with the square root of the elapsed time.
you go twice as far in twice the time. But because 22 = 1.41, our prediction is that
This is not what your intuition suggests. If you walk or run or drive at a steady speed,
molecules will diffuse only 1.41 times as far in 20 s as they do in 10 s. It will take
40 s to diffuse twice as far as in 10 s. In fact, this prediction is confirmed by count-
less experiments.
To really test our model, we would also like to predict a numerical value for
the diffusion coefficient D. What do we know that will help us at least estimate D?
Estimating is a valuable scientific skill, one we’ll spend a fair amount of time on in
Crossing the gap Nerve impulses travel-
this text, so let’s look at how to approach an estimation.
ing from neuron to neuron have to cross the Our random-walk model is a simplification of the idea that molecules are constantly
synaptic cleft between the axon terminal of colliding and changing direction, so let’s think about what is known about molecular
one neuron and the dendrite receptor of the motions and collisions. For one thing, we can infer that molecules in a liquid are pretty
next. When the sending terminal on the axon much touching each other. Liquids, unlike gases, are essentially incompressible—the
is electrically activated, it releases chemi-
cals called neurotransmitters that simply
molecules can’t get any closer together. The distance a molecule can move between
diffuse across the gap. The gap is so narrow, collisions is at most the diameter of a molecule, probably less. You learned in chem-
approximately 20 nm in width, that the istry that the size of small molecules such as oxygen and water is about 0.1 nm,
diffusing neurotransmitters reach the other where 1 nm = 1 nanometer = 10-9 m . So let’s estimate that the random-walk step
side and stimulate a response in less than a size, the distance between collisions, is d ≈ 0.05 nm = 5 * 10-11 m .
microsecond.
How fast do molecules move? We can estimate molecular speeds by thinking
about sound waves. Sound travels through a medium because the molecules run into
each other, propagating a sound wave forward. We’ll look at the details when we
study sound, but it seems reasonable that the sound speed is probably fairly similar to
the speed of a molecule. We could look up the speed of sound in a reference book or
on the Internet, but we can also estimate it from an experience that many of you have
had. You may have learned that the distance to a lightning strike can be determined by
counting the seconds from seeing the lightning to hearing the thunder, then dividing
by 5 to get the distance in miles. The implication is that the speed of sound is about
1
5 mi/s . A mile is about 1600 m, so 15 mi/s = 320 m/s . Consequently, our second esti-
mate is that the speed with which molecules travel between collisions is v ≈ 320 m/s .
We have assumed that molecular speeds in liquids are not greatly different from
molecular speeds in air. You’ll learn when we study waves that the speed of sound in
water is about four times the speed in air. That’s a big difference for some applications,
such as whether ultrasound imaging works better in air or water, but it’s not a large
discrepancy when our goal is merely a rough estimate of the diffusion coefficient.
With that, we can now predict that the diffusion coefficient for small molecules
diffusing through a liquid like water should be approximately
D = 12 vd ≈ 12 (320 m/s)(5.0 * 10-11 m) ≈ 8 * 10-9 m2/s (1.6)
Notice the rather unusual units for a diffusion coefficient; these arise because of the
square-root relationship between diffusion distance and time.
Also notice that the value is given to only one significant figure because the num-
bers that went into this calculation are only estimates; they are not precisely known.
This is called an order-of-magnitude estimate, meaning that we wouldn’t be sur-
prised to be off by a factor of three or four but that our estimate is almost certainly
within a factor of ten of the real value. That may seem a poor outcome, but initially
we had no idea what the value of a diffusion coefficient might be. To have deter-
mined by simple reasoning that D is approximately 10-8 m2/s (rounding the value of
D in Equation 1.6 to the nearest power of 10), rather than 10-10 m2/s or 10-6 m2/s,
is an important increase in our understanding of diffusion, one that can be improved
only by careful laboratory measurements.
EXAMPLE 1.2 Diffusion times

Estimate how long it takes small molecules such as oxygen to But diffusing through a small animal requires rrms = 10 cm =
diffuse 10 mm (about the diameter of a cell) and 10 cm (roughly the 0.1 m. In this case,
size of a small animal) through water, the primary component of
intercellular fluid. Note that 1 mm = 1 micrometer or 1 micron = (0.1 m)2
tcell = ≈ 2 * 105 s ≈ 2 days
10-6 m. 6 (8 * 10-9 m2/s)
PREPARE The root-mean-square distance rrms tells us how far ASSESS Diffusion of oxygen across a cellular distance of a few
diffusion carries the molecules in time t. We’ll use our estimated mm is very rapid. Oxygen in your blood is easily transported
SOLVE The root-mean-square distance is rrms = 26D t. Solving

D ≈ 8 * 10-9 m2/s as the diffusion coefficient. throughout cells by diffusion as long as no cell is more than a
couple of cells away from a capillary. Unicellular organisms
for the time needed for molecules to diffuse distance rrms gives such as amoebas can use diffusion to passively harvest the oxy-
gen from their environment. But diffusion across larger distances
(rrms)2
t= is impractically slow. A small animal, or one of your organs, is
6D roughly 104 times larger than a cell. Because diffusion times de-
Diffusing across a cell requires rrms = 10 mm = 1 * 10-5 m. pend on the square of the distance, diffusion across 10 cm takes
Thus 108 times as long as diffusion across a cell. The second photo in
Figure 1.2, the dye diffusion, was taken a week after the experi-
(1.0 * 10-5 m)2 ment started, and the diffusion distance is only a few centimeters.
tcell = ≈ 2 * 10-3 s = 2 ms
6 (8 * 10-9 m2/s)
We should feel pretty satisfied. Starting with a very simplified idea about what hap-
pens in molecular collisions and using just a few basic ideas about the physical world,
we’ve put together a model of diffusion that has strong explanatory power. Our esti-
mated value of D for small molecules turns out to be about a factor of four too large, as
you’ll see in Chapter 13, but, as we might say colloquially, it’s certainly in the ballpark.
Furthermore, this result tells us why an amoeba doesn’t have lungs. A creature of
its size doesn’t need them! But you do. Diffusion is inadequate to transport oxygen
and other molecules throughout an organism of your size, so you need an actively
powered (i.e., using metabolic energy) circulatory system. The laws of physics have
real consequences for organisms.
Our goal in this section was to demonstrate how physicists model a complex situ-
ation and how physics can increase your understanding of biological systems. The
mathematics we used was not especially complex, but we certainly emphasized quan-
titative reasoning. Graphs were also a useful tool to shape our thinking. These are
the types of reasoning skills that we will help you develop throughout this textbook.
STOP TO THINK 1.1 Our estimate of the diffusion coefficient D is for the diffu-
sion of small molecules through water. The same type of reasoning predicts that the
diffusion coefficient for diffusion through air is _______ the diffusion coefficient for
diffusion through water.
A. Smaller than
B. About the same as
C. Larger than
NOTE ▶ Each chapter will have several Stop to Think questions. They are
designed to see if you have processed and understood what you’ve read. The
answers are given at the end of the chapter, but you should make a serious effort
FIGURE 1.7 Comparing a shrew and an to think about these questions before turning to the answers. They are an impor-
elephant. tant part of learning. A wrong answer should spur you to review the section
before going on. ◀
1.4 Proportional Reasoning: Scaling Laws

in Biology
The smallest terrestrial mammal is the Etruscan shrew, with a length of 4 cm and
mass of a mere 2 g. The largest is the 7-m-long, 6000 kg African elephant. If we
were to enlarge a shrew by a factor of 175, giving it a 7 m length, would it look pretty
much like a furry elephant?
We can’t carry out the experiment, but we can simulate it with photographs.
FIGURE 1.7 shows a shrew and an elephant with, at least photographically, the same
body length. We could say that the shrew has been scaled to the size of the elephant.
In some regards, the answer to our question is Yes. The scaled-up shrew is a bit chub-
bier than the elephant, but the height, the ear size, and other features are all about the
same. But what’s with the legs? Compared to the elephant, the legs of the scaled-up
shrew are twigs rather than tree trunks.
This is not an accident; there are underlying physical reasons why large animals
are not just scaled-up versions of small animals. It all has to do with scaling laws,
which are regularities in how the physical characteristics of organisms—from bone
size to heart rate—depend on the organism’s size.
FIGURE 1.8 A graph showing linear

Proportionality
proportionality. You often hear it said that one quantity is proportional to another. What does this
y mean? We say that y is linearly proportional to x if
y = Cx (1.7)
4C
where C is a constant called the proportionality constant. This is sometimes written
y ∝ x, where the symbol ∝ means “is proportional to.” As FIGURE 1.8 shows, a graph of
y versus x is a straight line passing through the origin with slope C.
The line passes
2C through the The slope of NOTE ▶ A graph of “a versus b” means that a is graphed on the vertical axis
origin. the line is C. and b on the horizontal axis. Saying “graph a versus b” is a shorthand way of say-
ing “graph a as a function of b,” indicating that b is the independent variable on
the horizontal axis. ◀
x
For example, the mass of an object is related to its volume by m = rV, where r
0
0 2 4 (the Greek letter rho—we use a lot of Greek letters in physics so as to have enough
1.4 Proportional Reasoning: Scaling Laws in Biology 15
symbols for our needs) is the object’s density. Thus mass is linearly proportional to
volume with, in this case, density being the proportionality constant.
Proportionality allows us to use ratios to draw conclusions without needing to
know the proportionality constant. Suppose x has an initial value x 1, and thus y has
the initial value y1 = Cx 1. If we change x to x 2, then y changes to y2 = Cx 2. The ratio
of y2 to y1 is
y2 Cx 2 x 2
= = (1.8)
y1 Cx 1 x 1
That is, the ratio of y2 to y1 is exactly the same as the ratio of x 2 to x 1, meaning that x
and y scale up or down by the same factor. If you double an object’s volume, its mass
doubles. If you decrease an object’s volume by a factor of three, its mass decreases
by a factor of three. This type of reasoning is called ratio reasoning.
NOTE ▶ Linear proportionality is more specific than a linear relationship. The
linear relationship y = Cx + B also has a straight-line graph, but the graph has a
y-intercept B; the line does not pass through the origin. Ratio reasoning does not
work with a linear relationship because the constants don’t cancel. A linear pro-
portionality is a special case of a linear relationship whose graph passes through
the origin (B = 0). ◀
Now consider the surface area of a sphere: A = 4pr 2. This is also a proportion-
ality, but in this case we would say, “The area is proportional to the square of the
radius” or A ∝ r 2. Proportionalities don’t have to be linear (i.e., dependent on the
first power of x); any relationship in which one quantity is a constant times another
quantity is a proportionality. And ratio reasoning works with any proportionality
because the constant cancels.
EXAMPLE 1.3 The surface area of a cell

A spherical type A cell has a surface area of 2 mm2. The diameter The proportionality constant 4p cancels, and we find that the ratio
of a type B cell is three times that of a type A cell. What is the of the areas is the square of the ratio of the radii. If rB /rA = 3,
surface area of a type B cell? then AB = 32 * AA = 9AA = 18 mm2.
PREPARE We could use the surface-area formula to find the radius ASSESS This is what we mean by reasoning with math rather
of a type A cell, multiple it by 3, and then calculate the surface than seeing math as simply a calculation tool. With practice,
area of a type B cell. That’s a lot of calculation, though, with the this is a problem you can solve in your head! “Let’s see, area
possibility for making mistakes. Instead, let’s use ratio reasoning. is proportional to the square of the radius. If the radius in-
SOLVE The ratio of the surface areas is creases by a factor of 3, the area will increase by a factor of
32 = 9.”
=a b
AB 4pr B2 rB 2
= 2
AA 4pr A rA
EXAMPLE 1.4 Time to work

For a person or object that moves at a steady speed, the time The ratio of the times is the inverse of the ratio of the speeds. We
needed to travel a specified distance is inversely proportional know that vcycle = 3vwalk, so
to the speed; that is, ∆t ∝ 1/v, where v is the symbol for speed.
∆tcycle vwalk 1
Angela gets to work in 15 minutes if she walks at a steady speed. = =
How long will it take if she rides her bicycle and cycles three ∆twalk 3vwalk 3
times as fast as she walks? 1
Thus ∆tcycle = 3 ∆t walk = 5 min.
PREPARE We don’t know either the distance to work or Angela’s
ASSESS It makes sense that it takes one-third as long if Angela
walking speed, but we don’t need either if we use ratio reasoning.
goes three times as fast.
SOLVE Because ∆t = C /v, with C being some unknown con-
stant, we have
∆tcycle C/vcycle vwalk
= =
∆twalk C/vwalk vcycle
Proportionality helps us understand why the elephant’s legs are much thicker
than the legs of the scaled-up shrew. An object’s volume V depends on the
cube of some linear dimension l, such as a radius or an edge length. The exact
formula for volume depends on the specific shape, but for any object—including
animals—V ∝ l 3. For a given density, mass is proportional to volume and, because
all mammals have about the same density, mass also obeys M ∝ l 3. We say that
mass scales with the cube of the linear dimension. If we scale up an animal by a
factor of five, quintupling the size of the animal in all three dimensions, its mass
increases by a factor of 53 = 125.
An animal’s legs have to support its weight. An animal that’s 125 times more
massive needs bones that are 125 times stronger so as not to break under the load.
You will see in Chapter 6 that the strength of bones is proportional to their cross-
section area, but that’s a problem for large animals. Areas, whether those of circles,
squares, or any other shape, scale as the square of the linear dimension: A ∝ l 2. In
scaling up an animal by a factor of five, areas and bone strength increase by only a
factor of 52 = 25. In other words, bone strength is not keeping up with the animal’s
increase in weight. And to get from a shrew to an elephant we have to scale not by a
factor of five but by a factor of 175!
An animal’s mass scales as l 3, where l is its linear dimension, but its bone strength
scales as only l 2. The weight of an animal that is simply scaled up would quickly out-
strip its leg bones’ ability to support that weight, so a simple scaling up in size doesn’t
work. To support the weight, the cross-section area of the bones must also scale as l 3.
This means that the bone diameter has to scale as l 3/2, faster than the rate at which the
length of the animal increases. That’s why the diameter of the elephant’s tree-trunk-like
legs is a much larger fraction of its body length than the twig-like legs of the shrew.
Allometry
It may seem unlikely that there are mathematically expressible “laws of biology.”
The great core principles of biology—such as evolution, structure-function relation-
ships, and the connections between an organism and its genetic information—don’t
readily lend themselves to being expressed in equations. But consider FIGURE 1.9, a
graph of basal metabolic rate (the rate at which a resting animal uses energy, ab-
breviated BMR) versus mass m for a large number of mammals, ranging from the
smallest (the 2 g Etruscan shrew) to the largest (a 1.5 * 108 g blue whale). Recall
FIGURE 1.9 Basal metabolic rate as a function of mass for mammals.
BMR (W)
105
104
Trend line slope = 0.76 Blue whale

103
102 Moose
Human
101
Rabbit
100
10-1
Etruscan shrew
10-2 m (g)
100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109
that “BMR versus mass” graphs BMR on the vertical axis and mass—the indepen-
dent variable—on the horizontal axis.
NOTE ▶ Notice that graph axis labels tell us the units that are being used. Mass
is measured in grams (g), while BMR is measured in watts (W). Metabolic rate is
energy used per second, and the watt—just as used with your appliances to show
the rate of energy use—is the metric unit. ◀
The data points fall just about perfectly along a straight line, suggesting that there
is some kind of law relating a mammal’s BMR to its mass. The mass of the blue
whale is nearly 108 times larger than the mass of the shrew, so this apparent law
holds over an extremely wide range of masses. When two numbers differ by a factor
of L10, we say that they differ by an order of magnitude. Thus the range of masses
spans eight orders of magnitude. Similarly, the BMR values shown on the vertical
axis span about six orders of magnitude.
But you may have noticed that Figure 1.9 is not the type of graph you usually
work with. You’re familiar with graphs where the tick marks on the axis represent
constant intervals. That is, the tick marks might be labeled 0, 1, 2, 3, cwith an
interval of 1. Or 0, 20, 40, 60, cwith an interval of 20. But the horizontal-axis tick
marks in Figure 1.9 are labeled 100, 101, 102, 103, c. That is, each tick mark is a
constant factor of 10 larger than the preceding tick mark. The same is true on the
vertical axis.
Figure 1.9, called a log-log graph, graphs not BMR versus mass but the logarithm
of BMR versus the logarithm of mass—that is, log(BMR) versus log(m). Log-log
graphs are widely used in science, especially—as here—when the data span many
orders of magnitude. Data that fall on a straight line on a log-log graph are said to
follow a scaling law. We need to review some properties of logarithms to see what
this means.
Any positive number a can be written as a power of 10 in the form a = 10b.
to find that 210 = 3.16, so 3.16 = 101/2 = 100.50. We define the logarithm of a as
Simple cases are 1 = 100, 10 = 101, and 100 = 102. You can use your calculator
follows:
If a = 10b then log(a) = b (1.9)
Thus log(1) = 0, log(10) = 1, log(100) = 2, and log(3.16) = 0.50. You can use your
calculator to find that log(25) = 1.40, which means that 25 = 101.40.
NOTE ▶ We’re using base-10 logarithms, also called common logarithms. You
may also be familiar with natural logarithms. We’ll see those later, but data anal-
ysis is usually done with common logarithms. ◀
Because 10b # 10d = 10b+d, you should be able to convince yourself that
log(a # c) = log(a) + log(c). This is an important property of logarithms. And be-
cause an is a # a # a # g # a, multiplied n times, the logarithm of an is log(a) added
n times; that is, log(an) = n log(a).
Log-log graphs are widely used in science. It’s important to know how to read FIGURE 1.10 Two ways to label a
them, but the axis labels can be confusing. FIGURE 1.10 shows a portion of the hori- logarithmic axis.
zontal axis from Figure 1.9 with two different ways of labeling the axis. The labels These axis labels show the masses
above the axis—powers of 10—are what Figure 1.9 shows, but they are not what whose logarithms are being graphed.
is graphed. What’s actually graphed is the logarithms of these powers of 10, which Because log(3) ≈ 0.5, the midpoint
are the labels shown below the axis. That is, the tick mark labeled 103 actually rep- between the tick marks is ≈ 3 * 10n.
resents the value 3.0, the logarithm of the label. So the axis really is increasing 0, m (g)
1, 2, 3, c, with a constant interval between the tick marks, but the tick marks are 100 3 101 30 102 103 104 105 …
labeled, instead, with the powers of 10. Notice how the midpoints between the tick
0.0 1.0 2.0 3.0 4.0 5.0
marks are about 3, 30, 300, c. This follows from the fact that their logarithms are
log[m (g)]
about 0.5, 1.5, 2.5, c.
This method of labeling, while potentially confusing until you get used to it, is These axis labels show the
logarithms of the masses.
quite useful. The top labels in Figure 1.10 tell the values of the masses, which is what
you really want to know. The bottom labels tell only the logarithms of the masses,
which are harder to interpret.
Returning to Figure 1.9, we see that the trend line—the straight line that best
“fits” the data—has a slope of 0.76. Slope, you will recall, is the rise-over-run ratio.
But the rise and run of what? Because this is a graph of log(BMR) versus log(m), the
slope is measured as the “rise” in log(BMR) divided by the “run” in log(m). That is,
the slope is determined from the unseen logarithm labels 0, 1, 2, 3, crather than
the power-of-ten labels used in the graph.
Let’s now imagine that some quantity Y (the BMR in this example) depends on
another quantity X (the mass) via the proportionality
Y = CX r (1.10)
where C is a constant. We say that Y scales as the rth power of X.
We take the logarithm of both sides of Equation 1.10 and use the properties of
logarithms:
log Y = log(CX r) = log C + log(X r) = r log X + log C (1.11)
To interpret this equation, recall that a linear equation of the form y = mx + b graphs
as a straight line with slope m and y-intercept b. By defining y = log Y and x = log X,
we see that Equation 1.11 is actually a linear equation. That is, a graph of log Y
versus log X is a straight line with slope r. Conversely, and importantly, if a graph
of log Y versus log X is a straight line, then Y and X obey a scaling law like
Equation 1.10 and the value of the exponent r is given by the slope of the line.
NOTE ▶ Spreadsheets and other graphing software that you might use to ana-
lyze data usually have a “logarithmic axis” option. If you choose that option,
the computer calculates and plots the logarithms of the data for you (taking
logarithms is not something you have to do yourself) and then labels the axes
using the power-of-ten notation shown above the axis in Figure 1.10. Using the
logarithmic axis option allows you to look for functional relationships that are
scaling laws. ◀
Figure 1.9 graphed the logarithm of the basal metabolic rate against the logarithm
of the mass for a large number of mammals. We had no reason to suspect that these
two quantities are related in any particular way, but the graph turned out to be a
straight line with a slope of almost exactly 34. Consequently, we’ve discovered a scal-
ing law telling us that a mammal’s BMR scales as the 34th power of its mass m; that is,
BMR = Cm3/4 or, as we would usually write, BMR ∝ m3/4. We could use the graph’s
y-intercept to determine the value of the constant C, but the constant is usually less
interesting than the exponent.
This result has broad generality across all mammals. It is interesting that birds
and insects also have metabolic rates that scale as the 34th power of mass. This scal-
ing law really seems to be a law of biology. Why? Scaling laws, especially ones that
span many orders of magnitude, tell us that there’s some underlying regularity in the
physics of the organism.
A simple model relating an organism’s metabolic rate to its size is based on
the fact that metabolism generates heat and that heat has to be dissipated. Heat
is dissipated through an organism’s surface via heat convection and radiation, so
this model predicts that BMR should be proportional to the organism’s surface
area. We’ve seen that surface area scales as A ∝ l 2, where l is the organism’s linear
size, and thus BMR should scale with the size of an organism as BMR ∝ l 2. The
organism’s mass is proportional to its volume, so mass scales as m ∝ l 3. Combining
these, by eliminating l, we see that this model predicts that BMR should scale with
the organism’s mass m as BMR ∝ m2/3. That is, a geometric model in which the
organism’s BMR is determined by how quickly it can dissipate heat through its
surface predicts a scaling law, but one in which BMR should scale as the 23rd power
of mass.
We found instead that BMR scales as the 34th power of mass. A model must make
testable predictions, and we must reject a model if its predictions fail. The geometric
model of BMR fails; even though it seemed logical, there’s something wrong with
its assumptions.
The study of scaling laws in biology is called allometry. It is the study of how
physiological processes scale with body size. It turns out that quarter-power scaling
laws are everywhere in biology. A log-log graph of heart rate, respiration, life span,
blood-vessel diameter, or any number of other physiological features versus mass
tends to be a straight line with a slope that is an integer multiple of 14—that is, 14 or
2 3
4 or 4 . This calls for an explanation, but, as we just saw, the explanation involves
not simply an organism’s size. Only recently has a better explanation been found.
Organisms are composed of networks that move energy, metabolites, and informa-
tion from central reservoirs (heart, lungs, brain) to localized points of use. A network
model of organisms—more complex than we can delve into here—successfully pre-
dicts quarter-power scaling. The significant conclusion, learned from scaling laws,
is that an organism’s metabolic rate is determined not by how efficiently it can dis-
sipate heat through its surface but by how efficiently its networks can deliver fuel
and oxygen to its cells.
NOTE ▶ We should point out that quarter-power scaling remains somewhat

controversial. Some biologists maintain that the 23@power scaling predicted by the
surface-area model is a better description of the admittedly imperfect data. This
is an active field of biological research. ◀
EXAMPLE 1.5 Heart rates of hamsters and horses

FIGURE 1.11 is a log-log graph of heart rate R versus body mass m tick mark to the last. The values at these points are not the
for mammals. A linear trend line follows the data well, showing 101 and 107 displayed but, instead, the logarithms of these
that heart rate scales with body mass. values: 1 and 7. Thus run = 7.0 - 1.0 = 6.0. The labeled tick
a. What is the scaling law for heart rate as a function of body marks on the vertical axis have the actual values 1, 2, and
mass? 3, so the trend line starts at 2.8 and ends at 1.3, which gives
b. A 1200 kg horse has a resting heart rate of 38 beats/min. rise = 1.3 - 2.8 = -1.5. Thus the slope is
According to the scaling law, what should be the resting heart
rate of an 80 g hamster? rise -1.5 1
r = slope = = = - 0.25 = -
run 6.0 4
FIGURE 1.11 Heart rate as a function of mass for mammals.
The data show that heart rate scales as the - 14th power of body
R (beats/min) mass or, equivalently, inversely with the 14th power of body
Mouse mass. Mathematically, R = C/m1/4.
103
b. We could use the graph to determine the value of the propor-
Monkey tionality constant C, but it isn’t necessary. It’s easier to use
ratio reasoning to write
102 Horse
a b
Rhamster C/(m hamster)1/4 m horse 1/4
= =
Rhorse C/(m horse)1/4 m hamster
101 m (g)
101 102 103 104 105 106 107 Using the given values of the masses, with the hamster’s mass
converted to kg, we get
The scaling law is R = Cmr, where the exponent r is the
Rhamster = Rhorse a b = (38 beats/min)a b
PREPARE
m horse 1/4 1200 kg 1/4
slope of the graph. This is a log-log graph, so the actual values of the
tick marks along the axes are the logarithms of the mass and heart m hamster 0.080 kg
rate values shown. That is, the tick marks on the horizontal axis actu- = 420 beats/min
ally run from 1 to 7, while those on the vertical axis run from 1 to 3.
These are the values we need to measure the slope of the line. ASSESS Heart rate is another example that follows the quarter-
SOLVE power scaling law. Reported heart rates for hamsters range from
a. We can determine the scaling law by measuring the slope of 280 to 500 beats/min. A horse’s mass is 15,000 times that of
the trend line. Recall that the slope of a line is “rise over run.” a hamster, but a simple scaling law has allowed us to use data
This is a descending line, so the rise, and thus the slope, is for horses to make an accurate prediction of the heart rate of a
negative. For the full trend line, the run goes from the first hamster.
EXAMPLE 1.6 Heartbeats in a lifetime

As Example 1.5 showed, the heart rate of mammals scales in- N ∝ m-1/4 # m1/4 = m0 = 1
versely as the 14th power of body mass. A log-log graph of average
lifetime versus mass is a straight line with a slope of 14, so life- That is, the number of heartbeats in a lifetime does not depend on
time scales as the 14th power of mass. How does the number of an animal’s mass; it is the same for all mammals. It turns out to
heartbeats in a lifetime scale with mass? be ≈1.5 * 109 heartbeats.
ASSESS Small animals have fast heart rates and short lifetimes.
PREPARE We’re given two scaling laws: one for heart rate versus
mass and one for lifetime versus mass. We need to combine these Large animals have slow heart rates but long lifetimes—at least
to see how the number of heartbeats scales with mass. when lifetimes are measured in years. But when lifetimes are
measured in heartbeats, all mammals have about the same life-
SOLVE We can symbolize an animal’s heart rate by R and its lifetime. For humans, R ≈ 70 beats/min gives T ≈ 40 years . Indeed,
time by T. If R is measured in beats per minute and T in minutes, that was about the average human lifespan prior to the develop-
the number N of heartbeats in a lifetime is ment of modern medicine.
N = RT
This is exactly the same as calculating the number of miles driven
by multiplying the speed in miles per hour by the elapsed time in
hours. If R ∝ m-1/4 and T ∝ m1/4, then
STOP TO THINK 1.2 The strength of the electric force exerted by one ion on an-
other scales inversely as the square of the distance between the ions. Suppose the
force between two ions is 1.00 nN (1.00 nanonewton), where (as you’ll learn in
Chapter 4) the newton is the metric unit of force. If the distance between the ions
doubles, the force will be
A. 0.25 nN
B. 0.50 nN
C. 1.00 nN
D. 2.00 nN
E. 4.00 nN
1.5 Where Do We Go from Here?

This first chapter has introduced you to some of the ways we use numbers, quantita-
tive reasoning, and scaling laws in physics, and you’ve now seen how these tools can
shed light on biological systems. You’ve also met the important idea of modeling
a complex system by using simpler pieces and parts. These ideas will be with us
One step at a time Our goal is eventually throughout the book.
to be able to say something meaningful about For the next eight chapters we turn our attention to mechanics, the study of force
the hydraulics of blood flow, the electricity of and motion. Almost everything in the universe is in motion, from bacteria to galax-
nerve conduction, the optics of the eye, and
how MRI images like this are made. There ies, so understanding motion is the foundation of physics. We will apply what we
are many steps along the way, and we’ll learn to topics ranging from the biomechanics of moving organisms to blood flow in
explore them one at a time. the circulatory system. Let’s get started.
Questions 21
SUMMARY
GOAL To understand some of the ways that physics and quantitative reasoning shed light on biological processes.
IMPORTANT CONCEPTS
Models Mathematics
A model is a simplified picture of reality, but one that still cap- Physics uses math in two different ways:
tures the essence of what we want to study. Models can be
• To do calculations.
• Descriptive: What are the essential characteristics and properties?
• To reason and analyze by discovering relationships between
• Explanatory: Why do things happen as they do? measurable quantities.
Physicists look for models that make quantitative predictions. Math is a thinking tool as much as it is a calculation tool.
Diffusion and the Random Walk Scaling and Proportional Reasoning

Diffusion can be modeled as a random walk in A quantity y is linearly proportional to another quantity x if
which molecules move left or right with equal y = Cx
probability.
A graph of y versus x is a straight line passing through the origin
The root-mean-square distance rrms measures with slope C.
the spreading of diffusion. After time t,
rrms = 26Dt
If a quantity Y depends on another quantity X via the
proportionality
where D is the diffusion coefficient. The amount Y = CX r
of diffusive spreading increases with the square root of then we say that Y scales as the rth power of X. A graph of log Y
the elapsed time. versus log X is a straight line with slope r.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES After studying this chapter, you should be able to:
■ Distinguish between descriptive and explanatory models. ■ Solve proportionality problems using ratio reasoning.
Problems 1.6, 1.30–1.33 Conceptual Questions 1.5, 1.6; Problems 1.8, 1.9, 1.11,
■ Reason about diffusion using the random-walk model. 1.12, 1.16
Conceptual Questions 1.2–1.4; Problems 1.2, 1.4, ■ Use and interpret log-log graphs. Multiple-Choice Question 1.9;
1.6, 1.7 Problems 1.13, 1.14
STOP TO THINK ANSWERS
Stop to Think 1.1: C. The molecular speed v is likely to be about Stop to Think 1.2: A. Force F scaling inversely as the square of dis-
the same, but the step size d is much larger because gas molecules tance d means that F = C/d 2. If d doubles, d 2 increases by a factor of 4.
are much farther apart. Because d 2 is in the denominator, F is reduced to 14 of its original value.
QUESTIONS
Conceptual Questions 3. Do you expect the diffusion coefficient of a gas through hot
1. If molecules diffuse distance d in 1 s, how far will they diffuse water to be larger than, smaller than, or about the same as its
in 4 s? diffusion coefficient through cold water? Explain.
2. Xenon atoms are heavier and, on average, slower than helium 4. The elephant trunk snake and the sea snake live in water. Both
atoms at the same temperature. Do you expect the diffusion have lungs and breathe, but both can also exchange gases
coefficient for xenon through air to be larger than, smaller through their skin. The elephant trunk snake can be up to 2 m
than, or about the same as the diffusion coefficient for helium long, three times the maximum length of a sea snake. The sea
through air? Explain. snake exchanges about 35% of its carbon dioxide through its
skin, compared to only 10% for the elephant trunk snake. Why
might you expect this result?
Problem difficulty is labeled as | (straightforward) to ||||| (challenging). Problems labeled integrate significant material from earlier chapters;
are of biological or medical interest; CALC require calculus to solve.
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„Goed, en dan gaan we meteen thuis het pakje aanhalen.”
„Maar wacht es,” zegt Ambro. „Hoe laat komen we terug?”
„Om half vier ongeveer.”
„Waar moeten we dan brood eten?”
„Da’s al lang in orde. Moeder heeft voor alles gezorgd. Voor ieder een stapel
kadetjes met ham en kaas.”
„Gommenikkie, da’s fijn!”
„En we mogen in een kattekroeg wat gaan drinken.”
„Dat wordt een reuzen-dag!” zegt Ambro verheugd.
Dan gaan de beide jongens op stap. Ambro koopt een pond goudreinetten.
„Wat een kanjers,” zegt Paul. „Me broekzakken puilen er van uit.”
„Nou, ik zal er niet lang last van hebben,” lacht Ambro.
Intusschen hebben ze Paul’s huis bereikt, waar [162]ze het pakje afhalen.
Boven aan de trap roept mevrouw: „Ambro, zul je goed op Paul passen?”
„Ja mevrouw,” is het antwoord. „U krijgt hem heelhuids terug.”
En nu begeven de jongens zich naar het bootje.
„We gaan eerste klas, hoor!” zegt Paul. „Dan zitten we fijn vooraan. En anders
krijg je al de rook in je facie.”
„Chique!” zegt Ambro. „Kijk het bankje bij de bel is vrij, laten we daar gaan
zitten, dan mogen we bellen als ie vertrekt.”
Ze zijn echter veel te vroeg en er is nog geen sprake van vertrekken.
„Ik ga een appel schillen,” zegt Ambro en hij haalt zijn mes te voorschijn; het
mes, dat alle jongens hem benijden, want het is groot, en gevuld met alle
soorten van mesjes en priempjes en het is overal voor te gebruiken.
De machinist van de boot, die vlak bij de jongens z’n pijpje staat te rooken,
kijkt er met welgevallen naar.
„Dat messie mag er wezen, jongeheer.”
Ambro, zeer gevleid, geeft hem het mes om ’t van dichtbij te laten bekijken.
„’n Effetief messie, best staal, zal nog heel wat gekost hebben.”
„Niks heeft ’t me gekost. Zoo maar voor noppes weggehaald.”
„’t Zal niet waar zijn,” zegt de machinist.
„Nee, niet weggekaapt! Eerlijk verdiend, hoor!”
„En je zeit weggehaald!” [163]
„Op de zomer-kermis, boven in een mast, die met groene zeep was
ingesmeerd. Ik had een heele sjouw voor ik er was en toen ik eenmaal boven
was, wist ik niet wat ik pakken zon, een ham of het mes.
„Maar ik koos toch ’t mes en nou ben ik er maar blij om, want ’t heeft me al
heel wat diensten bewezen.”
„Dat heb je ’m kranig gelapt,” zegt de machinist goedkeurend. „Die paaltjes

valle anders nog niks niet mee, ik ben tenminste es halleverwege blijve steke.”
„Mot je een stukkie,” vraagt Ambro, hem de helft van zijn appel voorhoudend.
„As ik je niet ontrijf. Maar, ’t is zoo’n groot brok, je houdt temet zelf niks over.”
„O, we hebben plenty, man.”
„Nou, dan op je santé.”
Vóór de machinist vertrekt, heeft ook Paul hem zijn aandeel geofferd.
Nu nadert de schipper, om met de bel het sein tot vertrek te geven.
„Mogen wij het doen?” vraagt Ambro.
„Ga je gang, jongeheer. Ik doe ’t elken dag.”

En Ambro belt alsof zijn leven er van af hangt. De bewoners van de Schie
hadden nog nooit zoo luid en lang het vertrek van het bootje hooren
aankondigen.
„Nou is ’t genoeg,” roept lachend de schipper. „Anders komen we nog zonder

bel in Delft aan.”
En Paul, die op zijn beurt gehoopt had de bel [164]te mogen luiden, werd
beloofd bij de aankomst aan de eerste aanlegplaats zijn schade te mogen
inhalen.
Juist zou de loopplank naar binnen gehaald worden, als van de kade hevig
met een parapluie wuivend, een oude juffrouw aan komt loopen, zoo hard, als
haar onderdanen het toelieten.
„Wacht even, schipper, die juffrouw moet nog mee,” roept Ambro.
„Ja, ik zie ’t” zegt de schipper en terwijl hij de juffrouw, die intusschen de
loopplank bereikt heeft, ridderlijk de hand toesteekt, zegt hij goedig: „Kalm an
maar, moeder, me hebbe de tijd.”
De juffrouw wordt hijgend en puffend naar binnen gehaald en de jongens

krijgen nu een mede-passagier.
De juffrouw is nog niet in staat een woord uit te brengen en zit amechtig naar
lucht happend op een bank, terwijl ze het bezweete welgedane gezicht met
een netjes opgevouwen, hagelwitten zakdoek afveegt.
„Hè, hè … hè, hè … is dat loope!… mense, mense,… hè, hè!”
„Blij dat u zit, juffrouw,” toetert Ambro haar in de ooren, zoo hard, alsof ’t
vanzelf sprak dat de juffrouw doof was, hetgeen ze wederom beantwoordde
met de noodige „hè hè’s” en „mense mense”.
„Dat scheelde maar een haartje,” schreeuwt Ambro, nòg harder dan den
vorigen keer, in de meening, dat zijn eerste gebrul niet verstaan was door de
juffrouw. [165]
Dit blijkt tè kras voor haar trommelvlies en ze keert zich verwoed naar Ambro
om, terwijl ze nijdig zegt:
„Ik bin niet doof! je hoef niet zoo te schreeuwe!”
Na dezen uitval kijkt Ambro haar even beteuterd aan en wijdt dan weer zijn
volle aandacht aan een worm, dien hij in een van zijn mooie goudreinetten
ontdekte.
„Ik bin anders altoos op tijd,” opent de juffrouw eensklaps het gesprek. „Me
klokkie gong sekers na.”
„Wat zegt u, juffrouw?” zegt Ambro, z’n oor vlak bij haar gezicht houdend.
Als ze hem verbaasd aankijkt, zegt de deugniet, terwijl hij veiligheidshalve een
eindje van haar af gaat zitten:
„Ik ben ook niet doof!”
En onmiddellijk laat hij er op volgen: „Moet u een stukkie?” en houdt haar een
stuk appel voor.
Dit verteedert de juffrouw en met een vriendelijk: „Dank Uwes wel, jongeheer,”
neemt ze het partje aan, dat ze luid smakkend verorbert.
„Is dat uw zoontje?” vraagt eensklaps Ambro, op Paul wijzend.
Paul, die zich al dien tijd stil hield en zich kostelijk vermaakte met het gesprek
tusschen het tweetal, proest het op eenmaal uit.
„Wou je ’n oud mensch nemen?” zegt de juffrouw lachend tegen Ambro. „Me
jongste soontje is al vijf en dertig. En die heit er krek zoo eentje als deuze.”
„Nou, dan kon ’t uw kleinzoontje zijn. Paul, daar zit je opoe. Lach es tegen d’r.”
[166]
„Je bent me d’r eentje,” zegt de juffrouw, maar ze heeft toch schik in hem.
„Moet u ook naar Delft?” vraagt Paul.
„Nee, ikke gaan na de Zwet, na me dochter, die heit daar ’n cefé.”
„Met een schommel?” vraagt Ambro vol belangstelling.

„Ja, achter ’t beffet,” lacht de juffrouw.
De schipper komt de kaartjes ophalen.
„Opoe betaalt voor ons,” zegt Ambro.
„’t Is toch … wat e rakker, hè? Sal me ’n lekker dier thuis sijn …! Soo twalef!!”
Dan licht ze zorgvuldig haar japonrok op en haalt uit een grooten witten zak,
een knipbeurs van enormen omvang en grut er met beverige vingers het geld
voor een „karetje” uit.
„Tot de Zwet,” zegt ze.
„De gewone reis, moeder,” zegt de schipper die haar reeds van lange jaren
kent. [167]
„Wij moeten naar Delft,” zegt Paul.
„Verkoopt u retourtjes?”
„Nee, jongeheer, alleenig enkelde reissie’s.”

„Dan twee stuks,” zegt Paul waardig.
„Ja, ja,” lacht Ambro. „Ik mag vandaag met oome uit.”
„Gane jullie soo same na Delleft?” informeert de juffrouw.
„Ja, juffrouw,” zegt Ambro. „Opkomen voor ons nummer, we zijn d’r allebei
ingeloot.”
„Hoor nou zoo’n broekeman,” zegt de schipper onder het weggaan.
„Dat zal nog wel een paar jaartjes anhouwe.”
„Sou je graag soldaat sijn?” vraagt de juffrouw aan Ambro.
„Nee,” zegt Ambro. „Ik hou van commandeeren en niet van gecommandeerd
te worden.”
„Toe maar, toe maar, wat een baassie!” lacht de juffrouw.
„Maar hij,” zegt Ambro, op Paul wijzend. „Hij is er gek op. Hij kan een heelen
dag met een houten geweertje en een kurk spelen.”
„Nee, hoor juffrouw,” valt Paul hem vlug in de rede. „Hij jokt maar wat, ik moet
er ook niets van hebben, me broer zegt ook dat ’t een nare zooi is en zonde
van je goeie tijd.”
„O, is uwes broer in dienst?” zegt de juffrouw, bij voorbaat ja knikkend met ’t
hoofd.
„Al zeven maanden zit ie d’r in,” zegt Paul. „En nou heeft ie straf; daarom gaan
we naar Delft om ’m wat lekkers te brengen.” [168]
„Heit ie straf?” zegt meewarig de juffrouw. „En mag ie nou niet naar huis?”
„Hij heeft veertien dagen, hoe heet ’t ook weer, o ja, kwartier-arrest.”
„Sa-je gebeure,” zegt de juffrouw, ofschoon ze volstrekt niet weet wat kwartier-
arrest wil zeggen.
„Sit ie nou in ’n hok?” informeert ze op fluisterenden toon.

„Ja,” lacht Ambro. „Aan een ketting.”
„O, daar hei je die pejas ook weer. Van jou geloof ik toch nooit niks meer.”
„Nee juffrouw,” licht Paul haar beleefd in. „Dat is het cachot wat u bedoelt, dat
is voor erge feiten, zegt me broer.”
„Wat heit ie dan wel gedaan, zonder nieuwsgierig te zijn,” zegt de juffrouw.
„Hij heeft aan den luitenant z’n sik getrokken,” zegt Ambro. „’t Was een
aangeplakte, want hij hield ’m in zijn hand.”
„Och malle,” lacht Paul. „Niks van aan, hoor juffrouw. Hij was niet geschoren
op een inspectie en toen heeft een sergeant hem er bij gelapt.”
„Wat een stuk sjagrijn! Ja, se kenne die jonges soo koejeneere,” zegt de
juffrouw vol medegevoel.
„Ja,” zegt Ambro. „Ik wist dat ’t iets met den baard te maken had.”
„Jongeheer, belle!” onderbreekt de schipper hun gekeuvel en Paul vliegt op de

bel af en haalt z’n schade van straks terdege in.
„Nou, ik bin d’r,” zegt de juffrouw, terwijl ze haar parapluie en mandje ter hand
neemt. [169]
„Goeie reis verdere, jongeheere.”
„Dag juffrouw,” zeggen de jongens beleefd.
Het bootje zet zijn reis voort.
Onderweg moeten zij onder twee bruggen doorvaren. De pijp wordt omlaag
gehaald en ook de ijzeren hekken van het bovendek moeten plat liggen opdat
de boot zonder stooten onder de brug door kan.
De schipper, die rustig zijn pijpje zat te rooken, verlaat nu ook het dek, want de
brug is in aantocht.
Maar Ambro heeft schik in het geval en stelt Paul voor boven op het dek te
klimmen.
„Je zal heusch je kop niet stooten! kom Paul, we gaan plat op onzen buik
liggen, net als de stoompijp.”
Meteen is Ambro al naar boven en Paul, hoewel een beetje angstig voor zijn
hoofd, volgt hem.
„Wat een rare knullen,” zegt de schipper lachend. „Als een verstandig mensch
voor zijn gemak naar beneje gaat, motte hullie juist naar bove.”
„’t Kan immers geen kwaad?” informeert Paul.
„Nee hoor,” stelt de schipper hem gerust. „Als je maar plat blijft liggen en niet
je neus in den wind steekt.”
Intusschen is de boot bij de brug gekomen en glijdt op eigen vaart er onder

door.
„Hè fijn,” juicht Ambro. „Hij schuift net langs mijn pet.”
„Tòch gevaarlijk,” zegt Paul. „Hij moet maar eens ’n beetje hooger liggen, de
brug zal heusch [170]niet uit den weg gaan en dan zouden we toch netjes
gekraakt worden.”
„Bê-je nou!” is de verontwaardigde uitroep van Ambro. „De pijp ligt immers nog
hooger dan wij.”
Maar ze zijn er al veilig onder door en Paul herademt. Hij vond het een
benauwde bedoening.
„Straks nog een brug,” zegt Ambro. „Jammer, dat er geen twintig onderweg
zijn. Ik vind het wàt emmes, ’t is weer eens wat anders.”
[Inhoud]
AMBRO REDT EEN SECTIE SOLDATEN.
Delft nadert.—Het weêr is heerlijk, het lijkt wel een zomersche dag. De
jongens zitten weer in de laagte bij den voorsteven van het bootje.
„Kijk es, Paul,” roept Ambro triomfantelijk. „Ben ik niet handig?… ik pak
me daar zoo maar een visch uit het water,” en hij houdt Paul een klein
witvischje onder den neus.
„Kijk-t-ie spartelen,” zegt Paul in bewondering voor Ambro’s vlugheid.
„Maar niet heusch,” zegt deze. „Hij is zoo dood als een pier. Kijk, er
dobberen er nog veel meer. Tsjonge,… kijk es wat een zooi! En allemaal
dood.”
De schipper, die hun gesprek gevolgd had, geeft hun uitleg.
„Da’s van de fabrieke … die vergiftige hier het water met d’rlui
uitwaseminge en dan mot, al wat leeft, sterreve.”
„Kan je ze nog eten?” vraagt Ambro vol belangstelling. [171]
„Nee jonge, da’s niet goed voor je maag, maar de poes, die zou d’r an
smulle.”
Voor de laatste maal luidt Ambro nu de bel—de boot is aan.
Ze nemen afscheid van den schipper en roepen hem een tot-straks toe,
want over vier uur gaan ze weer terug naar Rotterdam.
„Heb je je pakkie, Paul?” vraagt Ambro met een dood-onschuldig gezicht

als ze al een heel eind op weg naar de kazerne zijn.
„Allemachies!” Paul verbleekt. „Nee, gauw terug!” En hij wil terughollen

naar de boot.
„Ik heb het,” roept Ambro en houdt het bewuste voorwerp omhoog.
„Hè, is dàt schrikken,” hijgt Paul.
„Hij is alwéér reusachtig!” lacht Ambro. „Zeg, weet jij den weg?” vraagt hij
dan.
„Ik wel,” zegt Paul. „We moeten naar de paardenmarkt.”
„Mag je d’r in, ik bedoel in de kazerne?”
„Dat zal niet gaan, ze laten geen burgers toe.”
„Laat naar je kijken, ben jij een burger!” schatert Ambro.
„Ja zeker zijn wij burgers, we dragen toch geen uniform.”
„Goed, burger Paul, alweer gelijk. Ik had anders wàt graag eens een
kijkie genomen in zoo’n soldatenhuis. Ik vraag het ijskoud aan den
generaal.”
„Jôh! de generaal! Die is er niet altijd, een hoogst enkele keer,” zegt Dirk,
„en dan moeten ze poetsen tot ze groen zien en een pluimpje [172]krijgen
ze nooit, alleen straf als er wat aan mankeert.”
„Nou, ik wil en zal de kazerne in,” zegt Ambro. „Wedde, dat we d’r in
komme?”
„Hier heen,” roept Paul. „Dit straatje in, dan zijn we er.”
„Ja, ik zie al een vlakte, dat is zeker de paardenmarkt.”
Om den hoek gekomen zien ze een menigte soldaten in werkcostuum.
„Wat zien ze d’r raar uit,” roept Ambro. „Dat is zeker hun daagsche
pakkie, ’t lijken wel clowns met die malle mutsie’s.”
„Dat zijn kwartiermutsen,” verklaart Paul, die nu alle geleerdheid

betreffende den dienst, opgedaan bij Dirk, Ambro opdischt.
„Je moet ’t maar weten! Hoort die kerel een muil opzetten! Die denkt
zeker, dat ze allemaal doof zijn! Begrijp jij, wat ie van ze wil?”
„Ja zeker,” zegt Paul. „Aan den schouder, geweer!” schreeuwt ie. Hoor,
nou roept ie weer „zet af.”
„En ze doen niks,” lacht Ambro.
„Wacht maar even,” zegt Paul.
Meteen klinkt weer een harde schreeuw, dat „geweer” moet verbeelden,
waarop alle geweren netjes, tegelijk weer op den grond worden geplaatst.
„Wat een poppenkast,” roept Ambro. „Dan vind ik gedresseerde honden

nog aardiger.”
„Kom mee,” dringt Paul aan. „Laten we nou niet aldoor hier blijven kijken.”
[173]
„Nou, misschien is Dirk er wel bij,” zegt Ambro, die pret heeft in al dat
gedoe. Hij had nog nooit zooiets gezien. Eenmaal in Den Haag, maar dat
was parade, toen waren ze allemaal netjes aangekleed en moesten
wachten op den generaal, die op een paard kwam aanhollen en al de
mannetjes monsterde.
„Kom je nou, of niet,” zegt Paul ongeduldig. „Anders zal ik wel alleen
gaan.”
„Hier ben ik al, burger, houd je kalm,” plaagt Ambro.
Ze stappen op de poort van de kazerne af en passeeren een paar

soldaten, die lui uitgestrekt in het zonnetje liggen te braden.
„Tabak, jongens?” vraagt er een. „Geef maar hier. Of is ’t misschien een

hammetje? Dat blieven we ook wel.”
„Fopspeentjes,” roept Ambro terug. „Vóór jullie naar bed gaan krijg je ze.”
Vóór de poort zit een sergeant op een kapotten stoel een krantje te lezen.
Hij kijkt bij het naderen van het tweetal van zijn lectuur op.
„Zoo, jong vee, wat motte jullie gedaan weze?”
Paul is zoowaar geschrokken van den harden toon waarop hij wordt
toegesproken, maar al gauw merkt hij, dat het niet zoo kwaad gemeend
is.
Ambro doet nu maar het woord.
„Meneer, we zouden graag dit pakje aan Dirk brengen. Dat is zijn broer,
ziet u. Mag dat?”
„Dirk kenne we hier niet,” luidt het antwoord. [174]
„D’r zijn hier misschien wel honderd Dirken. Maar waar leit ie? Welke
compie, welke sectie, welke kamer?”
„Dirk Vermeeren, 3de compagnie, 2de sectie, kamer 17,” antwoordt Paul
vlug.
Hij heeft nu weer allen moed teruggekregen nu hij merkte dat de bullebak
geen „kwaje” was.
„Dan gaan jullie ’t zellef maar brenge, hij zal d’r wel zijn, alles is
vanmorrege thuis. Hier de gang in, één trap op en dan de eerste deur
rechts. Ingerukt, marsch!”
Weg zijn de jongens.
„Zie je nou wel,” zegt Ambro zegevierend. „Ik wist het wel, dat we naar
binnen mochten, die kerel was immers veel te lui om dat pakkie zelf te
brengen. Hier Paul, kamer 17.”
„Moet je kloppen?” vraagt Paul een beetje bevreesd in dat nare, donkere,
groote gebouw.
„Bê-je wel wijs?” zegt Ambro. „Van nette manieren weten ze hier niks,” en
meteen doet hij de deur open.
„In orde, staat!” klinkt het op luiden toon en de beide jongens zien
plotseling overal kerels opduiken, die op stroozakken lagen te rooken, te
lezen en te luibakken.
Ieder staat nu als een standbeeld voor zijn bed.
De jongens begrijpen er niets van, tot de kerels in de gaten krijgen, dat ze

voor den mal zijn gehouden en loom hun bed weer opzoeken.
„Hallo,” roept Dirk, die hun die poets gebakken heeft. „Daar zijn de twee
hooge oome’s, heeren, [175]mag ik u voorstellen, mijn geachte broeder,
kolonel Paul en Overste Ambro, het grootste beest van Rotterdam en
omstreken.”
Paul, blij, dat hij eindelijk een bekend gezicht ziet en een bekende stem
hoort, komt met Ambro op Dirk af en reikt hem het pakje over.
„Dat moet ik je van moeder brengen en verder veel groeten van

allemaal.”
„Nou, maar jullie zijn beste kereltjes, hoor!” zegt Dirk die het pakje begint
te openen. „Hoe vinden jullie ’t hier? Gezellig, hè? Ambro, is dat geen
lekker bedje, je komt maar es logeeren, plaats en eten genoeg.”
De jongens kijken hun oogen uit; zoo’n rare boel hebben ze nog nooit
gezien.
IJzeren kribben met een stroozak en de wollen dekens op een hoopje

aan het eind en daar weer boven een kastje met een rommel waar je niet
meer uit wijs kan worden.
„Ha!” roept Dirk blij. „Sigaartjes en Kwatta’s! da’s toch maar alles. Ambro,
moet je een stukje?”
Ambro kijkt met glundere blikken naar het verleidelijke stukje chocolade,
maar hij weigert het en vindt, dat je een gevangene zijn lekkernij niet
moet ontnemen.
Dirk heeft, zooals we reeds zeiden, veertien dagen kwartier-arrest, omdat

hij bij een inspectie niet schoon geschoren was.
„Heb je nou heusch straf omdat je niet geschoren was,” vraagt Ambro
ongeloovig. „En als je nu je baard laat staan; hij kan toch niet in één nacht
lang zijn?” [176]
„Daar houden ze hier geen rekening mee,” antwoordt Dirk. „Of een glad
gezicht òf een flinke baard.”
Ambro voelt eens over zijn wang en kan slechts constateeren, dat er nog
geen spoor van haar te bespeuren is. „Bij mij is gelukkig alles in orde,”
zegt hij. „Laat de hooge-oome maar komen, hij mag me over mijn koonen
aaien.”
„Wat een lefschoppertje,” roept hem een landweerman toe, die evenals
alle anderen, lui op zijn krib ligt uitgestrekt.
„Had ik maar een beetje rook in mijn mond!” Deze verzuchting was voor
Dirk bedoeld en deze gooit hem een van zijn pas ontvangen sigaren toe.
„Hier, ouwe dief, jij ook wat,” lacht Dirk, en dan tot de jongens: „Dat is nou
onze Manus, de grootste lijntrekker van de heele compie.”
„Lijntrekken?” vraagt Paul.
En Dirk legt uit: „Lijntrekken is net doen of je druk aan ’t werk bent en een
heeleboel te doen hebt, maar in werkelijkheid voer je niks-niemendal uit
en als ze mannetjes zoeken om het een of andere karweitje op te
knappen … kamers zwabberen, stroozakken vullen of zoo iets lekkers,
dan ben je in geen hoeken of gaten te vinden.”
De jongens snappen het wel, maar zien niet in, dat kamers-zwabberen en
stroozakken vullen zulke nare bezigheden zijn.
„Ja,” zegt Manus. „Eventjes is aardig, vooral voor zulke jonge snuiters als
jullie, maar een heelen middag zou zoo’n grappie je gauw de keel uit
hangen.” [177]
„Zijn jullie nou allemaal lijntrekkers?” vraagt Ambro. „En kan niemand je
vinden?” en meteen wijst hij naar buiten, waar, op de binnenplaats een
sectie recruten een looppasje in ’t rond maakt.
„Kijk die es hollen in de warmte,… hun tongen hangen op hun vessie,…

dan is die daar, met die lange sabel verstandiger, die blijft tenminste
rustig op zijn plaats en laat de anderen rennen.”
„Oh, dat is de ooievaar,” lacht Dirk. „Ik hoor het aan zijn commando, hij
kraait net als een oude juffrouw, zie je wel, jongens, wat een lange nek
die kerel heeft, dat is „de ooievaar”.”
„Mogen jullie hier nou zoo niks doen en luieren?” vraagt Paul, die bang is,
dat er wel eens ’n hooge oome kon binnen komen.
Maar Dirk stelt hem gerust.
„Ja, hoor Paul, dat màg, we hebben nachtdienst gehad in de duinen bij
Den Haag en daarom hebben we nu rust, ja, ze zijn wàt bezorgd voor
ons, als het regent mogen we ook thuis blijven, kijk maar …” en hij wijst
op een broek, die stijf is van natte modder.
„Dat is mijn feestbroek, die deelt met me in lief en leed.”
„Ik heb de jicht in m’n rug van dat nachtelijke tochie,” klaagt Manus. „En
de volgende keer vertik ik ’t, dan piep ik ’m en kruip onder de wol … ze
lijken wel gek,… als een fesoenlijk mensch maft, gaan hullie met beeste-
weer door de duine renne.”
„Ik het toch moar twie kenijntjes te groaze hàad,” [178]klinkt van de
overzijde de stem van een boerenzoon.
„Zundàag zaamme smulle,” lacht hij en de jongens zien een glimmend

gezicht met glunderende oogen die bij het grinniken geheel verdwijnen,
terwijl een breeden spleet te zien komt, zijn mond met gele tanden.
„Hei ’j nog tebàak?” roept hij tot Dirk, maar deze, wel goed, doch niet gek,
antwoordt hem: „Een ander keertje, broer, anders hou ik zelf niks en ik
moet nog negen dagen brommen.”
De jongens zijn bij elkaar op de leege krib naast Dirk gaan liggen en
voelen zich langzamerhand thuis in de vreemde omgeving.
„Ik vind ’t toch wel aardig hier,” zegt Ambro. „Alleen een beetje saai op
den duur.”
„Saai!” roept Manus. „Hoe kan je ’t zeggen, we vervelen ons nooit, we

worden altijd bezig gehouden, een eerste klas hotel is er niks bij.”
Plotseling worden zware stappen gehoord en vliegt de deur open.
„In orde, staat!” wordt er geroepen en ditmaal is het geen grap.
„Toe, maak geen spas, hou op met die flauwe kul, leelijke kevers!”
schreeuwt Manus, die den kapitein niet in de gaten krijgt
Maar nu hij de anderen doodstil voor de bedden ziet staan kijkt hij op en
ontdekt dat inderdaad ditmaal de kapitein op de kamer is.
„Kop dicht,” roept de sergeant die hem begeleidt en Manus glijdt van zijn
krib en neemt „de houding” aan. [179]
De jongens hebben van schrik hetzelfde gedaan, en begrijpen weer niets

van die rij standbeelden die onbewegelijk blijven staan.
De grinnekende kop van den boerenzoon is veranderd in een dom

gezicht met vragend verwonderde oogen.
„Wat moet dat hier? Niks te doen? Dan maar aantreden in veldtenue; een
looppasje maken. Dat niks doen werkt verkeerd op jullie; binnen vijf
minuten op de binnenplaats, veldtenue met rol.”
„Kap’tein,” vraagt Manus.
„Kop dicht,” is ’t antwoord en Manus kijkt bedremmeld naar den grond,

terwijl hij zijn pruim van zijn rechter- naar z’n linkerwang laat gaan.
„Kap’tein,” roept een heldere jongensstem.
De kapitein kijkt op en ontdekt aan ’t eind van de kamer de twee jongens,

die half verscholen waren achter den dikken buik van een anderen
landweerman.
„Wat moet dat,” vraagt de kapitein verbaasd. „Wat doen jullie hier? er
mogen geen burgers in de kazerne.”
„Zie je wel,” fluistert Paul in doodsangst. „We zijn burgers, ik heb je wel
gewaarschuwd.”
Bij deze woorden moet de kapitein even glimlachen.
„Hoe komen jullie hier?” vraagt hij, terwijl hij naar de jongens toe gaat
Paul weet geen antwoord te vinden, hij is bang geworden door die
doodelijke stilte in een kamer waar een dertigtal mannen als beelden
staan te staren. [180]
„Net het panopticum,” denkt hij.
„Hij moest een pakje voor z’n broer brengen en we mochten van dien
mijnheer beneden aan de deur het zelf gaan brengen,” antwoordt Ambro
op helderen toon.
„Zoo—en waarom riep jij daar straks „kaptein”, had je me wat te zeggen?”
„Ja kaptein,” luidt het antwoord van Ambro. „Nu Manus,” en hij wijst op
den landweerman naast Dirk, „nu Manus z’n kop moest houden, wou ik u
maar even vertellen, dat ze allemaal vannacht gerend hebben in de
duinen met dat beestenweêr en dat ze daarom, zooals u zei, niks doen
en luieren.”
Hij zucht, nu eindelijk er uit is wat hij op ’t hart heeft.
„Zoo, nou maar dat is wat anders,” zegt de kapitein op zachten toon. „Dus
jullie hebt nachtdienst gehad,… nou, blijf dan maar hier … je kunt je gang
gaan.” [181]
Meteen ligt alles weer op de geliefkoosde krib, als werden ze door een
electrischen schok getroffen, en de kapitein, die de jongens toeknikte,
verlaat even dreunend de kamer als hij binnengekomen was.
„Mooi gedaan,” klinkt ’t hartelijk van Dirk.
„Je hebt ’t ’m kranig gezeid,” zegt Manus.
„Heere, Heere, kan dàat jong proate,” is de lof van den boerenzoon en
Ambro, die hen allemaal redde van den gevreesden looppas in de zon,
stond als held van het oogenblik midden in de kamer, blij, dat alles goed
afgeloopen was, want Paul had gelijk gehad, ze waren tòch burgers.
„Ja,” zegt Manus. „Had ik de burgerpet op gehad, dàn had-ie naar mijn
ook wel geluisterd, maar as-t-ie je in je werkpakkie ziet, wordt-ie
dienstklopper en dan is ’t „kophouwen en doen”!”
Paul heeft er genoeg van, en vindt, dat ze nu maar eens moeten

opstappen. Ze nemen hartelijk afscheid van Dirk en al de anderen en
begroet met arm-gezwaai van alle kribben verlaten ze de kamer.
„’t Was tòch fijn,” zegt Ambro, als ze weer op straat staan.
„Ik vind ’t een nare boel, ik zou niet graag zoo behandeld worden,” is
Paul’s antwoord.
„Hoorde je niet hoe ze allemaal het land er aan hebben? Dirk kan
gelukkig weer op zijn kantoor terug komen na den dienst, maar er zijn er
veel die hun plaats bezet vinden.”
„Ja,” zegt Ambro. „Van dien kant bekeken heb je gelijk, maar zoo’n
nachtelijke tocht door de duinen zou ik toch wàt graag meemaken.” [182]
„Nou, dat kan best eens gebeuren. Karel z’n vader gaat van den zomer
kampeeren, je zult zien, dat we dan mee mogen.”
„’t Zou tijd worden,” zucht Ambro. „Onze nachtelijke tocht is toen mooi in
de war geloopen. Maar, over wat anders gesproken, me maag jeukt.”
„Ik weet een kattekroeg,” zegt Paul. „Ga maar mee.”
De jongens stevenen nu direct op het doel af, om als ze hun twaalf-uurtje

hebben gebruikt, de terugreis te aanvaarden.
Het was een fijn dagje geweest en met voldoening kon Ambro terugzien
op zijn heldendaad in de kazerne, waar hij het waagde een „hooge oome”
te trotseeren en de soldaten te redden van den gehaten „looppas in de
zon”.

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College Physics: A Strategic Approach Volume 2 2nd

Physics for Scientists and Engineers: A Strategic

Sears and Zemansky's University Physics with Modern

Calculus for the Life Sciences 2nd Edition, (Ebook PDF)

Data Analysis for the Life Sciences with R 1st Edition

Applied Statistics with R: A Practical Guide for the

University Physics with Modern Physics 14th Edition,

University Physics with Modern Physics (Third Edition)

Common Prefixes Conversion Factors

Greek Letters Used in Physics Mathematical Approximations

P ART II Energy and Thermodynamics 308

P ART III Oscillations and Waves 506

P A RT V Electricity and Magnetism 728

P A RT VI Modern Physics 990

RANDALL D. KNIGHT BRIAN JONES STUART FIELD

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Contributing author Catherine Hirshfeld Crouch is Professor of Physics at Swarthmore

Acknowledgments Product Manager Science–Physical Sciences, Darien Estes;

Reviewers and Classroom Testers

Chapter 5 Interacting Systems 124

Chapter 2 Describing Motion 25 Chapter 6 Equilibrium and Elasticity 163

Chapter 8 Momentum 230 10.4 Dissipative Forces and Thermal

Chapter 13 Kinetic Theory 422

PART IV Optics 620

Chapter 15 Oscillations 508

Chapter 19 Ray Optics 656 21.6 The Motion of a Charged Particle in an

PART V Electricity and Chapter 24 Current and Resistance 842

Chapter 26 Magnetic Fields and Forces 907 28.3 Photons 1000

Appendix A Mathematics Review A-1

I Force and Motion

The Science of Physics

Why Things Change

■ How do we describe motion? How should we measure or characterize the mo-

PHYSICS AND LIFE

1.1 Why Physics?

Physics and Biology

1.2 Models and Modeling

1.3 Case Study: Modeling Diffusion

Molecule 453 ends

Measuring the Spread Due to Diffusion

x rms = 2(x 2)avg = 1n d (1.1)

EXAMPLE 1.1 Diffusive spreading

x diff = x rms = 1n d. Thus

NOTE ▶Worked examples in this text will follow a three-part problem-solving

Connecting to the Real World

Let’s define the diffusion coefficient D to be

starting point is r = 2x 2 + y 2 + z2. Averaging the squares, as we did above, gives

(r 2)avg = (x 2)avg + (y 2)avg + (z2)avg

EXAMPLE 1.2 Diffusion times

SOLVE The root-mean-square distance is rrms = 26D t. Solving

1.4 Proportional Reasoning: Scaling Laws

FIGURE 1.8 A graph showing linear

EXAMPLE 1.3 The surface area of a cell

EXAMPLE 1.4 Time to work