A
Allan Adler
Guest
I was recently in Belgium and was obliged to rely on a Dutch edition
of a book by Giancoli on electricity and magnetism. I don't speak Dutch
but I know enough German and enough about E&M to get by with it, even
without a dictionary. I was unable to find an exact English counterpart
to the book. Maybe in the Dutch editions, some English book by Giancoli
got divided up so as to be compatible with the courses taught in Holland.
At any rate, I found one exercise interesting, namely it gave some
geometrical information about the DNA double helix and asked for the
force of attraction between two corresponding nucleotides on the
two helices. I tried once to do the problem, got a different answer
from the one at the back of the book, and then had to return the book.
At any rate, no details of the solution were given, just the numerical
answer.
I'd like to know of a book that works out some examples of this kind of
computation in detail. It would be nice if it included DNA but it is probably
a typical computation in chemistry or biochemistry. I know it is all just an
application of the inverse square law and if I spend enough time on it, I can
probably do it myself. I would just like to see how books that deal with this
topic organize the computation. One of the things I would like to know is
whether there are certain attractions and repulsions between electropositive
or electronegative atoms in corresponding nucleotides that the books
automatically ignore without computing them. I know that something like
that is done in Hueckel theory in quantum chemical computations, so I don't
rule out that it might be done in these kinds of classical E&M problems
involving nucleotides.
--
Ignorantly,
Allan Adler <ara@zurich.csail.mit.edu>
* Disclaimer: I am a guest and *not* a member of the MIT CSAIL. My actions and
* comments do not reflect in any way on MIT. Also, I am nowhere near Boston.
of a book by Giancoli on electricity and magnetism. I don't speak Dutch
but I know enough German and enough about E&M to get by with it, even
without a dictionary. I was unable to find an exact English counterpart
to the book. Maybe in the Dutch editions, some English book by Giancoli
got divided up so as to be compatible with the courses taught in Holland.
At any rate, I found one exercise interesting, namely it gave some
geometrical information about the DNA double helix and asked for the
force of attraction between two corresponding nucleotides on the
two helices. I tried once to do the problem, got a different answer
from the one at the back of the book, and then had to return the book.
At any rate, no details of the solution were given, just the numerical
answer.
I'd like to know of a book that works out some examples of this kind of
computation in detail. It would be nice if it included DNA but it is probably
a typical computation in chemistry or biochemistry. I know it is all just an
application of the inverse square law and if I spend enough time on it, I can
probably do it myself. I would just like to see how books that deal with this
topic organize the computation. One of the things I would like to know is
whether there are certain attractions and repulsions between electropositive
or electronegative atoms in corresponding nucleotides that the books
automatically ignore without computing them. I know that something like
that is done in Hueckel theory in quantum chemical computations, so I don't
rule out that it might be done in these kinds of classical E&M problems
involving nucleotides.
--
Ignorantly,
Allan Adler <ara@zurich.csail.mit.edu>
* Disclaimer: I am a guest and *not* a member of the MIT CSAIL. My actions and
* comments do not reflect in any way on MIT. Also, I am nowhere near Boston.