Transition-state theory and rate constants

For further reading on the subject, the classic text of Tanford [192] remains an excellent resource, as does the text by Cantor and Schimmel [27], Recent books by Dill and Bromberg [44] on molecular biophysics and by Schlick [181] on computational chemistry are highly recommended. 

1 For the helix-coil theory of Section 10.1.1, show that Z = (1 + v)N if w = v. This is expected for a chain of independent units, each of which has two states with energy 0 and —hgT in v. 

2 Show that the algorithm in the function hcontent in Section 10.1.1 does indeed compute the derivative of the partition function with respect to the parameter w. 

3 Consider the association reaction in Equation (10.14) with equilibrium association constant Keq = The equilibrium concentrations for A, B, and AB are 

Use this relation to determine the equilibrium concentration of AB as a function of total numbers of A and B molecules in a finite volume. Compare your result with Equations (10.18) and (10.21). 

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