Membranes can form approximately spherical doublelayer struc

Membranes can form approximately spherical, double-layer structures. The smallest of these spheres has a diameter of about 50 nm. Find the dimensions of a typical lipid molecule and determine how many lipid molecules are in this smallest spherical membrane. Assume 60% of the membrane area is lipid.

Solution

There are approximately 5 × 10⁶ lipid molecules in a 1 m × 1 m area of lipid bilayer,

So, dimensions of a lipid molecule will be under root (5 * 10⁶ ) = 2.2360 *10³ *2.2360 *10³ micro mt.

A sphere of 50 nm diameter will have radius 25 nm. It\'s surface area will be 4*pi*(radius)² =4 * 3.14 * (25 *10-3 micromt.)² = 7857 * 10-6 micromt²

1 micromt2 contains 5*106 lipid molecules

7857 *10^-6 micromt2 will contain 7857 * 10-6 * 5 * 106 lipid molecules ~~ 39285 lipid molecules.