Lecture Notes

This page presents the lecture notes for each class session, plus supporting multimedia for some sessions.

LEC # TOPICS SUPPORTING MULTIMEDIA
1 Introduction to nanomechanics (PDF) Buy at Amazon Feynman, Richard. Tiny Machines. Audio CD, Sound Photosynthesis, 1984.
2 High resolution force spectroscopy (HRFS): The force transducer (PDF)  
3 Additional nanomechanics instrumentation components (PDF)  
4 Force versus distance curves (PDF)  
5 Atomic force microscope (AFM) imaging (PDF)

Video: "Understanding AFM"
(MP4 - 109 MB)
(Courtesy of Asylum Research, Inc. Used with permission)

Force curve animation, from NC State University (MOV)

6 AFM imaging II: Artifacts and applications (PDF)  
7 Single cell mechanics (PDF)  
8 Qualitative Introduction to intra- and intermolecular forces (PDF) Protein Folding demo [You will need the MDL Chime plugin for your browser, which is a free download.]
9 Quantitative description of intra- and intermolecular forces (PDF)  
10 Molecule-surface interactions (PDF)  
11 Colloids and interparticle potentials (PDF)  
12 Van der Waals forces at work: Gecko feet adhesion (PDF)  
13 Midterm exam solutions review (PDF)  
14 The electrical double layer (EDL) - part 1 (PDF)  
15 The electrical double layer (EDL) - part 2 (PDF)  
16 Nanomechanics of cartilage (PDF - 2.0 MB)  
17 Protein-surface interactions (PDF - 1.3 MB)

John Marko, Cornell University, 1994.

Simulation of Polymer Brush Interacting with Nanosized Object (AVI) (Courtesy of Jan Hoh. Used with permission.)

18 Nanomechanics and biocompatibility: Protein-biomaterial interactions, part 2 (PDF) Same as prior session.
19 Elasticity of single polymer chains: Theoretical formulations (PDF)  
20 Theoretical aspects of single molecule force spectroscopy: Extensibility and the worm-like chain (WLC) (PDF)  
21 Single chain elasticity of biomacromolecules: The giant protein titin and DNA (PDF)

From the Theoretical and Computational Physics Group, UIUC:

Movie of SMFS Fibronectin stretching (MPEG - 1.7 MB)

Simulations of unfolding titin immunoglobulin domains

22 Theoretical aspects of nanoindentation (PDF)  
23 Nanoindentation 2: Oliver-Pharr method and one literature example: Nacre (PDF - 1.0 MB)  
24 Intermolecular interactions in motility of a biological spring (guest lecture by Danielle France, course TA)