Chapter 13, Problem 47P

The protein dynein powers the flagella that propel some unicellular organisms. Biophysicists have found that dynein is intrinsically oscillatory, and that it exerts peak forces of about 1.0 pN when it attaches to structures called microtubules. The resulting oscillations have amplitude 15 nm. (a) If this system is modeled as a mass–spring system, what’s the associated spring constant? (b) If the oscillation frequency is 70 Hz, what’s the effective mass?