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Random or not, here I come (MC)

Page history last edited by Joe Redish 7 years, 5 months ago

4.3.2.P2A

 

In his physics lab, Radagast has observed the motion of an E. coli bacterium using a video camera. His log-log plot of the square deviation of his chosen bacterium as a function of time is shown in the figure below. (The graph is presented in two equivalent forms: one for those who have used Excel – on the left – instead of log-log graph paper – on the right.) The bacterium seems to have two distinct behaviors: for times shorter than 1 second (marked A) and for times longer than 10 seconds (marked B). What do you think might be an appropriate hypothesis for what might be causing the two different behaviors?

 

1. In region A:

  1. The bacterium is moving purposefully in response to some chemical gradient.
  2. The bacterium is moving at random in response to the thermal motion of its environment.
  3. The bacterium is constrained in some way.
  4. The bacterium is using its flagella (which work like propellers) to move at a constant velocity
  5. The bacterium is accelerating in response to a force in a fixed direction.
  6. None of these behaviors are consistent with that part of the graph.

 

2. In region B:

  1. The bacterium is moving purposefully in response to some chemical gradient.
  2. The bacterium is moving at random in response to the thermal motion of its environment.
  3. The bacterium is constrained in some way.
  4. The bacterium is using its flagella (which work like propellers) to move at a constant velocity.
  5. The bacterium is accelerating in response to a force in a fixed direction.
  6. None of these behaviors are consistent with that part of the graph.

 

 

Joe Redish and Wolfgang Losert 1/15/13

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