A universal entropic pulling force caused by binding.

ABSTRACT: We report an entropic pulling force that commonly occurs in systems with molecular or macroscopic binding. A particle binding to an object produces an entropic pulling force on the object because the bound particle tends to escape from this object to gain more entropy. This entropic pulling effect leads to an entropic force of ~ kBT/lb , where kB is the Boltzmann constant, T is temperature, and lb is the binding length. We validate this entropic pulling effect through simulations and experiments. In macroscopic experiments, a particle bound to a bead-chain on a vibration platform, where mechanical vibration mimics thermal noise, produces an entropic force. In single-molecule magnetic-tweezers experiments, multivalent ions binding to DNA exert an entropic force to enlarge the DNA's diameter

SUBMITTER: Zuo H 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12575725 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature