Chapter 10
The Statistical Basis of Bioenergetics
If you are out to describe natural laws, leave elegance to the
tailor.
— Albert Einstein
Summary This chapter gives the statistical arguments behind thermodynamics,
with applications to cellular systems and biochemical reactions. Included is a discussion of the Debye–Hückel model for ionic reactions, a description of fluctuations
in thermodynamic variables, and an introduction to kinetic theories for reactions.
10.1 Concepts
The subject of statistical mechanics combines microscopic laws with statistics
applied to systems with a large number of particles. A major result is a derivation
of the classical laws of thermodynamics using probabilities rather than absolutes in
the description. Classical thermodynamics was originally formalized by Clausius 1
as an axiomatic system based on the observations of macroscopic systems at or near
equilibrium. Such an axiomatic view has a beauty all its own in the breadth of its
applicability. But we know that the behavior of thermodynamic systems comes from
microscopic behavior. It is satisfying to see this connection, and to realized how
emergent principles can arise from the evolution of microscopic interacting systems.
When new statistical relationships spontaneously come forth among macroscopic
variables describing dominant structures or processes, we say we have reached a
new level in the hierarchy of ordered states.
1 R. Clausius, The Mechanical Theory of Heat with its Applications to the Steam Engine and
to Physical Properties of Bodies [John van Vorst Pub., London] (1867).
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
W. C. Parke, Biophysics, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-44146-3_10
421
The Statistical Basis of Bioenergetics
If you are out to describe natural laws, leave elegance to the
tailor.
— Albert Einstein
Summary This chapter gives the statistical arguments behind thermodynamics,
with applications to cellular systems and biochemical reactions. Included is a discussion of the Debye–Hückel model for ionic reactions, a description of fluctuations
in thermodynamic variables, and an introduction to kinetic theories for reactions.
10.1 Concepts
The subject of statistical mechanics combines microscopic laws with statistics
applied to systems with a large number of particles. A major result is a derivation
of the classical laws of thermodynamics using probabilities rather than absolutes in
the description. Classical thermodynamics was originally formalized by Clausius 1
as an axiomatic system based on the observations of macroscopic systems at or near
equilibrium. Such an axiomatic view has a beauty all its own in the breadth of its
applicability. But we know that the behavior of thermodynamic systems comes from
microscopic behavior. It is satisfying to see this connection, and to realized how
emergent principles can arise from the evolution of microscopic interacting systems.
When new statistical relationships spontaneously come forth among macroscopic
variables describing dominant structures or processes, we say we have reached a
new level in the hierarchy of ordered states.
1 R. Clausius, The Mechanical Theory of Heat with its Applications to the Steam Engine and
to Physical Properties of Bodies [John van Vorst Pub., London] (1867).
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
W. C. Parke, Biophysics, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-44146-3_10
421