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1. Problem

It has recently become possible to "weigh" DNA molecules by measuring the influence of their
mass on a nanooscillator. Figure shows a thin rectangular cantilever etched out of silicon
(density 2300 kg/m) with a small gold dot at the end. If pulled down and released, the end of the
cantilever vibrates with simple harmonic motion, moving up and down like a diving board after a
jump. When bathed with DNA molecules whose ends have been modified to bind with gold, one
or more molecules may attach to the gold dot. The addition of their mass causes a very slight -
but measurable - decrease in the oscillation frequency. A vibrating cantilever of mass M can be
modeled as a block of mass M attached to a spring. (The factor of arises from the moment of
inertia of a bar pivoted at one end.) Neither the mass nor the spring constant can be determined
very accurately - perhaps to only two significant figures - but the oscillation frequency can be
measured with very high precision simply by counting the oscillations. In one experiment, the
cantilever was initially vibrating at exactly 10 MHz. Attachment of a DNA molecule caused the
frequency to decrease by 49 Hz. What was the mass of the DNA?






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2. Processes
The goal of the problem was to compute the mass of the DNA molecule on the nano-
oscillator by taking into account the difference in frequency of the oscillation produced. For ease
of solution, I have modeled the DNA molecule to be a bar of mass m pivoted at one end
attached to a spring. I have derived the expressions for the frequencies before and after attaching
the DNA molecule, and then subsequently computed the mass of the molecule.

3. Solution

We know that
=

2n

Now, for un-damped oscillations,
=
_

So, by substituting into the 1
st
expression, we obtain
=
1
2n

Now, for the oscillation of the nano-oscillator,
0
,

0
=
1
2n

1
S
, H

Since mass of oscillator =
1
S
, H (the fraction is to account for the moment of inertia of the block
pivoted at one end).

Rearranging the equation gives us , which is the spring constant for the oscillator
= 4n
2

0
2

1
S
, H
3

Now, we know that
H = p
So H = 2Suu kgm
3
(4uuu 1u
-9
m) (4uu 1u
-9
m) (1uu 1u
-9
m)
H = S.68 1u
-16
kg
Plugging in values to calculate ,
= 4n
2
(1u 1u
6
Bz)
2

1
S
, (S.68 1u
-16
kg)
= u.484 kg s
-2

Now, considering the oscillator and the DNA molecule together,
=
1
2n

1
S
, H+
1
S
,

=
1
2n

1
S
, (H+ )

Solving for m gives us
=
S
4n
2

2
H
=
S(u.484 kgs
-2
)
4n
2
(1u 1u
6
Bz 49 Bz)
2
(S.68 1u
-16
kg)
= S.61 1u
-21
kg




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4. Justification
DNA is a long polymer made from repeating units called nucleotides. According to
another study, when measured in a particular solution, the DNA chain measured 22 to
26 ngstrms wide (2.2 to 2.6 nanometres), and one nucleotide unit measured 3.3 (0.33 nm)
long. Although each individual repeating unit is very small, DNA polymers can be very large
molecules, sometimes containing millions of nucleotides. (DNA, Wikipedia.org). Based on this
information, we can safely assume that the DNA molecule stated in the problem is a strand made
of multiple nucleotides, which justifies the modeling. Figures below show a DNA strand.










The accuracy of the result might be questioned. As a DNA molecule can be of varied
length (based on the number of nucleotides it has, see above), we can have a wide range of
accuracy for the result, especially because the nature and structure of the DNA molecule in
question isnt given. If we have to consider the mass of a nucleotide, for example an ATP
molecule which has a molar mass of 507.2 g/mol (DNA and RNA Molecular Weights and
Conversions, Invitrogen.com), we can do the following calculation:
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A1P
=
Su7.2 (1u
-3
kg) mol
-1

A
mol
-1
= 8.42 1u
-25
kg
where
A
= Avogauio
i
s numbei = 6.u2 1u
-23
mol
-1
.
According to this result, if we assume that our DNA molecule was entirely made of ATP
nucleotides, it would have
3.6110
-21
kg
8.4210
-2S
kg
4Suu nucleotides. Thus, the given solution to the
problem is a perfectly acceptable value for a DNA molecule.
An assumption of undamped oscillations was made in the calculation. This is a valid
assumption as the scale of our setup was so small that any damping that might have occurred
would have been minimal and negligible in our calculation.

5. Works Cited
1. DNA Wikipedia.org, Wikimedia Foundation, 2012. Web, 8

December 2012. URL :
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DNA#Properties
2. DNA and RNA Molecular Weights and Conversions Invitrogen.org, Life Technologies
Corporation, 2012. Web, 8 December 2012. URL :
http://www.invitrogen.com/site/us/en/home/References/Ambion-Tech-Support/rna-tools-and-
calculators/dna-and-rna-molecular-weights-and-conversions.html.