An ideal chain (or freely-jointed chain) is the simplest model to describe a polymer. It only assumes a polymer as a random walk and neglects any kind of interactions among monomers. Although it is simple, its generality gives us some insights about the physics of polymers.
In this model, monomers are rigid rods of a fixed length l, and their orientation is completely independent of the orientations and positions of neighbouring monomers, to the extent that two monomers can co-exist at the same place.
Read more about Ideal Chain: The Model, Generality of The Model, Entropic Elasticity of An Ideal Chain
Famous quotes containing the words ideal and/or chain:
“Realism absorbs the ideal by adding a few small imperfections. Example: it paints a few specks of mud on the white gown of the Lady in the Garden.”
—Mason Cooley (b. 1927)
“How have I been able to live so long outside Nature without identifying myself with it? Everything lives, moves, everything corresponds; the magnetic rays, emanating either from myself or from others, cross the limitless chain of created things unimpeded; it is a transparent network that covers the world, and its slender threads communicate themselves by degrees to the planets and stars. Captive now upon earth, I commune with the chorus of the stars who share in my joys and sorrows.”
—Gérard De Nerval (1808–1855)