On the Limiting Shape of the Distribution Function of Lengths of a Single Polymer Molecule with Excluded-Volume Effects

Abstract

The distribution of the lengths of the polymer molecule is estimated from the computed reduced moments with the excluded‐volume effect being taken into consideration. It is found that the probability distribution function for chain ends can be fitted reasonably well by an exponentially decaying function, raised to the power of t, where t, the shape factor, exceeds its Gaussian value of 2. As a result of the excluded‐volume effect, the distribution of the lengths of a single polymeric molecule results in the chain assuming a more uniform conformation, as compared with the Gaussian coil model.