Figure 5. Dependence of dominant distance between head groups across the micelle on alkyl chain length.

The dominant distances between head groups across the micelle are shown for phosphocholine (▴), glucoside (•), maltoside (▪), and lysophosphatidyl glycerol (▾) detergents. (A) The correlation is shown between the dominant distance determined from the position of the second peak in the experimental SAXS profiles (L_expt) and the corresponding distance estimated from the model fit (L_model). The dashed line represents a perfect correlation between the two approaches. (B) The distance determined from the best model fit for each detergent (L_model) is plotted as a function of the number of carbons in the detergent’s alkyl chain (n_c). The dotted line represents the distance of two alkyl chains having a fully extended hydrocarbon chain according to Tanford’s formula for alkyl chain length.