Table 1.

Reference parameters and scales for the sperm model and cell–substrate interaction models, which are used throughout this study; further details on the flagellum radius, a, can be found in the electronic supplementary material. The fluid viscosity μ₀ is (essentially) that of water.

parameter	interpretation	value	reference
a	flagellar radius	0.125 µm	[18]
L	flagellar length	56 µm	[18]
μ0	fluid viscosity (beat patterns I,II,III of figure 2b)	0.001 Pa s
μ	fluid viscosity (beat pattern IV of figure 2b)	4000μ0	[10]
μ	fluid viscosity (beat pattern V of figure 2b)	100μ0	[37]
ω0	beat frequency (beat pattern I, II of figure 2b)	40π Hz	[5]
ω	beat frequency (respectively beat pattern III, IV, V of figure 2b)	0.5ω0, 0.2ω0, 0.3ω0	[5,33,37]
g	wall repulsion strength	200μω	[32]
d	wall repulsion length	0.002L	[32]
Rad	adhesion model parameter	0.01L	[21]
Ron	adhesion model parameter	0.0101L	[21]
Roff	adhesion model parameter	0.011L	[21]