Bilayer bending elasticity measured by Fourier analysis of thermally excited surface undulations of flaccid vesicles

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Abstract
We measure the bending elasticity of flaccid vesicles by Fourier analysis of the thermally excited surface undulations up to the 8th order. The results are explained in terms of the recent theory of Schneider et al. The value of the bending elastic constant for fluid lecithin bilayers (K c = 4 x 10-13 erg) agrees well with that of erythrocyte membranes but is nearly an order of magnitude smaller than that reported for the same lipid in the literature. This discrepancy is attributed to the fact that the Kc value obtained by considering the lowest order mode of deformation alone is systematically too high