If a protein can be induced to crystallize, its molecular structure
can be determined by X-ray crystallography. Protein crystals,
though solid, contain a large amount of water molecules
along with the protein. The protein chicken egg-white lysozyme,
for instance, crystallizes with a unit cell having angles of
90° and with edge lengths of 7.9 * 103 pm, 7.9 * 103 pm,
and 3.8 * 103 pm. There are eight molecules in the unit
cell. If the lysozyme molecule has a molecular weight of
1.44 * 104 and a density of 1.35 g>cm3, what percent of the
unit cell is occupied by the protein?
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