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01 — Why Temperature Matters
Boltzmann Distribution
A protein can be folded (low energy) or unfolded (high energy). The Boltzmann distribution tells us: at low temperature, almost all molecules sit in the folded state. Raise the temperature — the probability spreads and the protein unfolds. Try it: drag the temperature slider and watch the real protein structure respond.
Structure at T = 1.0
Temperature1.00
Barrier3.0
Stability2.0
P(folded)83.8%
Mean energy-0.316
Units are dimensionless (kT = 1 at T = 1). The double-well is a toy model — real proteins have ~10^143 states.
84%
folded