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Figure 1


Fig. 1. A portion of a sperm flagellum that is propagating a bending wave, shown at two points in time in A and B. If the bending wave is moving from left to right, a short segment (dark bar) will be moving up in A and down in B, changing its tilt as the velocity changes. The velocity, V, of any segment can be resolved into a longitudinal component, VL, and a normal component, VN. Resistive force theory states that the force components pushing on the fluid will then be FL=CLVL and FN=CNVN, where CL and CN are resistance constants. If CN>CL, the total force F=FN+FL will always have a component pushing on the fluid in the direction of wave propagation, and this will provide a thrust in the opposite direction, propelling the spermatozoon to the left.





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