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We estimate the stiffness of single-walled carbon nanotubes by observing their freestanding room-temperature vibrations in a transmission electron microscope. The nanotube dimensions and vibration amplitude are measured from electron micrographs, and it is assumed that the vibration modes are driven stochastically and are those of a clamped cantilever. Micrographs of 27 nanotubes in the diameter range 1. 0--1. 5 nm were measured to yield an average Young's modulus of 〈Y〉=1. 25 TPa. This value is consistent with previous measurements for multiwalled nanotubes, and is higher than the currently accepted value of the in-plane modulus of graphite.
Krishnan et al. (Sun,) studied this question.