Why Are Serial Dilutions Used

5/13/2018by

Alaska Ultimate X more. Serial Dilution Definition A method used to stepwise dilute substance into solution with constant dilution factor in each step. Application Experimental sciences include biochemistry, pharmacology, and physics as well as in homeopathy. Difficulty Procedure: Medium Concept: Easy Concept Serial dilution is the stepwise dilution of a substance in solution. Usually the dilution factor at each step is constant, resulting in a geometric progression of the concentration in a logarithmic fashion. Serial dilutions are used to accurately create highly diluted solutions as well as solutions for experiments resulting in concentration curves with a logarithmic scale. Serial Dilution Besides the more conventional uses described above, serial dilution may also be used to reduce the concentration of microscopic organisms or cells in a sample.

Serial Dilutions Made Easy

Working with billions of tiny cells can pose a problem when you need to count the total number of cells in a sample. Fortunately, through precise serial dilution of a. Science Fair - Serial Dilution. Definition A method used to stepwise dilute substance into solution with constant dilution factor in each step.

A tenfold dilution for each step is called a logarithmic dilution or log-dilution and a 3.16-fold (100.5-fold) dilution is called a half-logarithmic dilution or half-log dilution. Materials • Buffer used to dissolve the sample • The sample • Multiple tubes • Pipette or graduated cylinder • Stirring rod Procedure • Shake the solution by hand or use the stirring rod to swirl the solution. Make sure the solution is uniformly mixed. • Take half of the solution out to a new tube and add equal amount of buffer into it to dilute the solution concentration to half of the original solution. • Take half of the newly made solution to another new tube and add equal amount of buffer into it to dilute the solution concentration to one quarter of the original solution. • Continue the process until reaching the desired concentration of the solution. Analysis Serial dilution is a process of solution preparation.

Therefore, analysis is not necessary. References • •.

Why Are Serial Dilutions Used

Dilution is the act of mixing a chemical with other substance, usually distilled water to make it lighter in composition. It is usually done if the chemical concentration is too high than the desired composition. Thus, serial dilution simply means a series of repeated dilution performed on the same chemical basically to change its concentration. After performing the dilution, we need to know how much difference are the diluted chemical and the initial, undiluted ones.

One way is by obtaining a factor called the Dilution Factor (DF). The factor can be obtained by dividing the actual volume of the initial chemical used to the final volume of the chemical after water is added. As example, if 1.0 ml of 3M HCl is added with 9 ml of distilled water, the dilution factor becomes 1/10. In serial dilution, the entire dilution factor will be multiple together to be the actual dilution factor. There are several benefits of performing serial dilution. Serial dilution comes in handy when the solution is too concentrated to be used in experiments or ingredients preparation.

This is to ensure that the exact concentration can be obtained for the experiment to become success. Other than that, the diluted solution from this serial dilution can be used to count the concentration of the actual solution. By knowing the dilution factor of certain solution, the calculations of the concentration become easier and systematic. This method is applicable in several fields, not only in chemistry. Serial dilution is a simple yet efficient technique to determine the number of cells or organisms in a concentrated sample. First, take a portion of the sample and does serial dilution on it.

Repeat the steps until the cells can be observed under the microscope when the diluted sample was observed. Then, count the dilution factor and times it with the actual volume of the sample. Other than that, medicine administration require suitable dose for each patient with variable needs. This is where serial dilution is useful.

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