How do you solve serial dilution problems?

How do you solve serial dilution problems?

In serial dilutions, you multiply the dilution factors for each step. The dilution factor or the dilution is the initial volume divided by the final volume. For example, if you add a 1 mL sample to 9 mL of diluent to get 10 mL of solution, DF=ViVf = 1mL10mL=110 .

Why do serial dilutions in microbiology?

In microbiology, serial dilutions (log dilutions) are used to decrease a bacterial concentration to a required concentration for a specific test method, or to a concentration which is easier to count when plated to an agar plate.

What is the dilution factor in microbiology?

Dilution is the process of making a solution less concentrated. Dilution is also called as concentration factor in some microbiology lab manuals. The dilution factor (or dilution ratio) is used to express how much of the original stock solution is present in the total solution, after dilution.

What is dilution used for?

Dilution refers to the process of adding additional solvent to a solution to decrease its concentration. This process keeps the amount of solute constant, but increases the total amount of solution, thereby decreasing its final concentration.

How do you make a dilution plan?

In this case, just take the concentration you want to achieve, and divide it by the concentration you currently have. For example, if you want coffee with 5 caffeine molecules per cup, but you have coffee with 5000 molecules per cup, you have to prepare a dilution of 5/5000 or 1/1000.

Why is serial dilution a useful technique?

Serial dilutions are used to accurately create extremely diluted solutions, as well as solutions for experiments that require a concentration curve with an exponential or logarithmic scale. Serial dilutions are widely used in experimental sciences, including biochemistry, pharmacology, microbiology, and physics.

How do dilution factors work?

The dilution factor may also be expressed as the ratio of the volume of the final diluted solution to the initial volume removed from the stock solution. For example, if 100 mL of a stock solution is diluted with solvent/diluent to a total, final volume of 1000 mL, the resulting dilution factor is 10.

What does 20X concentration mean?

Concentrated stock solutions – using “X” units A solution 20 times more concentrated would be denoted as 20x and would require a 1:20 dilution to restore the typical working concentration. Example: A 1x solution of a compound has a molar concentration of 0.05 M for its typical use in a lab procedure.