BISC209: Calibration of Micropipets

Protocol for Micropipet Calibration

1. To calibrate your P1000, P 200, and P 20 micropipets, label 6 microfuge tubes (1-6) and weigh them on a top loading balance. Don't forget to tare the balance. Record the weights in a table in your lab notebook, like the one below.

2. Using the information in the table below, pipet the specified volumes into the pre-weighed microfuge tubes prepared in step 1 and then reweigh the tubes. Record all weights.

3. Calculate the weight of the water in grams by substracting the dry weight from the weight of the tubes with water. Note that 1000 microliters of water should weigh exactly 1 gram at room temperature.

4. If the water in any tube weighs more or less than 1 gram, repeat that tube. Ask your instructor to check your pipetting technique if your calibration continues to be off after several repeated attempts.

Tube #	Pre-weight	Tube Vol. in µl using P20	Vol. in µl using P200	Vol. in µl using P1000	Weight of water grams
1	_____	10	0	990	____
2	_____	0	100	900	____
3	_____	20	175	805	_____
4	_____	2	88	910	______
5	_____	0	200 x 5	0	_____
6	_____	20 x 5	0	900	_____

Links to Labs

Lab 1
Lab 2
Lab 3
Lab 4
Lab 5
Lab 6
Lab 7
Lab 8
Lab 9
Lab 10
Lab11
Lab 12