Metrology (1310)

Purpose: This exercise is to introduce students to the metric system and

common laboratory equipment they will be working with during the course.
You are to record the steps performed and your results in your laboratory
notebook following cGMP documentation guidelines.
Materials
Meter sticks, thermometers, balance, 25ml, 100ml graduated cylinders,
250ml beakers, pennies, test tubes, deionized water, spatulas, 5ml, 10ml,
pipette, aids, hydrogen peroxide, potato, balance, mortar and pestle.
The Metric System (you dont have to record this section)
Just as scientists use unique names to identify a single species that is
recognized globally, scientists use the metric system as a universal
measurement system. The world for that matter, the sole exception being
the United States, uses the metric system as it logical and units are easily
converted. Thus, since this is a science class we will be using the metric
system exclusively to make our measurements.
The metric system has four base units:
Base Unit

Measurement
length
mass
volume
temperature

Meter (m)
Gram (g)
Liter (L)
Celsius (C)

We can simply add prefixes to the base unit to change the value of the
measurement by factors of ten.
Prefix
Multipl
y
Divide

kilo
(k)
1000

hecto
(h)
100

deka
(da)
10

Base

deci
(d)

centi
(c)

milli
(m)

micro
()

0.1

0.01

0.001

0.0000
01

1
1

The Greek prefixes to the left of the base are larger so numbers get smaller
as you move the decimal to the left.
The Latin prefixes to the right are smaller so the numbers get larger as you
move the decimal to the right.

Hint: an easy way to remember the prefixes is this mnemonic

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King

Hector

Died

By

kilo
(k)

hecto
(h)

deka
(da)

Base

Drinkin
g
deci
(d)

Curdled

Milk

Monday

centi
(c)

milli
(m)

micro
()

Example: we have a large number with millimeters as the unit =

7550mm.
A good unit to convert to would be the base unit of the meter. 7550 x 0.001
= 7.550m
You can also perform this conversion using our memory device and counting
the number of steps from your current unit to the desired unit. Move the
decimal point the same number of steps in the same direction you did when
counting prefixes.
There are three steps to the left from milli to the base. We move the
decimal point three to the left.
7550. becomes 7.550
We move the decimal six steps to the right when converting 0.00123Kg to
mg.
0.001230 becomes 1230.
Hint: Be careful of the micro () prefix that we will use in class.
It is three steps to the right of the milli (m) prefix or is 1000 times smaller!
Practice Problems
100mm to cm
___________
5000Kg to g
___________
0.00100L to ml
___________
10daL to dl
___________
701.30hm to cm
___________
*50cc to ml
___________
*250mL to cm3
___________ *Hint: Think of these measurements in
three dimensions
Accuracy and Precision
When making measurements in the laboratory is it important to consider the
difference between accuracy and precision.
Accuracy is the proximity of the measurement to the true value.
Precision is the repeatability of the measurements.

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The first target exhibits accuracy but you would question the experimenters
techniques as they are inconsistent.
The second target is inaccurate but precise. The experimenter is perfor ming

the procedure consistently and may not be at fault. It may be the procedure itself.
You should strive for both accuracy and precision in the laboratory,
and be able to interpret your data if one or both are lacking.
Taking Measurements
When measuring a piece of equipment you are expected to report the value
to one more significant figure (decimal place) than the graduations allow.
What is the correct measurement? __________cm

Why?

When reading liquid volumes in a graduated cylinder or pipette you

need to read the bottom curvature of the water or the meniscus.
Read the two volumes below to the greatest accuracy.

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Grad cylinder____________mL

Test your knowledge -

Pipette_____________ml
Note- pipettes are calibrated as
TD or (to deliver)!

Draw a line matching the picture with the

name
Pipette aid

plastic pipette
scalpel

Flask
beaker
test tube holder

microscope slide

micropipette

test tube

hot plate stirrer

mortar/pestle

Petri dish

Procedure (begin recording data in your notebook here include procedure

section and data section. Good idea to break into sections A, B, C etc.)

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Part A - Degree of Accuracy

1)

Observe the smallest place value represented by the lines on your

meter stick (on the metric side). Record this value, with the
appropriate unit as the "smallest certain place value" in the form of
data table A in your notebook.

2)

Add one decimal place value (i.e. tenth becomes hundredth, or

hundredth becomes thousandth) to the value from the previous step.
This is your estimation digit for this instrument. Record this value,
with the appropriate units, "in data table A in your notebook.

3)

Repeat steps 1 and 2 for each of the following instruments;

thermometer, balance, 25ml graduated cylinder, 100ml graduated
cylinder. Record these values, with the appropriate units, in the form
of a data table your notebook.

Suggested Table A for notebook

Instrument
Smallest place value
Meter stick
Thermometer
Balance
25ml grad cylinder
100ml grad cylinder
Part B - Measuring Mass

Estimated value

1)
2)

Tare your calibrated balance.

Determine the mass of a clean, dry 25ml graduated cylinder. Record
this in the form of a data table B in your notebook.
3)
Add 10.0 ml of DI water to the graduated cylinder. Dry the outside
of the cylinder to avoid massing extra water.
4)
Mass the graduated cylinder with the water inside. Record this value
in data table B in your notebook.
5)
Is there another way to do this with fewer steps? Explain.
6)
a) Using an electronic balance, find out how many pennies it takes to
make 10 grams and round to the closest penny if necessary.
b) How many grams does 10 pennies weigh rounded to 2 significant
digits?
Part C - Measuring Volume
7)
8)
9)
10)

Measure out a random sample of water in the 25ml graduated

cylinder. Record the volume and units, to the highest degree of
accuracy in Table C in your notebook.
Have your lab partners verify the accuracy of the volume of water.
Repeat steps 9 and 10 with the 100ml graduated cylinder.
Carefully place a penny in the 100ml graduated cylinder. It must be
completely submerged, and the volume must be no greater than

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11)
12)

100ml. Record the new water level and determine the volume of the
penny.
Using a 10ml and 5ml graduated pipettes and manual pipette aid, fill
a tared test tube in a beaker with 25.0ml DI water, and determine
the mass of the water only.
Density of water is 1.00 g/ml. What is the mass of your water? Was
your pipetting accurate?

Part D Potato Catalase

Hydrogen peroxide H2O2 is a byproduct of cellular metabolism and can be
damaging to cells if it is not converted into water and oxygen in the presence
of catalase.
2H2O2 + catalase---------> 2H2O + O2
Catalase is an enzyme. Enzymes are biological catalysts that lower the
activation energy of reactions and allow them to proceed faster or to even
take place at all. We are going to use naturally occurring catalase from red
potatoes to breakdown our H2O2. This will result in the formation of foam
from the O2 that is released. We can estimate catalase activity indirectly by
the height of the foam.
This is an introductory experiment to measure enzyme activity and you will
need to practice your metrology skills learned earlier in this lab. Attempt to
be both accurate and precise when measuring your reagents as small errors
can lead to poor data!
Procedure
1. You will find red potatoes on the center bench in the lab. Take about
half of a small potato and dice it into small pieces (be careful).
2. Grind the diced cubes with a mortar and pestle until there and no large
pieces.
3. Using the electronic balance, weigh the potato and place into the test
tubes according to table 1.
4. This is a good place to formulate your hypothesis using the values in
the table below. Whats going to happen and why? Will all the tubes
be the same?
Hypothesis?
5. Pour about 30ml of H2O2 into a 50ml beaker.
6. Use a motorized pipettor and pipette and add 5mL of H 2O2 from the
beaker to test tube 1.
7. Quickly but accurately repeat for the remaining 4 tubes.
Table I
Tube
number
Potato
amount

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0.0g

0.2g

0.5g

1g

2g

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Amount
H2O2

5mL

5mL

5mL

5mL

5mL

8. You should see foam being generated in most of the tubes.

9. Wait ten minutes and then using a metric ruler measure the height of
the foam of each tube in cm and record in table 2.
Table 2
Tube
number
Potato
amount
Foam
Height cm

0.0g

0.2g

0.5g

1g

2g

What we just tested is the effect of varying the amount of enzyme available
to breakdown the substrate or H2O2 which did not change.
Did varying the amount of potato (enzyme) make a difference?
Generate an XY scatter plot of the results in Excel.
Graphing in Excel
The first thing to consider when graphing is deciding what the dependent and
independent variables are. The independent variable (x-axis) is the one that
is predetermined by the parameters of the experiment. The dependent
variable (y-axis) is the one we are testing for and dont know yet.
In the potato enzyme experiment, the amount of potato was the independent
variable and the foam height (enzyme activity) was the dependent.
1. Open an Excel spreadsheet.
2. In cell A1 type the first value of the independent variable (x-axis)
3. Place all the remaining x-values in order directly underneath A2, A3, A4,
A5, etc.
4. In cell B1 type the first value of the dependent variable.
5. Place all the remaining y-values in order directly underneath B2, B3, B4,
B5, etc.
6. Highlight only the cells with information in them.
7. Locate the chart wizard icon or use the insert button.
8. Select scatter and a chart type with connected data points (second row to
right).
9. You should see your chart. Look at the trend. Does it make sense?
10. Go to the layout tab and add a descriptive but concise chart title and axes
labels.
11. You may wish to plot more than one y against a particular x.
12. Simply add the second y values in column C, third in column D etc.

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Finally conclude your notebook entry with any notable results or possible
errors that need documenting. Also, it is here you can also suggest issues
with the protocol and some possible future solutions. Be fairly brief.

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