Nathan Bourgault
John Abbott College - BioPharmaceutical Production Technology Department
Sterile Manufacturing 2 - Laboratory Report no.: 1
Title: Micro-pipetting
Introduction:
Micropipettes are precision instruments that are designed to accurately transfer
volumes in the microliter range. 1 microliter (abbreviated μL) = 10-3 milliliter (mL) or 10-
6 liter (L). 1000µl = 1ml = 1g (for water).
Objective:
Learn to properly utilize micro-pipettes and learn fundamental skills, as well as the
precision and accuracy of each type of micropipette.
Materials:
Equipment Company Serial #
Analytical balance Sartorius Jac#82964
2-20μl pipette Rainin H0301461A
20-200μ pipette Rainin A0724636A
100μl-1ml pipette Rainin B0300436A
Water: RM#: NA Lot #: 5/9/24 Expiration date: 5/9/24
In addition, we used small weighing boats.
Method:
The best way to determine the accuracy and precision of micropipettes is to use them to
weigh set volumes of distilled water on an analytical balance. The density of water is 1.0
gram per mL at 25˚C. The process is repeated several times and the data is used to
calculate the accuracy and precision of a micropipette. We will pipette a weight of 18μl,
100μl, 194μl and 859μl 3 times for each pipette (excluding 859μl for the 20μl pipette).
Data & Results:
Micropipette 20 μl 200 μl 1000 μl
size to
volume
Weight of 18.2 17.6 17.6 14.9 13.6 14.5 86.5 82.5 64.6
18 μl (mg)
Weight of 89.7 91.7 81.0 95.8 99.0 96.2 125.0 76.2 149.7
100 μl (mg)
Weight of 186.1 201.7 213.8 191.0 190.6 191.3 217.9 230.4 233.1
194 μl (mg)
Weight of 847.6 838.4 844.7 453.7 402.0 451.3
859 μl (mg)
%error calculation example:
|18.2-18|/18
X100 = 1.11% error
Bioprocessing - Laboratory Report no.: 1 Nathan Bourgault Page 1 of
Nathan Bourgault
1.11 2.22 2.22 17.22 24.44 19.44 380.56 358.33 258.89
10.30 8.30 19.00 4.20 1.00 3.80 25.00 23.80 49.70
4.07 3.97 10.21 1.55 1.75 1.39 12.32 18.76 20.15
1.33 2.40 1.66 47.18 53.20 47.46
% margin of error.
Experiment 2:
Micropipette size 200 μl (target 198 μl) in mg
198.0 198.6 197.2 197.5 198.0
197.8 196.9 197.6 198.5 197.5
Standard Deviation : 0.54
RISD : 0.27%
Micropipette size : 1000 μl (target 198 μl) in mg
154.3 157.3 140.7 152.2 154.3
152.1 173.5 150.5 155.0 149.2
Standard Deviation:8.24
RSD:5.35%
Experiment 3:
Micropipette size 20 μl (target 20 μl) in mg
20.3 20 19.3 20.6 19.7
19.3 18.9 20.5 20.6 19.8
Standard Deviation: 0.60
RSD: 3.03%
Micropipette size 200 μl (target 20 μl) in mg
20.3 20.4 21.8 20.8 20.3
20.5 20.3 21.2 20.5 23.3
Standard Deviation: 0.96
RSD: 4.59%
RSD calculation example :
0.96*100/20.94 (mean of results)
= 4.59%
Discussion & Conclusion:
Determine for each measured volume, which micropipette gives the best
accuracy? Explain why?
For 18μl, the 20 μl pipette is the best option, for 100ml, the 200 μl pipette is the best
option, for 194 μl, the 200 μl pipette is also the best option, and finally, in theory the
1000 μl pipette is the best for 859 μl, however we found the 200 μl pipette was better,
due to an error with the pipette, as well as our technique.
Which conclusions could be drawn from this experiment?
Depending on the quantity needed to dispense, lower requires the 20 μl, whereas for
most other situations, the 200 μl pipette does a wonderful job. Finally if you have
something near 1000 μl, the 1000 μl pipette does a good job.
Which pipettes were more precise for experiments 2 and 3?
Results suggest that for the target of 198 μl, the 200 μl micropipette was superior,
whereas for the target of 20 μl, the 20 μl pipette was better.
Bioprocessing - Laboratory Report no.: 1 Nathan Bourgault Page 2 of
