Aseptic techniques prevent contamination, ensure experimental accuracy, and protect researchers and microbial cultures. These techniques are essential in clinical, industrial, and research settings where sterility is required.Maintaining Sterility in Laboratory PracticesScientists maintain sterility by sterilizing tools with heat or chemicals, disinfecting work surfaces, and handling cultures in controlled environments. Working near an open flame or within a laminar flow hood reduces the risk...

Like all living organisms, plants require organic and inorganic nutrients to survive, reproduce, grow and maintain homeostasis. To identify nutrients that are essential for plant functioning, researchers have leveraged a technique called hydroponics. In hydroponic culture systems, plants are grown—without soil—in water-based solutions containing nutrients. At least 17 nutrients have been identified as essential elements required by plants. Plants acquire these elements from the...

The equilibrium constant for a reaction is calculated from the equilibrium concentrations (or pressures) of its reactants and products. If these concentrations are known, the calculation simply involves their substitution into the Kc expression.
For example, gaseous nitrogen dioxide forms dinitrogen tetroxide according to this equation:

The free energy change for a reaction that occurs under the standard conditions of 1 bar pressure and at 298 K is called the standard free energy change. Since free energy is a state function, its value depends only on the conditions of the initial and final states of the system. A convenient and common approach to the calculation of free energy changes for physical and chemical reactions is by use of widely available compilations of standard state thermodynamic data. One method involves the...

A buffer can prevent a sudden drop or increase in the pH of a solution after the addition of a strong acid or base up to its buffering capacity; however, such addition of a strong acid or base does result in the slight pH change of the solution. The small pH change can be calculated by determining the resulting change in the concentration of buffer components, i.e., a weak acid and its conjugate base or vice versa. The concentrations obtained using these stoichiometric calculations can be used...

In engineering applications, the representation of the numerical value is critical. Presenting or reporting the answer is one of the essential parts of engineering practices. Numerical calculations are performed using handheld calculators or computers since numerically accurate answers are always preferred.
The solution to a problem is obtained using different methods. While manually solving algebraic symbols is one of the most common methods, the graphical method is often preferred. Computers...