FACULTY OF SCIENCE

BSc (Hons) Biotechnology

May 2014 Trimester
LABORATORY REPORT
Unit Code & Title: UDBB1104 Cell Biology

Practical Group: P1

Experiment Title: The Compound Microscope

Date of Submission: 20/06/14
Instructor: Ms. Yap May Ling
Declaration
I certify that this report is of my own work and does not contain any
unacknowledged work from any other sources.
No.
1
2
3
4

Name
Eswaran
Kung Chen Han
Lim Eng Hang
Bong Willie

Student ID
1401660
1401490
1404630
1304264

Signature

Objectives:
1. Identifying the definition of Length, Volume, Mass, Meniscus, Density, Temperature and
Thermometer
2. Recognising some basic laboratory apparatus such as graduated cylinders, beakers,
Erlenmayer flask, different types of pipettes, and triple beam balance
3. To be able to measure and estimate length, volume, mass, density and temperature in metric
units

Introduction

The metric system is an internationally agreed decimal system of measurement that was
originally based on the mtre des Archives and the kilogramme des Archives introduced by France
in 1799. The term is now often used as a synonym for "SI" or the "International System of Units,
the official system of measurement in almost every country in the world.
From its beginning, the main features of the metric system were the standard set of interrelated base units and a standard set of prefixes in powers of ten. These base units are used to
derive larger and smaller units that could replace a huge number of other units of measure in
existence.
A common set of decimal-based prefixes that have the effect multiplication or division by
an integer power of ten can be applied to units which are too large or too small for practical use.
The prefix kilo, for example, is used to multiply the unit by 1000, and the prefix milli is to indicate
a one-thousandth part of the unit. Thus the kilogram and kilometer are a thousand grams and meters
respectively, and a milligram and millimeter are one thousandth of a gram and meter respectively.
(Ney, 2006)

A. Length
Material:
1. Metric Rule
Method:
1. The intervals marked on the metric rules was first examined and the unit scale of the metric
ruler was identified.
2. The following measurements were taken with the metric ruler:
a. The Length of the Lab Manual
b. The Width of the Lab Manual
c. Height of a group member (Eswaran)
d. Thickness of the Lab Manual
e. Height of Beaker
3. Three measurements for each of the criteria were made to minimize human error
Results:
The results obtained is tabulated in the table below
Items
st

Length of the Lab Manual

Width of the Lab Manual
Height of a group member
(Eswaran)
Thickness of the Lab Manual
Height of beaker

1 Reading
29.80
21.10
181.40
0.40
7.50

Measurement (cm)
2 Reading 3rd Reading
29.80
29.80
21.10
21.10
181.50
181.40
nd

0.40
7.50

0.40
7.50

Average
29.80
21.10
181.43
0.40
7.50

(Table 1.1: Results obtained from the measurement of length)

Discussion:
Measurements made with a ruler should always be estimated to one place beyond the smallest
scale division that is marked. If the smallest scale division on a ruler is centimetre, measurements
of length should be estimated to the nearest 0.1mm. In this part of the experiment all group
members take turn to observe the reading of a measurement and our readings are compared, this
is done to improvise the accuracy of the reading and minimize human error (parallax error) at the
same time. Three reading of a measurement are taken and the average is calculated to obtain the
most accurate reading.

B. Volume
Material:
1.
2.
3.
4.

Polystyrene Cup
Graduated Cylinder (100ml)
Pipette
Manual Propipetter

Method:
1. A polystyrene cup if filled with tap water until it is full.
2. The water from the polystyrene cup is then slowly poured into a graduated cylinder.
3. When the water level in the polystyrene is low, a pipette is used to transfer the small amount
of water from the polystyrene cup to the measuring cylinder.
4. The reading on the graduated cylinder is observed at the point of meniscus and the data is
recorded.
5. The steps above are repeated three times and the average volume of water in the
polystyrene cup is recorded.
Results:
The results obtained is tabulated in the table below
Item
Polystyrene Cup

1st Reading
249.00

Volume (ml)
2nd Reading
3rd Reading
251.00
252.00

Average
250.67

Discussion:
When the polystyrene cup is filled with water, any possible air bubbles trapped inside the
polystyrene cup are removed, this is done because even air bubbles could take up volume of the
polystyrene cup and cause changes in the readings obtained. The aid of a pipette is needed to
transfer small amounts of liquid from the polystyrene cup to the graduated cylinder as it is the
correct and most accurate way of transferring all the water in the polystyrene cup. While measuring
liquid volumes, the graduated scale must be read from the lowest point of the curved surface of
the liquid which is the liquid meniscus.

C. Mass
Material:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Paper Clip
Pencil
Stone
Triple Beam Balance
Beaker (100ml)

Method:
1. Before any weighing is done, the weighing pan of the triple beam balance is cleaned and
all the suspended weight is moved to the far left.
2. It is made sure that the balance marks line up to indicate zero grams.
3. The item to be measured is placed in the centre of the weighing pan and the suspended
mass is moved until the beam balances.
4. The following items were weighed using the triple beam balance:
a. Paper clip
b. Pencil
c. Rock
d. Empty 100ml beaker
e. 100ml beaker containing 50ml water.
5. Each of the items were weighed three times and the readings were recorded.
Results:
The results obtained are listed in the table below:
Item
st

Paper Clip
Pencil
Rock
Empty 100ml beaker
100ml beaker containing 50ml water

1 Reading
0.50
10.30
4.39
28.40
78.40

Mass (g)
2 Reading 3rd Reading
0.50
0.50
10.30
10.30
4.39
4.39
28.40
28.40
78.40
78.40
nd

Average
0.50
10.30
4.39
28.40
78.40

Discussion:
The results obtained are constant for all the items weighed, this shows that the triple beam balance
is able to measure the all items weight accurately. The environmental factors such as wind and
pressure does not influence the performance of the triple beam balance. Three reading of a
measurement are taken and the average is calculated to obtain the most accurate reading. However,
an even more accurate measurement could be obtained if a two-decimal balance or an analytical
balance is used as these two balance are more sensitive to the changes in the surrounding.

D. Density
Material:
1. 100ml beaker
2. 50ml water
3. Triple beam balance
The data to calculate the density of water is obtained from part B and part C
Mass of empty 100ml beaker = 28.40g
Mass of 100ml beaker containing 50ml water = 78.40g
Mass of water = Mass of 100ml beaker containing 50ml water - Mass of empty 100ml beaker
= 78.40g 28.40g
= 50.00g
Volume of water = 50ml = 50cm3
Density of water =
=

50

503

= 1kg 3

0.05

0.053

Discussion:
Theoretically its well known that water with the mass of 1kg will have the volume of 1 3 and
that is what shown in our results. However if more accurate equipment are used, maybe we will
be able to obtain more accurate readings for mass and volume so as the density of the water.

E. Temperature
Materials:
1. Thermometer
2. Beaker
3. Water dispenser
Method:
1. A thermometer is used to measure the temperature of following locations:
a. Temperature inside the lab
b. Temperature outside the lab
c. Cold running water (water dispenser)
d. Hot running water (water dispenser)
2. The cold and hot running water are filled in separate beakers and the temperature is
measured and recorded.
Results:
Location
Temperature inside the lab
Temperature outside the lab
Cold running water (water dispenser)
Hot running water (water dispenser)
Location
Still cold water in a beaker
Still hot water in a beaker

1st Reading
24.0
29.8
22.0
72.0

Temperature (C)
2nd Reading 3rd Reading
24.3
24.2
30.0
31.0
24.0
24.5
61.0
54.0

Average
24.2
30.2
23.5
62.3

Temperature (C)
25.5
49.5

Discussion:
The results obtained for cold running water and hot running water is not consistent because
the source of cold and hot water in this part of the experiment was from a water dispenser. The
water dispenser is an unreliable source to obtain cold or hot water with a stable temperature. To
know why the temperature of water is inconsistent from the water dispenser, we must understand
how the water dispenser works.
To make sure water is chill prior to dispensation, water dispensers have a reservoir within
the dispenser that holds a fixed amount of water. The reservoir is the place where the water is
chilled by a refrigerant or through thermoelectricity. Water coolers which operates a refrigerant
use a compressor within the machine to work with a refrigerant. This chemical has the ability to
absorb heat, which cools the water within the reservoir. When the refrigerant passes through the
water cooler system and the gas evaporated absorbs the heat surrounding the reservoir, which cools

the water within the reservoir. As water is dispersed, the machine will refill the reservoir and the
process begins again. If the water reservoir empty completely during dispensing, it will take a few
minutes before the water cooler chills the water to a low temperature. A similar mechanism works
to produce hot water as well. (Enne, 2013)
We believe that when we obtain the readings of temperature for the cold and hot water, the
reservoirs of the water dispenser was close to being empty and the process of re-heating or recooling the water was not initiated.
We could have got better results if we measure the temperature with time gaps for about 5
minutes from one reading to another reading. By doing this we can ensure that enough time is
given to the water dispenser to re-heat or re-cool the water. Another way to improve our result is
to obtain hot or cold water from a stable and reliable source.
Since we know the water from the water dispenser does not have a consistent temperature,
we only took one measurement of temperature on the still hot and cold water.

Conclusion:

Using the metric system is an efficient way to measure length, weight, volume, density and
temperature. The use of metric system is recognized and accepted to be accurate. However there
are external factor which might affect the results such as parallax error and limitation in conducting
this experiment.

References
Ney, B. (2006). International Bureau of Weights and Measures (2006), The International System of Units
(SI) (8th ed.), pp. 121,122. Paris: STEDI MEDIA.
Enne, V. (2013, November). How Does a Water Cooler Work? eHow. Retrieved from www.ehow.com:
http://www.ehow.com/how-does_5538251_water-cooler-work.html