Profesor Vctor Manuel Pabn Riao Qumica Bsica II-03 Curso 2014-III

DILUTIONS
http://www.uab.edu/clabsc/dilut.html

PROBLEMS:
7-1. You made a 1:2 dilution of serum. Then you added 2 mL of that to 4 mL of water.
Then 1 mL of that was diluted to 8 mL. What was the final dilution of serum?
7-2. You took 4 mL of a glucose solution and diluted it to 10 mL. Then a 1:10 dilution was
made of that. What was the final dilution?
7-3. In performing a serological procedure, you add 1 mL of serum to 5 mL of saline. A 1:2
serial dilution is then made. What is the dilution of serum contained in tube 6?
7-4. Six tubes are placed in a rack. To all six tubes you add 2 mL of water. Then 1 mL of
serum is added to the first tube and mixed well. You then transfer 1 mL of that to the
second tube and again mix well. You continue the transfer of 1 mL of mixture from one
tube to each subsequent tube, finally discarding 1 mL from tube 6. What is the dilution of
serum contained in tube 6?
7-5. How would you set up a series of tubes with a 1:4 dilution such that you end up with 3
mL of solution in each tube at the end of the procedure?
7-6. How would you set up a series of tubes for a 1:2 dilution so that you end up with 0.5
mL of solution in each tube at the end of the procedure?
Check Answers

DETERMINING CONCENTRATIONS OF DILUTIONS
If you want to determine the concentration of a substance in a particular dilution, you
multiply the original concentration times the dilution. To illustrate consider the following:
Example 1:
You had a solution with 4 g of glucose per mL. You dilute this original solution by adding
1 mL of it to 9 mL of water. What is the dilution you prepared?
By adding 1 mL of solution to 9 mL of water, you have prepared a 1:10 dilution. Therefore:
4 g/mL x 1/10 = 4 g/mL/10 = 0.4 g/mL
Profesor Vctor Manuel Pabn Riao Qumica Bsica II-03 Curso 2014-III
Example 2:
If you had a 100 mg/dL solution of glucose and made a 1:5 dilution, what concentration of
glucose is contained in the dilution?
100 mg/dL x 1/5 = 100 mg/dL/5 = 20 mg/dL

PROBLEMS:
7-7. What is the final concentration of your solution when you took 1 mL of a 100 mg/dL
solution and added 9 mL of water?
7-8. You had a 1,000 mg/dL solution of glucose. You took 1 mL of that and diluted it to 5
mL. Then you took 4 mL of that and added it to 12 mL of water. What is the final
concentration of your glucose solution?
Check answers

PREPARATION OF STANDARDS
Another common way we use dilution problems is in making standards for out tests. We
dilute "stock" standards to make "working" standards. These working standards are then
used in testing and calculating unknown concentrations. For example, we may have a stock
glucose standard of 10 mg/mL. When we run glucose levels on patients we need to also run
a standard to calculate the results. The working standard should be within the ball park of
the normal values. The normal individual may have a glucose of between 60-90 mg/dL, so
a good glucose working standard would be about 100 mg/dL. We are now faced with
preparing such a working standard.
1. Since the stock standard is expressed in mg/mL and the working standard is expressed in
mg/dL, we must first convert the concentration of them both to the same units.
Stock standard = 10 mg/mL x 100 mL/1dL = 1,000 mg/dL
2. To determine the dilution that must be made to yield a working standard of the desired
concentration, we use the following equation:
desired concentration of working std./concentration of stock std. = dilution required
Using the information from our example, we now see:
100 mg/dL = 1/10
Profesor Vctor Manuel Pabn Riao Qumica Bsica II-03 Curso 2014-III
1000 mg/dL
Therefore, a 1:10 dilution needs to be made of the stock standard to obtain a working
standard of the desired 100 mg/dL concentration, i.e., one part (mL or whatever) of stock qs
10 parts total solution (qs = quantity sufficient to make).
3. To determine the actual amounts of stock standard and diluent needed to prepare the
working standard, use the following equations.
Vol wanted x desired conc/stock conc.. = vol of stock std needed
[total vol working std needed] - [vol of stock std to use] = vol of diluent needed
Suppose we wanted to prepare 50 mL of a 100 mg/dL working standard of glucose from the
original stock standard of 10 mg/mL.
50 mL needed x 1/10 = 5 mL stock standard
50 mL needed - 5 mL stock std = 45 mL diluent
Therefore, to prepare 50 mL of working standard, 5 mL of stock standard is added to 45
mL diluent (such as water).

PROBLEMS:
7-9. How would you make 50 mg/dL working glucose solution from a 2.0 g/dL stock
glucose solution?
7-10. How would you make a 4 mg/dL uric acid working standard from a 200 mg/dL stock
uric acid standard?
7-11. You have a serum with 7 g/dL of protein. What is the concentration in mg/dL of
protein in the 6th tube of a 1:2 serial dilution of the serum?
7-12. 5 mL of a stock urea nitrogen standard contains 1mg Nitrogen. 5 mL is diluted to 10
mLs. 1 mL of this is rediluted to 10mL. 2.5 mL of this is rediluted to 25 mL. What is the
concentration of nitrogen per mL of the final dilution.
7-13. If you use 5 mL of stock glucose containing 10 mg/mL and dilute to 100 mL, what is
the concentration of glucose per mL in the dilution?
7-14. How would you dilute a 1 mg/mL urea stock standard to be equivalent to a 5 mg/dL
working standard?
Profesor Vctor Manuel Pabn Riao Qumica Bsica II-03 Curso 2014-III
7-15. How would you dilute a 2 mg/mL glucose stock standard to make 100 mL of a 50
mg/dL standard?