An agar plate is a type of laboratory dish that is used to contain various types of growth media The dish is pourable, allowing it to be filled with agar, a type of gel that holds the media in place while allowing bacteria and other organisms to grow. Agar plates are a basic tool of microbiology and other laboratory sciences, and have been used for hundreds of years.
Agar plates are primarily used for culturing cells and organisms. Using aseptic technique, scientists inoculate agar plates with an organism of interest and allow it to grow and divide, creating a population of cells that can be further studied. This allows scientists to take a sample, divide it into several agar plates, and observe different characteristics in each plate.
One of the most interesting agar plate experiments is the Luther Burbank Experiment, named for the famed botanist of the same name. In this experiment, Burbank divided a single potato tuber into 16 pieces, each of which was planted in a different agar plate. As the potato grew and the plates filled, it was noticed that one plate had a slightly different shape than the rest. By transferring the tuber from this plate to its own agar plate and repeating the process, Luther was able to selectively breed a potato that was of superior quality to the rest.
The Hartley Osmotic Pressure Test is another fascinating agar plate experiment. In this experiment, agar plates are used to measure the osmotic pressure of a sample by measuring its ability to draw water from a solution. By measuring the rate of water uptake over time, scientists can gain insight into the sample’s chemical and physical properties.
The Morris Gas Explosion Test is a third interesting agar plate experiment. In this experiment, a sample is inoculated onto an agar plate that contains a special dye sensitive to gases. Once the sample is exposed to a gas, such as methane, the dye will turn a specific color to indicate a positive presence of the gas. This type of experiment is often used to detect gas leaks in pipelines.
The Quigley Glucose Tolerance Test is a fourth experiment that uses agar plates. In this test, agar plates are loaded with a glucose solution and a sample which is expected to tolerant to glucose. By measuring the rate of glucose uptake after a given period of time, scientists can determine how tolerant a sample is.
Finally, the Charcoal-Based Carbon Assimilation Test is an interesting agar plate experiment. In this experiment, scientists inoculate the agar plate with a sample that is expected to assimilate carbon from a specific source. By observing the growth of the sample, scientists can determine whether or not it is capable of assimilating carbon from that source.
Agar plates are a vital tool for microbiology and other laboratory sciences, and are capable of a wide variety of fascinating experiments. The five experiments described in this article are only a few of the many interesting experiments that can be performed using agar plates.