Important Equations for Biology

Question 1

How do you calculate Volume?

Answer 1

Length x Width x Height
Units might be= cm^3, mm^3, micrometers^3

Question 2

How do you calculate surface area?

Answer 2

Length x Width of a face and then multiply by how many faces there are. If there are different sized faces then multiply the area of that specific face by how many of THOSE faces there are and then add them up with the total area of the other sized faces. Answer should be something like= cm^2, mm^2, micrometers^2.

Question 3

How do you calculate surface area:volume ratio to one volume?

Answer 3

Divide the surface area by the volume to get SA:1.

Question 4

How do you calculate the area of a circle (for zone of inhibition)?

Answer 4

πr^2

Question 5

How do you calculate the number of bacteria cells produced in a certain time period?

Answer 5

First- convert time into minutes (if in hours, multiply by 60)
Second- Do: total time/mean division time
Third- Put 2 to the power of your answer from the second step (units are cells)

Question 6

How do you calculate magnification?

Answer 6

Magnification(x)=image size/real size
Image size and real size must be in same units.

Question 7

How would you measure the area of A bacterial colony (in an agar plate)?

Answer 7

Measure diameter of a colony first (a single circle of bacteria), half the diameter to get the radius, use equation: πr^2 (units most likely be mm^2 or micrometers^2)

Question 8

How do you calculate the rate of reaction?

Answer 8

Rate of reaction=change/time
Units are just the the units of change/units of time. E.g. cm^3/s
For example, change may be the amount of product formed?