J/19 July 2012

Day Nineteen

(10:00 am) Next the group tried out shaving EPS into acetone to see if the cloudy dissolved solution of acetone, eps and distilled water could be recreated. The solution turned cloudy but not as much as before, so it is being placed and left in the fume cupbaord to see what happens.

(10:30 am) A few members of the group also tried plating out the 10g M.A. plate then sprinkling polystyrene "sugar" onto the surface rather than mixing it into the agar. This produced good results as the sugar made a layer just under the surface of the agar rather than sinking to the bottom, making it easier and more cost effective as less of the resources are needed.

Step one: measure out 0.5g of the polystyrene "sugar" on a zeroed balance using a measuering paper receptical.

Step two: make sure the agar is molten, and your petridish is slightly warmed in the hybridiser so the small amount of agar used does not set strait away.

Step three: place the empty pre labled petridish onto the balance and zero. After this poor 9.50g of the heated M.A Agar into the petrisish and remove from the balance to a level table.

Setp four: sprinkle the polystyrene "sugar" onto the agar making sure there is an even spread, replace the lid and allow to cool. Once set turn the plate over so condensation doesn't drip onto the agar.

We noticed after the sprinking, then agar set quickly, resulting in a thin layer of the polystyrene at the surface of the dish, which was the aim of the process.

(11:00 am) Another step the group wanted to try was to gently heat the polystryene "sugar" to see if it can be formed into more of a liquid to work with, as this could be easily spread into a thin layer.

(15:00 pm) After the group had lunch and finished up some work in the lab, we went to the Pseudomonas lab to see what had happened with the plates, and if it had grown or not. Unfortunately it had grown on the minimal media without polystyrene purely on the tiny amount of agar to make the gel set. With this new complication, the group headed back to the lab to decide on the next course of action, before stopping for the day.