What is a micropipette?

Using a micropipette in your laboratory

Micropipettes are utilized in the laboratory to transfer small quantities of liquid, usually down to 0.1 uL. They are most commonly used in chemistry, biology, forensic, pharmaceutical, and drug discovery labs, among others. Common micropipette sizes used in labs include:

Common Micropipette Sizes                Volume Range
P2                                                                        0.2-2 uL
P10                                                                      1-10 uL
P20                                                                     2-20 uL
P100                                                                   20-100 uL
P200                                                                  20-200 uL
P1000                                                                100-1000 uL
Note: P50 does not exist, however, some manufacturers like Capp, AccuPet, and BrandTech make micropipettes with this volume range.

Not only do micropipettes differ in size and volume dispensed, but depending on those particular aspects they also require specific pipette tips. Micropipettes use a disposable pipette tip to aspirate liquid, note that the tip is the only part of the pipette that makes contact with the solution. A new tip is utilized for every sample in order to prevent cross contamination.

The most essential aspect of a pipette tip is its quality, whether you’re looking for a filter, low retention, or gel loading tip, make sure that the pipette tip will perform accordingly and as precise as your micropipette. Make sure to research the purity of your pipette tips.

Popular Micropipette Brands

Components of a Micropipette

Basic parts of a micropipette include plunger button, tip ejector button, volume adjustment dial, volume display, tip ejector, and shaft. They differ in design, weight, plunger force, and overall precision. Depending on your budget and preference, there are plenty of micropipettes in the market that specifically catered to meet your needs. If you’re unsure which one will be best for your application, contact Pipette.com at 800-243-3232 for assistance.

What you shouldn’t do with micropipettes

• Drop your pipette. Dropping your pipette might lead it to be out of calibration. So be very gentle and careful.
• Aspirate into the pipette. Believe us, it happens. If you’re working with harsh chemicals, having it stuck inside your pipette might lead it to build up and give you inaccurate results.
• Turn the dial past or below its volume range. This can break the volume indicator or other components within the pipette.
• Jam pipette tip into pipette. This can not only damage the pipette tip but most importantly the pipette shaft. What the jamming means is that you most likely need a better fitting pipette tip.

Treat your micropipette with care. It is a highly precise instrument and as such careful attention to its performance needs to be noted. If you notice that it is out of range or not performing like it use to, its time to have it repaired and/or calibrated. For further assistance on how to use a micropipette, we’ve developed a Complete Guide of Proper Pipetting Resources to better assist you.

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