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International
Tables for Crystallography Volume C Mathematical, physical and chemical tables Edited by E. Prince © International Union of Crystallography 2006 |
International Tables for Crystallography (2006). Vol. C. ch. 3.2, p. 158
Section 3.2.2.5. Immersion microbalance
F. M. Richardsa
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Some crystals, such as those of globular proteins grown from alcohol–water mixtures, rapidly change their composition, and thus their density, when removed from the mother liquor in which they were grown. The density may then be computed from the weight of the crystal immersed in its mother liquor, the density of the latter, and the volume of the crystal (Low & Richards, 1952b![[link]](/graphics/greenarr.gif)
, 1954; Richards, 1954).
A horizontal quartz fibre, free at one end, is mounted in a glass case that can be filled with liquid. After calibration, the deflection of the fibre gives the weight of an immersed crystal suspended on the free end. The volume is computed from the crystal dimensions as determined from two photomicrographs of the immersed crystal taken at right angles to each other. The density of the mother liquor is measured by one of the standard techniques for liquids.
The method is suitable for single, well formed crystals having a volume of about 0.1 mm3 or greater. The accuracy is related inversely to the difference in density between the crystal and its mother liquor.
References
Low, B. W. & Richards, F. M. (1952b). Determination of protein crystal densities. Nature (London), 170, 412–415. Google Scholar
Low, B. W. & Richards, F. M. (1954). Measurements of the density, composition and related unit cell dimensions of some protein crystals. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 76, 2511–2518. Google Scholar
Richards, F. M. (1954). A microbalance for the determination of protein crystal densities. Rev. Sci. Instrum. 24, 1029–1034. Google Scholar
