 Micropipette

A laboratory micropipette is a pipette for transferring small measured quantities of liquid, commonly expressed in microlitres. In piston-operated models, the displacement mechanism matters. An air-displacement pipette leaves an air cushion between piston and sample, whereas a positive-displacement pipette places the piston directly against the liquid.^[ref]

Weighing a delivered sample provides a concrete check. In a simplified calculation that neglects air buoyancy and evaporation, liquid volume follows from mass $m$ and density $\rho$:For an assumed $\rho =1.000mg/\mu \mathrm{L}$, a delivered mass of $99.5\mathrm{mg}$ corresponds to $99.5\mu \mathrm{L}$. Relative to a nominal $100\mu \mathrm{L}$ setting, the deviation is $-0.5\%$. These are illustrative values, not calibration data.

A repeated series can distinguish a displaced mean from wide scatter: measurement accuracy and standard deviation describe different aspects of performance. Actual gravimetric checks account for temperature-dependent water density, air buoyancy and evaporation losses. The manufacturer's method uses a conversion factor and an evaporation correction, showing why a displayed volume alone does not establish the quantity delivered.^[ref]