Introduction
List of terms used in SQWERTY Documentation
Adhesion
The ability of a liquid to stick to other surfaces/substances. Glycerol is very adhesive. Highly adhesive fluids would need a larger blow out to break the bonds between tip and liquid.
Air Displacement
The method used by pipettes to aspirate and dispense liquid by moving an equivalent volume of air, ensuring accurate and precise liquid transfers.
Air Gap
SQWERTY aspirates air after the liquid to prevent dripping.
AliquotÂ
An amount taken from a larger quantity, so that it can be tested
Aspiration / Aspirate
To take up liquid into the tip of a liquid handler.
Blowout
SQWERTY using an air gap above the liquid to ensure all of the liquid has left the tip when dispensing.
Bore
The diameter of the hole at the base of the pipette tip.
Cohesion
The ability of liquid particles to stick together. eg. Mercury is highly cohesive.Â
Conical Pipette Tip
A pipette tip where the plastic around the bore hole tapers inwards at a steeper angle than the rest of the tip.
Dead Air Space
The volume inside the tip that is not filled with liquid when aspirating.
Destination
The name given to the location your target liquid will be dispensed into.
Diluent
The liquid is added to the Source in order to reduce the Source liquid's concentration.
Dilution Factor
The degree by which the Source liquid is reduced in concentration with diluent at each dilution step.
Dwell Time
Time that SQWERTY pauses after aspirating or dispensing a liquid before moving the head.
Flow Rate
The speed that SQWERTY aspirates or dispenses.
Fluid Dynamics
How a liquid moves and the forces acting upon them.
Fluid Velocity
The speed at which a fluid (liquid or gas) is able to move in a particular direction.
Forward Pipetting
The entire volume of the aspirate is dispensed in the target location in one go.
Hydrophobic
Substance that cannot be mixed with or dissolved in water.
Immersion Depth
The distance beneath the liquid level that the pipette tip is set to travel to.
Liquid Class
A set of pipetting specifications to successfully pipette a specific liquid. For instructions on how to set up a custom liquid class in SQWERTY, see Liquid classes.What are Liquid Classes and how to create new ones? (Video)
Liquid Contact Angle
This is the angle the liquid makes to the labware surface and relates to many factors, including adhesion and cohesion. Why is the Liquid Contact Angle important?
Liquid level detection (LLD)
SQWERTY identifies the level of liquid within a well or tube automatically by sensing pressure change.
Liquid Level Detection (LLD) Extra Travel
The distance the pipette will drop (Z axis) after Liquid Level Detection has identified the liquid surface.
Liquid Level Detection (LLD) Max Travel
The maximum distance the pipette will drop (Z axis) during Liquid Level Detection before producing an Error.
Liquid Level Detection (LLD) Pressure Threshold
The pressure change that the pipetting robot looks for when using liquid level detection.
Liquid Level Detection (LLD) Speed
The speed at which the tip approaches the top of the liquid when SQWERTY carries out liquid level detection.
Liquid Level Tracking (LLT)
When the SQWERTY pipette tip automatically follows the surface down when aspirating a liquid.
Liquid Level Detection (LLD) Aspirate rate
The rate at which air is sucked into the pipette tip during LLD to detect pressure change.
Object File
File used to describe the labware type including dimensions. Custom Labware can be created in the SQWERTY software
Operation
A component of a SQWERTY workflow. E.g. Transfer, Guided Multi-Dispense & UV.
Pre-wet Step
Aspirating and Dispensing liquid back to the source before doing a liquid transfer.
Return Excess to Source
When SQWERTY puts any excess liquid in the tip back into the source well after the final dispense.
Reverse Pipetting
Aspirating a greater volume than the desired volume in order to dispense an accurate volume.
Source
The name given to the location your target liquid will be aspirated from.
Surface Tension
Surface tension is when the liquid molecules are holding onto each other tightly, some molecules hold on tighter than others (more cohesive) and so more force is required to break through the liquid surface. This is why pond skaters don't sink into the water.
Tip Cone
The portion of the pipette tip that connects to the pipette. .
Viscosity
A description of a fluid's speed of movement.
Workflow
The entire run that SQWERTY will conduct as instructed. Made up of one or more operations.
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