These directions are for making some of the solutions required for experiments in the laboratory manual Biology up Close by M. W. Caprio.

6M Hydrochloric Acid
Concentrated hydrochloric acid is 12M. Determine the amount of 6M HCl required and add half that volume of room temperature or cooler distilled water to a beaker that will hold the total volume you require. Wear safety goggles. Then add an equal amount of the acid to the water. Pour the acid in slowly. The concentrated HCl will fume – be certain to do this in a very well ventilated area or under a hood that will exhaust the fumes.  Transfer to dropper bottles for student use. Lab 3 uses ~50ml for each lab section.

40% Sucrose Solution
The accuracy required for this solution for the Biol 1010 Lab #5 is ±5% – a graduated beaker will provide sufficient accuracy for liquid measure. Use regular table sugar when reagent grade is not required. Weigh out sucrose (in grams) that is 40% of the final volume (in ml) that you want to make (e.g., if the final volume desired were 1000ml, you would need 400g of sucrose). Add this to a graduated beaker on the hotplate/stirrer containing a stirring bar and a portion of the water you will need (tap water may be substituted if this is for Biol 1010 Lab 5). Turn on the hotplate and start the stirrer – you will need to heat the water to have all the sucrose dissolve in a reasonable time. Add enough distilled water to make the required volume. Continue heating and stirring till all the sugar is dissolved. Allow the solution to cool to a safe temperature before pouring it into stock bottles. Each lab section will use ~800ml of this solution.

0.05% Amylase Solution
Powdered amylase is kept in the refrigerator. Weigh out powdered amylase (in grams) that is 0.05% of the final volume (in ml) of the solution you require. Add this to a beaker of sufficient volume containing a portion of the distilled water and stir with a glass rod or the magnetic stirrer to make a thin slurry. Add the remainder of the water while stirring. DO NOT HEAT. Transfer to stock bottles and refrigerate immediately. Enzyme solutions have a relatively short shelf life. Make them up as close as possible to when they are needed and keep them refrigerated whenever possible. Each lab section will use ~150ml of this solution. Put it in dropper bottles for student use.

1% Starch Solution
The accuracy required for this solution for the Biol 1010 Lab #4 is ±5% – a graduated beaker will provide sufficient accuracy for liquid measure. Determine the volume in milliliters that you need and boil water about equal to that  less a small amount that will be left cold and used to make the slurry (see below). Do this on the stirrer/hotplate. Weigh out starch equal to 1% of this final volume in grams. With constant stirring, slowly pour the starch into a beaker containing the cold water to make a thin slurry. Slowly add the slurry to the boiling water. Allow the starch solution to return to a boil and continue boiling with constant stirring until all the starch has dissolved. Add additional water if necessary to make the final volume desired. Allow the solution to cool to a safe temperature before pouring it into stock bottles. Each lab section will use ~350ml of this solution.

Brom Thymol Blue (BTB) in Water
For Lab 6 make up 1600 ml of BTB in water for each lab section. Add 50-80ml of BTB stock solution to 3000ml of distilled water to produce a deep blue color. Then use 1% HCl to adjust to ~pH 7 (BTB will be green). If it becomes too acidic (too yellow), back titrate with 1%KOH. Cap the stock bottles and keep at room temperature. You must use distilled water: our tap water contain something that acts as a pH buffer and that will interfere with the Lab 6 exercise.

Acid Alcohol (for cleaning lenses)
Acid alcohol is 1% HCl in 50-60% alcohol. The 6M HCl solution is 18.5%. Using 1ml of 6M HCl to 17.5 ml of alcohol (50% propanol or 50% denatured ethanol) will make the desired dilution. The 6M HCl is generally on hand in the prep room. To produce a specified quantity of a dilution, divide the concentration you want to make by the concentration of the stock solution you have and multiply that quotient by the volume you want to make; the product will be the quantity of stock solution required. Add sufficient diluent (the alcohol in this case) to achieve the desired quantity of the dilution.  

IKI – Iodine/Potassium Iodide Solution (stock, for starch test) 
To produce the stock solution, dissolve 35g of KI (potassium Iodide) and 5g of I (Iodine) in 500ml of distilled water. Make the working solution by making a 1:3 dilution of the stock with distilled water (1:3 = one part stock and two parts water) Five hundred ml is at least  a year's supply of IKI solution.