Introduction: Electrophoresis is the movement of charged molecules through a matrix or solvent driven by an electric field. This is used to determine the size of DNA and help us determine what kind of molecules we are working with. During this experiment, we wanted to test different unknown dyes and determine what the dyes were based on their electrophoretic mobility (the rate and direction a molecule moves through an electrical field). As stated, we wanted to figure out what dye we had by using electrophoresis. My hypothesis, is that we started out with Bromphenol Blue as our first unknown dye and Gentian Violet as our Second Unknown Dye. This is solely based on initial color. Materials and Methods: For the experiment we started off by splitting our group of four into two groups of two. Each group took a micropipettor and transferred 10-µL of our unknown dye into the agarose gel well designated for us. Once all the dyes were placed in the agarose gel, the lab assistant connected the electrophoresis apparatus to a power supply and applied an electrical field to the agarose gel. We then ran the electric supply to the gel for about 45 minutes at 230 volts to separate the dye and notice how far the dye travels. …show more content…
We used a ruler to measure the distance between the center of the well and the center of the dye band for each of the dyes. We then recorded those values in Table 10.1. If the dyes traveled to the right of the well, it moved closer to the positive electrode making the values positive. If the dyes traveled to the left of the well, it moved closer to the negative electrode making the values negative. The lab assistant also measured the Amido-Black dye that he loaded as the controlled dye for the