I'm doing a biology experiment testing the difference in rate of respiration between maggots and flies. I want to ensure that they are of the same mass, but I am finding that the flies weigh less than maggots? Is this correct - or are the flies supposed to be freezed first? Or how else can I weigh flies?
2006-10-31 07:24:05 · 5 answers · asked by deli07 2 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Zoology
If the flies just sit on the scale, will their mass actually be recorded as only their tiny tiny thin legs are making contact with the scale
2006-10-31 07:35:55 · update #1
I would think that you would have to set up some kind of fly bait on a digital scale. You will have to zero the scale with just the bait, then count the flies at any given moment and record the total weight. Then divide the weight by the total number of flies. If you have accurate scales, you will get a good average.
2006-10-31 07:33:42 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
You would need an electronic laboratory balance with a sensitivity of at least .001 gram. These are not uncommon, Just about any laboratory would have one. During weighing you have to protect the balance from air currents, as these can influence the amount of pressure on the balance, and therefore the weight indicated. Also, you would have to weigh them either alive or immediately after death, so that water loss doesn't compromise your results. A day later the fly will certainly weigh less. How the fly is in contact with the balance makes no difference. Don't you weigh the same lying on your back as you do standing on your two feet? Or on one foot?
2006-10-31 16:31:55 · answer #2 · answered by PaulCyp 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Well the problem you are facing is most likely normal. Maggots (fly larvae) are quite bulky and are filled with haemolymph, this liquid-semisolid filling is actually quite dense and it is really the only thing holding the little bugger together. When the maggot goes through etamorphosis to become the adult fly, it loses this mostly liquid body structure and replaces it with an exoskeleton (sclerotized outer body instead of a hydrostatic skeleton). Its weight will actually decrease significantly, this also helps in flight...
hope this helps!
2006-10-31 19:37:06 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
you don't... or you kill them and then weigh them... if you freeze them, then the mass of the fly would be its mas plus the ice's mass...
2006-10-31 15:34:00 · answer #4 · answered by Adriana 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
with a small scale.
2006-10-31 15:31:23 · answer #5 · answered by nonsense_5 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋