An aquaculture scientist wants to estimate the cell concentration of a unicellular green alga (Chlorella vulgaris) in a photobioreactor suspension using a counting chamber under a light microscope. The table below shows the number of algal cells counted across five separate grid areas on the counting chamber:
| Grid Sample | Number of algal cells counted |
|---|---|
| 1 | 34 |
| 2 | 28 |
| 3 | 31 |
| 4 | 35 |
| 5 | 32 |
The dimensions of each grid area on the counting chamber are:
Calculate the mean number of algal cells in the five samples.
Calculate the total area of a grid area on the counting chamber in mm2\text{mm}^2mm2.
Calculate the volume of a single grid area of the counting chamber in mm3\text{mm}^3mm3 using the equation: volume=area×depth\text{volume} = \text{area} \times \text{depth}volume=area×depth
Calculate the mean number of algal cells per mm3\text{mm}^3mm3 of the suspension using the equation: mean number of cells per mm3=mean number of cellsvolume of counting chamber\text{mean number of cells per }\text{mm}^3 = \frac{\text{mean number of cells}}{\text{volume of counting chamber}}mean number of cells per mm3=volume of counting chambermean number of cells