A
serial dilution is the stepwise of a
substance in
solution. Usually the
dilution factor at each step is constant, resulting in a
geometric progression of the
concentration in a
logarithmic fashion. A ten-fold serial dilution could be 1
M, 0.1 M, 0.01 M, 0.001 M... Serial dilutions are used to accurately create highly diluted solutions as well as solutions for
experiments resulting in concentration curves with a
logarithmic scale. A tenfold dilution for each step is called a
logarithmic dilution or
log-dilution, a 3.16-fold (10
0.5-fold) dilution is called a
half-logarithmic dilution or
half-log dilution, and a 1.78-fold (10
0.25-fold) dilution is called a
quarter-logarithmic dilution or
quarter-log dilution. Serial dilutions are widely used in experimental sciences, including
biochemistry,
pharmacology,
microbiology, and
physics.