Statistical Analysis Notes Error bars: Graphical representation of the variability of data.

They can be used to show either the range of data or the standard deviation. The standard deviation (s) is usually used, not the population standard deviation (). The term standard deviation is used to summarize the spread of values around the mean. And 68% of all values fall within 1 standard deviations of the mean and 95% of all values fall within 2 standard deviations of the mean. The standard deviation is useful for comparing the means and the spread of data between two or more samples. A small standard deviation indicates the data is clustered closely around the mean value, thus it may be more reliable. Use a t-test to deduce the significance of the difference between two sets of data using calculated values for t and the appropriate tables. The data used must have a normal distribution and a sample size of at least 10. The degrees of freedom = the sum of the number of values in each sample -1. The column to look in is 0.05 (Level of significance). If the calculated value of t is greater than the critical value then there is a significant difference between the means of the two sets of data. The existence of a correlation does not establish that there is a causal relationship between two variables (dependent and independent). Cell Notes Cell Theory: Living organisms are composed of cells, cells are the smallest unit of life, and Cells come from pre-existing cells. Evidence for the cell theory: 1600s Hooke used a microscope to examine cork (tree bark) and coined the word cell. Leewenhoek looked at living cells. 1800s Shleiden studied many plant structures and concluded all plants are composed of cells. Schwann did the same with animals. Virchow observed cells dividing and concluded all cells come from pre-existing cells. Unicellular organisms carry out all the functions of life including; metabolism, response, homeostasis, growth, reproduction and nutrition. Relative sizes: Molecules = 1nm, cell membrane thickness = 10nm, viruses = 100 nm, bacteria = 1m, organelles = up to 10m, most cells = up to 100m. Actual size = Measured size in the micrograph Magnification = Measured length of the scale bar Magnification Given length of the scale bar 100nm = 1m, 1000m = 1mm, 10mm = 1cm, 1000 mm = 1m The surface area to volume ratio is an important factor limiting cell size. Cells usually reach a certain size and then divide. If a cell grows too large it would suffer due to a decreasing surface area to volume ratio. The surface area is 2-dimensional thus increases by a factor of 2. The volume is 3dimensional and increases by a factor of 3. The rate of exchange of materials is a function of the cell surface area. The metabolic rate (The rate of heat and waste production and resource consumption) is a function of the cells volume. As a cell grows too large it may not be able to move materials in or out fast enough to keep pace with the more rapidly increasing metabolic rate. Multicellular organisms show emergent properties When individual components come together to create distinct, collective and interactive properties and functions, the results are called emergent properties. The whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Cells in Multicellular organisms