page_title: Cuvette
section_title: Types
hierarchical_section_title: Cuvette / Types
caption_attribution_description: This plastic cuvette is used in a spectrophotometer to measure DNA and RNA concentrations. A United States cent (19 mm diameter) is included for scale.
context_page_description: A cuvette is a small tube-like container with straight sides and a circular or square cross section. It is sealed at one end, and made of a clear, transparent material such as plastic, glass, or fused quartz. Cuvettes are designed to hold samples for spectroscopic measurement, where a beam of light is passed through the sample within the cuvette to measure the absorbance, transmittance, fluorescence intensity, fluorescence polarization, or fluorescence lifetime of the sample. This measurement is done with a spectrophotometer.
context_section_description: Historically, reusable quartz cuvettes were required for measurements in the ultraviolet range, because glass and most plastics absorb ultraviolet light, creating interference. Today there are disposable plastic cuvettes made of specialized plastics that are transparent to ultraviolet light. Glass, plastic and quartz cuvettes are all suitable for measurements made at longer wavelengths, such as in the visible light range.
  "Tandem cuvettes" have a glass barrier medium that extends two-thirds of the way up in the middle, so that measurements can be taken with two solutions separated and again when they are mixed.
caption: A disposable plastic cuvette
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