BenchCalc

Lab calculator suite: 56 tools for molecular biology, biochemistry & chemistry.

BenchCalc is a pocket reference, calculator, and bench companion for scientists. 56 tools across 9 categories. No internet required, no ads, no tracking.

BENCH GUIDE
368 glossary terms across 10 categories (molecular biology, DNA/RNA, protein, organic chemistry, microbiology, systems biology, structural biology, statistics, and more) with molecular structure rendering and cross-linked related terms. 72 educational entries written by a working scientist, building from physical chemistry and thermodynamics through biology, enzyme kinetics, signal-to-noise, systems thinking, evolution, structural biology, experimental design, and scientific writing. Lab safety guides with handling, spill response, and first aid for acids, solvents, mutagens, toxic reagents, and physical hazards. 36 practical lab tips covering pipetting, gel electrophoresis, cell culture, protein work, DNA/RNA, and equipment. Everything cross-linked: tap a term in the glossary, jump to a related entry in Learn & Understand or Lab Safety.

CALCULATORS
Nucleic acid mass/moles, A260 concentration, Tm with primer pair comparison and dimer checking. Primer resuspension and working stock dilution. Agarose gel pouring with TAE/TBE, stain volumes, and % guide. Protein MW from sequence, Bradford/BCA with standard curve. Peptide pI and charge calculator with charge-vs-pH curve. Enzyme unit converter (U/mg, kcat, nmol/min/mg). PAGE gel pouring for SDS-PAGE, native, and denaturing gels. Dilution, serial dilution, molarity, Beer-Lambert A280. Buffer prep, percent solutions, normality, resuspension. Multi-solute buffer builder from the reagent database. Cell counting, centrifuge g/RPM, doubling time. Radioactive decay with preset isotopes, decay curve, and unit conversion. PCR master mix with enzyme presets and 10% overage. Restriction digest with up to 3 enzymes, buffer compatibility, methylation and star activity warnings. Sequence translator with auto-detection, reverse complement, 6-frame ORF analysis, and prokaryotic/eukaryotic feature annotation. Ligation calculator with molar ratios, enzyme presets, and reaction setup. General reaction mix with C1V1=C2V2. Unit converter (femto to peta, 7 categories). QuickCalc with expression history and memory. Lab timer with 28 presets across 5 categories.

PROTOCOLS
11 step-through protocols: miniprep, ethanol precipitation, gel extraction, PCR cleanup, restriction digest, ligation, heat shock transformation, E. coli growth/harvest, affinity purification, column maintenance, inclusion body purification. Checklist and focus modes, duration badges, volume chips, warnings and tips. Progress saved.

REFERENCE
20 amino acids with structures, MW, pI, pKa, pH-dependent protonation and charge display. 5 nucleotides with structures and IUPAC codes. 64 codons (standard genetic code). 132 restriction enzymes with methylation, star activity, buffer info, and end matching. 350+ reagents with MW, formula, CAS, working conc, storage, hazards, and LD50 data for toxic compounds with links to safety guides. 20 antibiotics with stock prep, resistance genes, and mechanism. 15 scalable media/buffer recipes (LB, SOC, TB, M9, PBS, TAE, TBE, Laemmli, and more). 60 fluorophores with Ex/Em, spectrum bars, and laser line filter. 13 gel ladders (6 protein, 7 DNA) with band sizes, prestain colours, mass per band, and loading volumes. Loading dye migration tables for bromophenol blue and xylene cyanol in agarose, denaturing PAGE, and SDS-PAGE.

FEATURES
Dark/light themes with auto mode. Three text sizes. Favourites and category filtering. Chemical structure rendering. Cross-calculator clipboard. Smart keypad (numeric, nucleotide, amino acid). Haptic feedback. Cross-linked navigation between bench guide tools. Fully offline. No account, no data collected.

Built by a scientist, for scientists. One purchase, everything included.
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