chemistry

Tricine

Tricine is a chemistry topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Tricine rather than just read about it. In short: Tricine is an organic compound that is used in buffer solutions. The name tricine comes from tris and glycine, from which it was derived.

Key takeaways

Tricine belongs to chemistry; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Tricine to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Tricine from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Tricine is an organic compound that is used in buffer solutions. The name tricine comes from tris and glycine, from which it was derived. It is a white crystalline powder that is moderately soluble in water. It is a zwitterionic amino acid that has a pKa1 value of 2.3 at 25 °C, while its pKa2 at 20 °C is 8.15. Its useful buffering range of pH is 7.4-8.8. Along with bicine, it is one of Good's buffering agents. Good first prepared tricine to buffer chloroplast reactions.

Applications Tricine is a commonly used electrophoresis buffer and is also used in resuspension of cell pellets. It has a higher negative (more negative) charge than glycine allowing it to migrate faster. In addition its high ionic strength causes more ion movement and less protein movement. This allows for low molecular weight proteins to be separated in lower percent acrylamide gels. Tricine has been documented in the separation of proteins in the range of 1 to 100 kDa by electrophoresis. The tricine buffer at 25 mmol/L was found to be the most effective buffer among the ten tested for ATP assays using firefly luciferase. Tricine has also been found to be an effective scavenger of hydroxyl radicals in a study of radiation-induced membrane damage.

See also SDS-PAGE Ampholyte Glycine Bicine

References

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Tricine

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Tricine claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In chemistry, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Tricine before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Tricine ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Tricine

In research: Tricine appears in chemistry research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Tricine in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Tricine is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Alpha-Amino acids, Amino acid derivatives, Buffer solutions, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Tricine outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

Ask Teacher Smith questions about this articleOpens your AI tutor with a question about “Tricine” →

Affiliate

Preply — study more efficiently by working with a personal tutor. 50% off.

How to study Tricine in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Tricine means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Tricine out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Tricine in simple terms?

Tricine is an organic compound that is used in buffer solutions. The name tricine comes from tris and glycine, from which it was derived.

Why does Tricine matter?

Because it connects several chemistry ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Tricine?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Tricine.