Aim of the experiment

To determine the melting temperature (Tm )of nucleic acid.

Principle
The nucleic acid absorbhs strongly in the uv region of the spectrum due to conjugated
double bonds present in the purine and pyrimidine bases.
They show characteristics maxima at 260 nm and minima at 230 nm when a solkution of
double stranded DNA is slow2ly heated there is little change in absorption occurred until
the melting temperature (Tm) is reached .At this stage (after denaturation ) absorbance
increases rapidly to a higher value which is not significantly changed by further heating.
At the Tm value the hydrogen bond between base pairs areoken and the two DNA strands
are separated