The technique of contrast variation (or contrast matching) relies on the differential scatter of hydrogen vs. deuterium. Figure 1 shows the scattering length density for water and various biological macromolecules as a function of the deuterium concentration. (Adapted from.) Biological samples are usually dissolved in water, so their hydrogens are able to exchange with any deuteriums in the solvent. Since the overall scatter of a molecule depends on the scatter of all its components, this will depend on the ratio of hydrogen to deuterium in the molecule. At certain ratios of H2O to D2O, called match points, the scatter from the molecule will equal that of the solvent, and thus be eliminated when the scatter from the buffer is subtracted from the data. For instance the match point for proteins is typically around 40–45% D2O, and at that concentration the scatter from the protein will be indistinguishable from that of the buffer.