Beaker
A beaker is a simple container for stirring, mixing and heating liquids commonly used in many laboratories. Beakers are generally cylindrical in shape, with a flat bottom. Most also have a small spout (or "beak") to aid pouring as shown in the picture. Beakers are available in a wide range of sizes, from one millilitre up to several litres.
Standard or "Low-form" beakers typically have a height about 1.4 times the diameter. The common low form with a spout was devised by John Joseph Griffin and is therefore sometimes called a Griffin beaker.These are the most universal character and are used for various purposes - from preparing solutions and decanting supernatant fluids to simple reactions.
"Tall-form" beakers have a height about twice the diameter. These are sometimes called Berzelius beakers.[4] They are mostly used for titration.
Flat beakers are often called crystallizers, because most are used to perform crystallization, but often it is also used as a vessel for use in hot-bath heating. These beakers usually do not have a flat scale.
A beaker is distinguished from a flask by having sides which are straight rather than sloping. The exception to this definition is a slightly conical sided beaker called a Phillips beaker.
Beakers are commonly made of glass (today usually borosilicate glass), but can also be in metal (such as stainless steel or aluminium) or certain plastics (notably polythene, polypropylene, PTFE). A common use for polypropylene beakers is gamma spectral analysis of liquid and solid samples.
Beakers are often graduated, that is, marked on the side with lines indicating the volume contained. For instance, a 250 mL beaker might be marked with lines to indicate 50, 100, 150, 200, and 250 mL of volume. These marks are not intended for obtaining a precise measurement of volume (a graduated cylinder or a volumetric flask would be a more appropriate instrument for such a task), but rather an estimation.
The presence of a lip means that the beaker cannot have a lid. However, when in use, beakers may be covered by a watch glass to prevent contamination or loss of the contents, but allowing venting via the spout. Alternatively, a beaker may be covered with another larger beaker that has been inverted, though a watch glass is preferable.
Test tube
A test tube, also known as a culture tube or sample tube, is a common piece of laboratory glassware consisting of a finger-like length of glass or clear plastic tubing, open at the top, usually with a rounded U-shaped bottom. A large test tube specifically for boiling liquids is called a boiling tube.
Test tubes are available in a multitude of lengths and widths, typically from 10 to 20 mm wide and 50 to 200 mm long. The top often features a flared lip to aid pouring out the contents; some sources consider that the presence of a lip is what distinguishes a test tube from a culture tube. A test tube has either a flat bottom, a round bottom, or a conical bottom. Some test tubes are made to accept a ground glass stopper or a screw cap. They are often provided with a small ground glass or white glaze area near the top for labeling with a pencil.
Test tubes are widely used by chemists to hold, mix, or heat small quantities of solid or liquid chemicals, especially for qualitative experiments and assays. Their round bottom and straight sides minimize mass loss when pouring, make them easier to clean, and allow convenient monitoring of the contents. The long, narrow neck slows down the spreading of vapors and gases to the environment. A test tube filled with water and upturned into a water-filled beaker is often used to capture gases, e.g. in electrolysis demonstrations.
Culture tubes are often used in biology for handling and culturing all kinds of live organisms, such as molds, bacteria, seedlings, plant cuttings, etc.; and in medicine and forensics to store samples of blood or other fluids. A test tube with a stopper is often used for temporary storage of chemical or biological samples. Test tubes are usually held in special-purpose racks, clamps, or tongs. Some racks for culture tubes are designed to hold the tubes in a nearly horizontal position, so as to maximize the surface of the culture medium inside. Test tubes are sometimes put to casual uses outside of lab environments, e.g. as flower vases, glassware for certain weak shots, or containers for spices. Where large numbers of tests are run or only small amounts are available for testing, or both, microtiter plates are often used as small test tubes.
Test tubes for physics and chemistry are usually made of glass for better resistance to heat and corrosive chemicals and longer life. Tubes made from expansion-resistant glasses, such as borosilicate glass, can be placed directly over a Bunsen burner flame. Culture tubes for biology are usually made of clear plastic (such as polystyrene or polypropylene) by injection molding and are often discarded after use. Test tubes may come with prepared contents. For example, a blue top tube is a test tube of 5 ml containing sodium citrate as an anticoagulant, used to collect specimens for coagulation screens and testing for glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase.
Graduated cylinder
A graduated cylinder, measuring cylinder or mixing cylinder is a piece of laboratory equipment used to measure the volume of a liquid. Graduated cylinders are generally more accurate and precise than laboratory flasks and beakers. However, they are less accurate and precise than volumetric glassware, such as a volumetric flask or volumetric pipette. For these reasons, graduated cylinders should not be used to perform volumetric analysis. Graduated cylinders are sometimes used to indirectly measure the volume of a solid by measuring the displacement of a liquid. Often, the largest graduated cylinders are made of polypropylene for its excellent chemical resistance or polymethylpentene for its transparency, making them lighter and less fragile than glass. Polypropylene (PP) is easy to repeatedly autoclave; however, autoclaving in excess of about 130 °C (depending on the chemical formulation: typical commercial grade polypropylene melts in excess of 160 °C),can warp or damage polypropylene graduated cylinders, affecting accuracy. A traditional graduated cylinder (A in the image) is usually narrow and high (so as to increase the accuracy and precision of volume measurement) and has a plastic or glass bottom and a "spout" for easy pouring from the measured liquid. An additional version is wide and low. Other type of cylinders (B in the picture) have ground glass joints instead of a "spout", so that they can be closed with a stopper or connect directly with other elements of a manifold; they are also known as mixing cylinders. With this kind of cylinder, the metered liquid does not pour directly, but is often removed using a cannula. A graduated cylinder is meant to be read with the surface of the liquid at eye level, where the center of the meniscus shows the measurement line. Typical capacities of graduated cylinders are between 5 ml and 2000 ml.
Reagent bottle
Reagent bottles, also known as media bottles or graduated bottles, are containers made of glass, plastic, borosilicate or related substances, and topped by special caps or stoppers and are intended to contain chemicals in liquid or powder form for laboratories and stored in cabinets or on shelves. Some reagent bottles are tinted amber (actinic), brown or red in order to protect light-sensitive chemical compounds from visible light, ultraviolet and infrared radiation which may alter or break them down. The bottles are called "graduated" when they have marks on the sides indicating the approximate (rarely exact) amount of liquid at a given level within the container. A reagent bottle is a type of laboratory glassware. The term "reagent" refers to a substance that is part of a chemical reaction (or an ingredient of which), and "media" is the plural form of "medium" which refers to the liquid or gas which a reaction happens within, or is a processing chemical tool such as (for example) a flux. Several companies produce reagent bottles, including Wheaton, Kimble, Corning, Schott AG and trademark glass names include Pyrex, Kimax, Duran, Boro and Bomex. Common bottle sizes include 100 ml, 250 ml, 500 ml, 1000 ml (1 liter) and 2000 ml (2 liter).
The selection of caps and stoppers that reagent bottles are closed with are just as important as the material the bottles themselves are made of, and the decision as to which cap to use is dependent on the material used within the container, and the amount of heat which the cap can be subject to. Common cap sizes include 33-430 (33mm), 38-430 (38mm), and GL 45 (45mm). Caps range in size from narrow mouthed to wide mouthed and often a glass or plastic funnel is needed to properly fill a reagent bottle from a larger or equal sized container's mouth. Reagent bottle caps are commonly said to be "autoclavable". Antique or "vintage" reagent bottles tend to resemble the classic "apothecary bottle" and have a glass stopper. Reagent bottles are subject to OSHA regulations, and global scientific standards.
Volumetric flask
A volumetric flask (measuring flask or graduated flask) is a piece of laboratory glassware, a type of laboratory flask, calibrated to contain a precise volume at a particular temperature. Volumetric flasks are used for precise dilutions and preparation of standard solutions. These flasks are usually pear-shaped, with a flat bottom, and made of glass or plastic. The flask's mouth is either furnished with a plastic snap/screw cap or fitted with a joint to accommodate a PTFE or glass stopper. The neck of the volumetric flasks is elongated and narrow with an etched ring graduation marking. The marking indicates the volume of liquid contained when filled up to that point. The marking is typically calibrated "to contain" (marked "TC" or "IN") at 20 °C and indicated correspondingly on a label. The flask's label also indicates the nominal volume, tolerance, precision class, relevant manufacturing standard and the manufacturer’s logo. The volumetric flasks are of various sizes, containing from 1 to 10 000 mL of liquid. Calibration and toleration standards for volumetric flasks are defined in the following standard specifications and practices: ASTM E288, E542, E694, ISO 1042, and GOST 1770-74. According to these specifications, volumetric flasks come in two different classes. The higher standard flasks (Class A, Class 1, USP or equivalent depending on the country) are made with a more accurately placed graduation mark, and have a unique serial number for traceability. Where this is not required, a lower standard (Class B or equivalent) is used for qualitative or educational work. The volumetric flasks are generally colourless but may be amber-colored for handling light-sensitive compounds such as silver nitrate or vitamin A. A modification of the volumetric flask exists for dealing with large quantities of solids that are to be transferred into and dissolved in a volumetric vessel. Such flask has an wide mouth and known as Kohlrausch volumetric flask. This kind of volumetric flask found particular application in the procedure for the sugar content analysis in sugar beet. While conventional volumetric flasks have a single mark, volumetric tests in the analytical and food chemistry may employ specialized two-mark volumetric flasks used to combine two accurately measured volumes. A highly specialized kind of the volumetric flask is Le Chatelier flask for use with the volumetric procedure in the specific gravity determination.
Distilling Flask
A distilling flask is a round bottomed container that has two openings and some sometimes a long neck. It is made entirely from glass and is used for chemical distillation processes. It is also a key equipment in almost all laboratories. A distilling flask is a round bottomed laboratory apparatus. The main purpose of a distilling flask is to separate two different liquid components that have different boiling temperatures.
Florence flask
A Florence flask is a type of flask used as an item of laboratory glassware. It is used as a container to hold liquids. A Florence flask has a round body with a flat bottom and a single long neck. It is designed for uniform heating, boiling, distillation and ease of swirling; it is produced in a number of different glass thicknesses to stand different types of use. They are often made of borosilicate glass to prevent any cracks or defacing of the glass. The flask is named after Florence, Italy. Traditional Florence flasks typically do not have a ground glass joint on their rather longer necks but typically have a slight lip or flange around the tip of the neck. A common volume for a Florence flask is 1 litre.
Erlenmeyer flask
Erlenmeyer flask have wide bases, with sides that taper upward to a short vertical neck. They may be graduated, and there are often spots of ground glass or enamel where they can be labeled with a pencil. It differs from the beaker in its tapered body and narrow neck.
The mouth of the Erlenmeyer flask can have a beaded lip that can be stoppered using a piece of cotton wool, rubber bung or similar. Alternatively, the neck may be fitted with a female ground glass joint to accept a glass stopper.
The tapered sides and narrow neck of this flask allow the contents of the flask to be mixed by swirling, without risk of spillage, making them suitable for titrations. Such features similarly make the flask suitable for boiling liquids. Hot vapors condense on the upper section of the Erlenmeyer flask, reducing solvent loss. Erlenmeyer flasks' narrow necks can also support filter funnels.
The last two attributes of Erlenmeyer flasks make them especially appropriate for recrystallization. The sample to be purified is heated to a boil, and sufficient solvent is added for complete dissolution. The receiving flask is filled with a small amount of solvent, and heated to a boil. The hot solution is filtered through a fluted filter paper into the receiving flask. Hot vapors from the boiling solvent keep the filter funnel warm, avoiding premature crystallization.
Erlenmeyer flasks are also used in microbiology for the preparation of microbial cultures. Plastic Erlenmeyer flasks used in cell culture are pre-sterilized and feature closures and vented closures to enhance gas exchange during incubation and shaking.
Thermometer
A thermometer (from the Greek thermos, meaning "hot" and metron, "measure") is a device that measures temperature or temperature gradient using a variety of different principles. A thermometer has two important elements: the temperature sensor (e.g. the bulb on a mercury-in-glass thermometer) in which some physical change occurs with temperature, plus some means of converting this physical change into a numerical value (e.g. the visible scale that is marked on a mercury-in-glass thermometer). There are many types and many uses for thermometers.