Glassware used in laboratories offers a wide range of containment and transport functions for solutions and other liquids used in laboratories. Most laboratory glassware is manufactured with borosilicate glass, a particularly durable glass that can safely be used to hold chemicals being heated over a flame and to contain acidic or corrosive chemicals. All laboratory glassware should be cleaned immediately following use to prevent chemical residue from congealing or hardening.

 

Beakers are glass containers that come in a variety of sizes and can be used for mixing and transporting fluids, heating fluids over an open flame and containing chemicals during a reaction. While most beakers have graduated volume measurements imprinted into their glass, the measurements are an approximation that may deviate from the actual volume by five percent, making them unsuitable for use as a precision measurement tool.

 

funnels can be used to protect against spillage when pouring chemicals from one vessel to another, and they can also be fitted with a filter to separate solids from liquids. Separatory funnels are also used for filtration and extraction, having a bulb-shaped enclosed body fitted with a stopper on top to prevent spillage when the funnel is inverted, along with a stopcock at the spout’s base, which can be used to gradually lower the bulb’s internal pressure.

 

Graduated cylinders are tall, narrow containers used for measuring volume. While they’re more accurate than beakers, measuring their contents to within one percent of actual volume, they’re not used for quantitative analysis of fluids that require a high degree of precision. 

 

Pipettes are used to draw precisely measured amounts of fluid from a container. Volumetric pipettes are crafted to draw one specific quantity of a sample, while Mohr pipettes have graduations that allow the user to draw varying amounts of a sample. Squeeze bulbs are most often used to draw the fluid into the pipette. Examples include Bulb and graduated pipettes.

 

Volumetric flasks are used to create exact quantities of solutions. A graduation line is carved into the volumetric flask’s neck to indicate volume.

 

Specifically used to cool heated liquid or gas.

These are used for distillation purposes.

Shallow dishes used to culture living cells.

Small bottles used to store samples or reagents.

Used to hold items under a microscope for inspection and study.

Used to mix solvents and samples together.

A container designed to absorb moisture from a substance.

Similar to a desiccator, the pistol is a more direct method of removing moisture from a sample.

 

A burette is a glass tube with a tap or stopcock on the bottom end, which delivers solution samples in precisely measured volumes. Burettes are useful for titration, which is a technique that determines the concentration of a chemical substance in a given solution.

Erlenmeyer flasks are similar in function to beakers, but they are conical in shape, with a cylindrical neck and a wide, flat base that is ideal for heating and analyzing solutions.