General Laboratory Equipment Flashcards
Types of Glass Labware
Flint, Soda Lime, Borosilicate, Quartz
Characteristics of Flint
- type of glassware
- inexpensive
- disposable
- not heat resistant
characteristics of Soda Lime
- type of glassware
- inexpensive,
- easy to crack or break
- disposable
- not heat resistant
characteristics of Borosilicate
- type of glassware
- nonreactive with most chemicals
- resistant to rapid temperature changes
- reusable
- ir. Pyrex and Kimax
characteristics of Quartz
type of glassware
- or silica glass
- very expensive
- used for high precision work
Types of Plastic Labware
polyethylene, polyvinyl chloride, polystyrene, polypropylene
characteristics of Polyethylene
- type of plastic
- inexpensive
- good quality
characteristics of Polyvinyl Chloride
- type of plastic
- highly flexible
- resistant to most chemicals
characteristics of Polystyrene
- type of plastic
- poor resistance to organic solvents
- used for pitrie dishes, test tube
characteristics of Polypropylene
- type of plastic
- the best one
- can be autoclaved
- tough and more resistant to chemical
- used for disposable pipettes, reagent bottles
Types of Labware
bottles, test tubes, beakers, graduated cylinders, flasks
Noncritical measurements
measurements that are estimated or approximate
-includes beakers and certain flasks, graduated cylinders and serological pipets
Critical measurements
requiring precision and accuracy
-volumetric flasks and volumetric pipets
Characteristics of Test tubes
- hold small volumes
- most only estimate volumes
- plastic or glass
- not calibrated to accurately measure liquids
characteristics of beakers
- wide mouthed, straight-sided containers with a pouring spout
- flat-bottomed containers with intermediate graduations
- read volume at meniscus
- measurements not requiring a high degree of accuracy
Types of Flasks
Erlenmeyer, volumetric, florence flasks
Characteristics of Erlenmeyer
- noncritical measurements
- sloping sided container
- used to hold, mx and transfer liquids or as reaction vessels
Characteristics of volumetric flasks
- critical measurements
- read meniscus
- used primarily for preparing solutions requiring a high degree of accuracy
- calibrated to contain an accurate volume at room temperature
characteristics of florence flasks
- round sided container with a short neck
- used to hold, mix and transfer liquids
- noncritical volumes
- also used for distillation techniques
Meniscus
the curve in the upper surface of a liquid close to the surface of the container or another object, caused by surface tension
Cleaning and preparation of bacteriologically dirty glassware
- must be decontaminated by soaking in a disinfectant
- use 30% lysol, 1% hypochlorite or 2% glutaraldehyde
Cleaning and preparation of glassware for hematology
soaked after use in a suitable detergent and washed and scrubbed thoroughly with a brush in tap water
cleaning and preparation of biochemical glassware
usually soaked after use for 2-4 hours in a good stripping detergent such as Alconox or Sparkleen
Pipets
accurately measure out small quantities of liquids with a high degree of precision
TD (to deliver)
to transfer a specific volume from one vessel to another, to empty their contents completely by gravity flow only
TC (to contain)
pipettes are emptied of their contents by gravity flow and the pipette must be rinsed of the contents
Volumetric pipets
- calibrated to deliver a certain volume at room temperature, used to obtain the most accurate measurements of liquids. It has a bulged portion in the middle
- critical measurement
- TD
Serological pipets
- graduated marking to the tip, last drop must be forced out by squeezing the rubber safety bulb
- TC
MOHR PIPETTES
- similar in appearance to the serological pipette, but not calibrated to the tip.
- manufacture to deliver, last drop is not forced out
- TD
Folin-Oswald Pipettes
similar in appearance to volumetric pipette, used for viscous(thick) liquids
- manufactured as a blow out, so last frop must be forced out
- TC
Automatic Pipettors
-hand operated, piston type devices with disposable plastic tips which vary in capacity from 1-1000 microliters
Correct use of pipettes
- fill the pipette slightly above fesired volume
- wipe the tip with biological wipe or other absorbent material
- observe pipette at eye level and set the meniscus by discarding the extra amount of liquid until the bottom of the meniscus is exactly at the desired marking
- allow the pipette to drain freely, forcing out the last drop where applicable
Cleaning and preparing pipette for use
- pipettes are soaked in 1% hypochlorite
- pipettes are places tip-up in the washer
- washed in accordance with their usage and contamination
- final rinse of distilled water
- the pipettes are then dried in the hot air oven
Capillary tubes
small hollow glass rods that draw up fluid into their interior by capillary action
- commonly used for microhematocrit procedures, to collect blood from a skin puncture
- may be plain or heparinized. a plain capillary tube has a blue ring at one end, a heparinized capillary tube has a red ring at the end
checking Quality assessment of equipment and it’s usage involves:
- equipment maintenance program
- documentation required
- record service/repair
- performance checks: temperature and calibration
Centrifuge
an apparatus used to separate lighter portions of a solution, mixture or suspension from the heavier portions by rotation at an extremely high speed (centrifugal force)
Safety protocols when using the centrifuge:
- use approved tubes
- balance rotor
- keep tubes capped
- open after completely stopped
- clean spills
Autoclave uses what kind of sterilization?
steam under pressure
what temperature does the autoclave start killing microorganisms, spores and bacteria? for how long? and what is the measurement of pressure?
- 121 degrees celsius or 250 degrees fahrenheit
- for 15 minutes
- 15 psi
Taring
-describes the procedure of weighing the boat separately before weighing the boat and the substance together. then the boat weight is subtracted from the total
Types of Temperature controlled chambers
incubators, refrigerators, freezers and waterbaths
