Lab Equipment and Apparatus Flashcards
Air Condenser
Description: A condenser is used to cool hot vapors typically features a glass cylinder with a central tube surrounded by a cooling jacket.
Use: Air or water is circulated to transfer heat away from the central tube.
Beaker
Description: Are cylindrical, flat-bottomed containers with a pouring spout, made of heat-resistant glass or plastic, and available in various sizes from a few milliliters to several liters.
Use: Beakers are essential for mixing, stirring, heating chemicals, holding samples, conducting reactions, and preparing solutions, with volume markings offering rough content estimates.
Boiling Chips
Description: Small, inert, porous stones usually made of calcium carbonate or silicon carbide
Use: Added to liquids to ensure smooth boiling and prevent superheating.
Bunsen Burner
Description: A common laboratory tool, producing a single open gas flame, features a metal blue with a gas inlet at the base and an adjustable air vent for controlling flame intensity and temperature.
Use: Bunsen burners, used for heating, sterilization, and combustion, provide a controllable flame for heating chemicals, sterilizing equipment, and performing flame tests.
Capillary Tube
Description: Thin, hollow glass tubes with very small internal diameters, typically between 0.5mm to 3mm.
Use: Used in applications like determining melting points, microfluids, chromatography, and medical blood sample collections.
Condenser
Description: A glassware piece with an inner tube and an outer for coolant circulation, common types includes Liebig, Graham, and Allihn condensers.
Use: Used in distillation to cool and condense vapors into liquids, with an outer tube circulating cooling fluid to remove heat from the vapor.
Cork
Description: Cylinder stoppers made from natural cork or rubber.
Use: (Rubber) stoppers are used to seal flasks and test tubes, preventing containing and evaporation of contents, and can be punctured for inserting glass tubing or thermometers in complex setups.
Cork Borer
Description: A metal tool with a sharp, cylindrical blade, often sold in sets of varying sizes.
Use: Cold borers are essential tools for cutting precise holes in corks or rubber stopper to accommodate glass tubes, thermometers, or other laboratory equipment, allowing customization for specific apparatus needs.
Cotton Wagging
Description: Soft, fibrous material made from pure cotton.
Use: Cotton wool is used in laboratories for filtration, plugging glassware to prevent contamination, packing chromatography columns, and in various setups requiring absorbent material.
Cylinders
Description: Tall, narrow cylinders with precise volume markings along the sides and a spout for pouring.
Use: Used to accurately measure and dispense specific volumes of liquids. Essential in quantitative chemical analysis and preparation of solutions where precise measurements are required
Dessicator
Description: A sealed container, typically made of glass or plastic, with a compartment for desiccants (drying agents) like silica gel.
Use: Used to store moisture-sensitive substances. By maintaining a dry atmosphere, desiccators prevent chemical reactions with water and protect samples from humidity.
Distilling Flask
Description: A round-bottomed flask with a sidearm, often made of heat-resistant glass like borosilicate.
Used: A distillation apparatus heats mixtures to separate components based on boiling points, with a sidearm directing vapor into a condenser for cooling and collection as a liquid.
Dropper
Description: A small tube with a rubber bulb at one end used to dispense liquids drop by drop.
Used: Ideal for adding small amounts of liquid with precision. Commonly used in titrations, preparing solutions, and transferring small liquid volumes without spillage.
Erlenmeyer Flask
Description: A conical flask with a flat bottom, a narrow neck, and often marked with volume graduations.
Use: Used for mixing, heating, and storing liquids. The narrow neck prevents spills and separates, making it ideal for titrations and chemical reactions that require swirling.
Filter Paper
Description: Porous paper that allows liquids to pass through while trapping solids.
Use: Used in filtration to separate fine solids from liquids or air.
