Lab Equipment

1. Lab Equipment *These are the pieces of equipment you may see in class. You will be expected to know the names of the items and the actual use for each*

2. Beaker • Holds and measures approximately large volumes of liquid. • Also used as a water bath for heating test tubes.

3. Conical Flask / Rubber Stopper • A narrow-mouthed container used to transport, heat or store substances, often used when a stopper is required. • Also known as an Erlenmeyer Flask. • Stopper closes off flask like in a bath tub.

4. Burette • A vertical cylindrical piece of laboratory glassware with a volumetric graduation on its full length and a precision tap, or stopcock with plug and bore, on the bottom. • It is used to dispense known amounts of a liquid reagent in experiments for which such precision is necessary, such as a titration experiment.

5. Bunsen Burner • Produces a flame to heat using gas and air.

6. Graduated Cylinder • Graduated tube with a spout that is used especially for measuring small amounts of liquid with precision.

7. Hot Plate • Produces heat like a stove's burner. • Used in most experiments when open flames can be an issue.

8. Glass Stirring Rod • Used to stir or mix solutions that are either hot or cold.

9. Tongs • Used to pick up glassware that may be hot including beakers, crucibles and flasks.

10. Lab Stand / Ring Stand Test Tube Holder/ Wire Gauze • Stand that allows clamps to be attached for various experiments. • Ring clamps attach to a lab stand and are used to hold a variety of lab equipment many times with the wire gauze across it. • Test tube holders allow you to clamp test tubes to the stand for heating. • Other clamps will hold things like conical flasks and burettes for experiments.

11. Triple Beam Balance / Scale • Used to measure the mass of an object usually in grams or kilograms depending on the chemical.

12. Funnel • Used to pour liquids or solids into another piece of lab equipment. • May be made out of glass or plastic and usually have long spouts.

13. Test Tube / Holder / Rack / Brush • A small glass container used to view chemical reactions or to heat small amounts of a substance . • The rack and holder are each to hold the test tube if they may be hot or you need to set them down. • The brush is only for test tubes and small graduated cylinders to clean them.

14. Crucible / Evaporating Dish • Crucible - A ceramic or metal container in which metals or other substances may be melted or subjected to very high temperatures. • Evaporating Dish - A small shallow dish used in laboratories to heat and evaporate substances.

15. Eye Dropper • Used to add small amounts of a liquid to an experiment or to remove liquid that has a solid settled underneath it.

16. Striker / Lighter • Used to create a spark to start a Bunsen burner. • If constantly sparked they will no longer work as the flint wears down.

17. Watch Glass • A shallow glass dish used as an evaporating surface or to cover a beaker. • Easily breakable!

18. Spatula • Used to remove a portion of a solid from a chemical bottle or a test tube. • Should only be used in one chemical and then thoroughly washed.

19. Wash Bottle • The wash bottle contains deionized water and is used to rinse glassware, among other things.

20. Litmus Paper • Indicates whether a solution is acidic or basic. • Usually found as red or blue.