What you should know about scientific laboratory glassware

Scientific laboratory glassware broadly refers to a wide array of equipments made of glass and used for scientific experiments, particularly in Chemistry and Biology laboratories. Though in recent times, cheaper and less breakable plastic ware has garnered some popularity; many applications still require glassware since glass in comparatively inert, transparent, heat resistant and can easily be customized.

DIFFERENT KINDS OF GLASS

Different experiments may require different kinds of glassware. Borosilicate glass, used commonly in reagent bottles, can endure thermal stress. Quartz glass used in cuvettes, can tolerate high temperatures and is transparent in certain portions of the electromagnetic spectrum. Actinic glass which is dark brown or amber in color is used for dark storage bottles and can block infrared and ultraviolet radiation. Heavy wall glass can withstand pressurized applications and are thereby used in glass pressure reactors.

TYPES OF LABORATTORY GLASSWARE AND ACCESSORIES

Scientific Laboratory Glassware items are numerous and include beakers, flasks, bottles, jars, watch glasses, graduated cylinders, burettes, condensers, funnels, desiccators, tubes, retorts, pipettes, test tubes, petri dishes, evaporating dishes, stirring rods and microscopic slides. They are used for many purposes such as holding reagents or samples, containing vacuum, covering beakers, volumetric measurements, mixing chemicals, cooling hot liquids or vapors, transporting materials, distillation, evaporating materials and even culturing living cells.

Majority of the laboratory glassware is mass produced but large laboratories also employ glass blowers to design specific pieces. Glassware often requires accessories to hold them in place or ease the procedure of an experiment. For example, "stoppers" are used to seal certain kinds of glassware. Glassware items may receive"coating "to reduce the chance of breakage. "Connectors" as the name suggests, are used to interconnect or hold components together. "Valves" are used to redirect the flow of a liquid through pipes. "Fritted glass" is a finely porous glass through which liquid or gas can pass.

SOME SPECIALIZED EQUIPMENT

Many glassware manufacturers produce sophisticated equipments too apart from the commonly used items. For instance, Sintered Glass Buchner Funnels are ideal for very coarse to very fine filtrations, due to a wide range of porosity it offers. A Kipp’s Apparatus is designed for small volumes of gases. A drying pistol is used to free samples from traces of water or other impurities, by drying them at high temperatures. Chromatography columns, extractors and fractionation columns are among the others too.

So laboratory glassware has extensive application in both laboratories and industries. They may be a part of a specialized apparatus, or may be used in combination with other equipment like ring stands, burette clamps or Bunsen burners.

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