Common Glassware used in Lab
- 2. Laboratory glassware refers to a variety of equipment used in scientific work, and traditionally made of glass. Glass can be blown, bent, cut, molded, and formed into many sizes and shapes, and is therefore common in chemistry, biology etc.
- 3. Following type of glassware are mostly used in different labs: Bulb and Graduated Pipettes Burettes Beakers Flasks Funnels Petri Dishes Graduated Cylinders Vials Slides Stirring Rods
- 4. A pipette (sometimes spelled pipet) is a laboratory tool commonly used in different medical and other sciences to transport a measured volume of liquid. Graduated pipettes are a type of macropipette consisting of a long tube with a series of graduations, to indicate different calibrated volumes. There are flexible, variable-capacity bulbs that are squeezed to create a vacuum or apply pressure to liquid contents of pipettes.
- 5. A Burette is a graduated glass tube with a tap at one end, for delivering known volumes of a liquid, especially in titrations. It is a long, graduated glass tube, with a stopcock at its lower end and a tapered capillary tube at the stopcock's outlet. A Beaker is generally a cylindrical glass container with a flat bottom. A beaker is distinguished from a flask by having straight rather than sloping sides. It comes in a wide range of sizes, from one millilitre up to several litres.
- 6. Flasks are cylindrical containers but with wider vessel “body” and tubular sections at the top “neck”. They are of different types like: Erlenmeyer flask having conical shape, usually completed by ground joint. They are popular for low price(easy to manufacture) and portability. Round bottom flask used in distillations, or in the heating a product. These types of flask are alternatively called Florence flasks. Volumetric flask used for preparing liquids with volumes of high precision. It is a flask with an approximately pear- shaped body and a long neck.
- 7. Florence or Round bottom flask Erlenmeyer or conical flask Volumetric flask
- 8. A funnel is a tube or pipe that is wide at the top and narrow at the bottom, used for guiding liquid or powder into a small opening. Funnels are usually made of stainless steel, aluminium, glass, or plastic. Funnels are also used for the holding filter paper during filtration. They are of different types like: 1. Filter Funnel 2. Separating Funnel 3. Dropping Funnel 4. Powder Funnel
- 10. A Petri dish (alternatively known as a cell-culture dish) is a shallow transparent lidded dish that biologists use to culture cells , such as bacteria, fungi or small mosses. It is the most common type of culture plate. The Petri dish is one of the most common items in biology labs and has entered the popular culture. The culture medium is often an agar plate, a layer a few mm thick of agar or agarose gel containing whatever nutrients the organism requires (such as blood, salts, carbohydrates, amino acids). Petri dishes are also used for cell cultivation of isolated cells from eukaryotic organisms. Petri dishes may be used to observe the early stages of plant germination.
- 12. A graduated cylinder, also known as measuring cylinder or mixing cylinder is a common piece of laboratory equipment used to measure the volume of a liquid. It has a narrow cylindrical shape. Each marked line on the graduated cylinder represents the amount of liquid that has been measured. 100mL cylinders have 1ml grading divisions while 10mL cylinders have 0.1 mL grading divisions. Graduated cylinders are considered more accurate and precise for measurement purposes than beakers but should not be used for volumetric analysis.
- 14. A vial (also known as a phial or flacon) is a small glass or plastic vessel or bottle, often used to store medication such as liquids, powders or capsules. Modern vials are often made out of plastic or sometimes glass. Following are most commonly used vials in lab: 1. Lavender vial 2. Red vial 3. Light Blue vial 4. Green vial 5. Yellow vial 6. Royal blue vial 7. Grey vial 8. Black vial 9. Culture vials
- 16. A microscope slide is a thin flat piece of glass, typically 75 by 26mm (3 by 1 inches) and about 1 mm thick, used to hold objects for the examination under a microscope. Typically the object is mounted (secured) on the slide, and then both are inserted together in the microscope for viewing. Microscope slides are often used together with a cover slip or cover glass, a smaller and thinner sheet of glass that is placed over the specimen.
- 17. A glass stirring rod is a piece of laboratory equipment used to mix chemicals. They are usually made of solid glass, about the thickness and slightly longer than a drinking straw, with rounded ends. Stir rods are generally made of borosilicate glass or Poly- Propylene plastic. They are usually between 10 and 40 centimeters in length and about half a centimeter in diameter.
- 18. Cleaning: Even the most carefully executed experiment can give erroneous results if dirty glassware is bought to use. If the glassware that is used for measuring liquids is contaminated with grease and other materials, it prevents the glass from being uniformly wetted. This in turn will affect the volume of liquid delivered and the amount of residue adhering to the walls of the container. Likewise, presence of impurities in glassware can distort the meniscus and can prevent one from getting the correct results out of the science lab experiment.
- 19. Cleaning of volumetric glassware is necessary to not only remove any contaminants, but to ensure its accurate use. The film of water that adheres to the inner glass wall of a container as it is emptied must be uniform. Cleaning laboratory glassware is sometimes necessary and may be done using multiple methods. Glassware can be soaked in a detergent solution to remove grease and loosen most contaminations. These contaminations are then scrubbed with a brush or scouring pad to remove particles which cannot be rinsed. For certain sensitive experiments glassware may be soaked in solvents, such as aqua regia or mild acids, to dissolve a trace quantities of specific contaminations known to interfere with an experiment.
- 20. If needed, use a warm detergent solution (60-70°C). A buret or test tube brush can be used in the cleaning of burets and the neck of volumetric flasks. Volumetric flasks can be filled with cleaning solution directly. Pipettes and burettes are filled by inverting them and drawing the cleaning solution into the device using suction. Avoid getting cleaning solution in the stopcock. Allow the warm cleaning solution to stand in the device for about fifteen minutes; never longer than 20 minutes. Drain the cleaning solution and rinse thoroughly with tap water and finally two or three times with distilled water.
- 21. Washing glassware: Always wash new glasses before first use. Hand wash the glasses individually. Do not soak with other glasses to reduce the chance of mechanical shock. Use a suitable detergent and warm water with a non abrasive sponge or cloth. Drying the glassware: Air dry glasses where possible – cloths can spread grease and dirt that can leave unwanted odours and toxins. After washing, leave glasses to dry in an upturned position. Once dry, use a soft dry glass cloth to remove water marks. This retains the clarity of glassware.
- 23. Washing the glassware Air Drying the glassware Washing and Drying:
- 24. Avoiding breakage of glassware: There is nothing worse than the sound of glass shattering in a medical lab, especially during any experiment. Broken or chipped glasses can compromise the safety of both, worker and guest. But it can be done through: Avoid mechanical shock: Mechanical shock happens when a glass utensil comes into contact with utensils or another glass. Any contact with another object can compromise the strength of the glass. Avoid thermal shock: This occurs when a glass experiences a quick and drastic change in temperature. Always adjust glasses to different temperatures slowly by letting them change to room temperature first.
- 25. Avoid Mechanical Shock Avoid Thermal Shock
- 26. Storing: Avoid the rims of glasses coming into contact with other glasses. Use glass jacks for back of house storage. Place glassware toward the back of benches or hoods. Don't let instruments roll around in drawers (use drawer pads). Collecting: Never collect multiple glasses in one hand where they can come in to contact with other glasses. Never stack a glass unless it has been specifically designed for stacking.
- 28. Proper handling of glassware can reduce the risk of injury and accident. Laboratory glassware is a lot different from kitchen glassware used in households as it is designed for special purposes and requires delicate handling. Always use two hands carrying any glassware (position one hand under the glass for support). Appropriate glove should be worn when there is a risk of breakage (e.g. inserting a glass rod), chemical contamination, or thermal hazard. When handling hot or cold glassware, always wear insulated gloves. A tray should be used for transfer of number of volumetric flasks for dilution purposes.
- 30. Selection of glassware: When selecting glassware, determine the compatibility of the glassware with the chemicals or process. Some chemicals react with glass or cause damage (etch) glass. If your process involves temperature or pressure changes, ensure the glassware can withstand the changes. For example: Mixing sulfuric acid with water inside a cylinder causes an exothermic reaction to occur, resulting in heat from reaction to break the bottom of the vessel. Never mix sulfuric acid inside a cylinder. Hydrofluoric acid chemically attacks glass. Hot phosphoric acid and strong hot alkalis also attack glass. Never use glass to contain these processes.
- 31. Inspection of glassware before use: Before working with glassware, always inspect it for flaws. If defects are discovered, glass should be removed from service. Scratches in glass can grow to cracks later on. Dispose of flawed glassware if repairs are not possible.
- 32. Blue colour waste bin is used for all glassware disposal. Ensure that others aren't injured by improperly disposed of broken glass. Place contaminated broken glass biological sharps in rigid, puncture-resistant container (e.g. sharps container). For biologically contaminated broken glass, closed and sealed container should be placed in bio-hazardous waste box for disposal. For chemically contaminated broken glass, closed and sealed containers should be tagged as chemical waste.
- 34. Calibrated meaning “to a varying degree”. In the laboratory experiment, the three types of glassware typically used by an analytical chemist: a volumetric flask, a volumetric pipette and a burette. In order to avoid introducing systematic errors into measurements, each of these instruments must be properly calibrated. The quality of the measurements obtained from these tools depends heavily on the care taken in calibrating. In the most precise work, the amount of water delivered by or contained in the volumetric apparatus is quantified by mass to effect the calibration. This mass is then converted to the desired volume using the tabulated density of water and the following standard relation: d = m / v
- 35. As was noted above, volumetric glassware is calibrated by measuring the mass of water that is containedin or delivered-by the device. Procedure: Record the laboratory temperature to three to four significant figures. Clean and dry (in a 105 °C oven for a few minutes, followed by cooling to room temperature) a weighing bottle and its cap. Use detergent if necessary followed by tap water then distilled water. Use a 105 °C oven for a few minutes for drying and cool to room temperature.
- 36. Fill a 10 mL measuring pipette with deionized water, then drain it to ensure that no droplets remain on the inner walls. If droplets remain, clean the pipette thoroughly and repeat. Fill the pipette and deliver approximately two milliliters into the weighed bottle. Cap the bottle and reweigh. Repeat this procedure for samples of 4, 6 and 8 mL. Use the 2, 4, 6 and 8 mL markings to calibrate this pipette. Perform three replicate measurements for the pipette.
- 37. Fill a 10 mL volumetric pipette with deionized water and drain to ensure that no droplets remain on the inner walls. If droplets remain, clean the pipette thoroughly and repeat. Fill the pipette to the fill line and deliver the total volume of liquid into a dry bottle. Cap the weighing bottle and reweigh. Perform three replicate measurements for the pipette. For Volumetric Flask: Calibrate a 10 mL volumetric flask by weighing it empty (and dry) and filled to the mark with distilled water. Fill the flask and empty it three times to perform three replicate measurements for the flask. It is not necessary to oven dry the flask between these measurements.