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19 Common Laboratory Apparatus

 

 

Picture of a lab drawer filled with glassware and equipment used in CHEM 1014.
Photo by Ellie J. Miller and Jacob A. Schreiber, University of Nebraska – Omaha.

 

Table 1 Lab Equipment, Apparatus & Glassware

COMMON GLASSWARE AND EQUIPMENT ENCOUNTERED IN THE CHEMISTRY LABORATORY
Name Picture Use
Beaker  Beaker Used to hold and heat liquids. Multipurpose and essential in the lab.
Bunsen burner Bunsen burner Used for heating and exposing items to flame.
Crucible tongs Used to hold crucibles, evaporating dishes, and glassware when they are hot.
Digital thermometer digital thermometer Used to take temperature of solids, liquids, and gases.
Disposable transfer pipette Disposable transfer pipette Used for moving small amounts of liquid from place to place. They are usually made of plastic  and are disposable
Electronic balance electronic balance Used for weighing substances or objects, usually in grams.
Erlenmeyer flask Used to heat, mix, and store liquids. The advantage to the Erlenmeyer Flask is that the bottom  is  wider than the top so it will heat quicker because of the greater surface area exposed to the  heat.
Forceps Used for picking up and moving small objects.
Glass funnel Used to pour liquids into any container so they will not be lost or spilled. They are also used with folded filter paper for filtration.
Graduated cylinder Used to measure the volumes of liquids.
Hot plate Hot plate Used for heating substances and liquids in beakers and flasks.
Medicine dropper Medicine dropper Used to add drops of a liquid.
Microspatula microspatula Used for moving small amounts of solid from place to place.
Mortar and pestle mortar and pestle Used to crush solids into powders for experiments, usually to better dissolve the solids in a liquid.
Parafilm Parafilm Used to cover a piece of glassware.
pH paper pH paper Used to measure the pH of a liquid.
Plastic funnel Used to pour liquids into any container so they will not be lost or spilled.
Ring clamp Ring clamps Used to hold items being heated. Clamps or rings can be used so that items may be placed  above the lab table for heating by Bunsen burners or other items.
Ring stand Ring stand Attached to ring stand and with wire gauze used to hold beakers or flasks while they are heated by a gas burner.
Rubber stoppers Rubber stoppers Stoppers come in many different sizes. The sizes are from 0 to 8. Stoppers can have holes for thermometers and for other probes that may be used.
Scoopula Scoopula For scooping out small or large amounts of chemicals from bottles.
Stir bar Stir bar Used to stir mixtures in a beaker with a stir plate.
Stir plate Used to stir mixtures in a beaker with a magnetic stir bar.
Stirring rods Stirring rods Used to stir liquids. They are usually made of glass.
Stirring rod with rubber policeman Stirring rod with rubber policeman Used to scrap solid precipitate from a beaker to a funnel.
Striker Striker Used to light a gas [Bunsen] burner.
Test tube Used for storing, mixing, and heating small amounts of chemicals.
Test tube brushes Used to easily clean the inside of a test tubes and other glassware.
Test tube holder Used to hold test tubes while heating.
Test tube rack Used to hold test tubes while reactions happen in them or while they are not needed.
Utility clamps Utility clamps Used to attach test tubes and other glassware to a ring stand.
Wash bottle Wash bottle Used to wash or rinse other containers.
Watch glass Used to hold solids when being weighed or transported. They should never be heated. Can also  be used to cover beakers or other containers.
Weigh boat Weigh boat Used for weighing solids on a balance.
Wire gauze Used with a ring clamp to support glassware over a Bunsen burner. Spreads flame out for more  even heating.

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CHEM 1014: Chemistry in the Environment and Society Laboratory Copyright © 2023 by Jennifer Kopanic is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.

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