Common Lab Apparatus

• Triple Beam Balance


  • Used to measure masses very precisely, reading error is 0.05 gram
• Platform Balance


  • A balance consisting of a lever with two equal arms and a pan suspended from each arm
• Top Loading Balance


  • A digital instrument that is used to measure the mass of an object, consists of metal plate to place the object and a digital read out
• Analytical Balance


  • Accurate and precise instruments to measure weights, require a draft free location on a solid bench that is free of vibrations
• Alcohol Lamp


  Source of heat, typical fuel is denatured alcohol, methanol, or isopropanol
• Bunsen burner


  A gas burner consisting typically of a straight tube with small holes at the bottom where air enters and mixes with the gas to produce an intensely hot blue flame
• Hot Plate


  Used as a source of heat when an open flame is not desirable, essentially an electric stove top
• Beaker


  A simple container for stirring, mixing and heating liquids commonly used in many laboratories, cylindrical in shape, with a flat bottom and a lip for pouring
• Erlenmeyer Flask


  Has a flat bottom, a conical body, and a cylindrical neck, usually marked on the side (graduated) to indicate the approximate volume of contents
• Filter Flask


  A specially designed flask with a side arm for conveying filtered liquid into other vessels
• Florence Flask


  Used for heating substances that need to be heated evenly, the bulbed bottom allows the heat to distribute through the liquid more evenly, mostly used in distillation experiment
• Volumetric Flask


  Used to prepare solutions and to dilute them to specific volume, shape consists of a long upper neck plus a round, flat-bottom lower region for mixing and holding solution
• Graduated Cylinder


  A narrow, cylindrical container marked with horizontal lines to represent units of measurement, used to precisely measure the volume of liquids
• Burettes


  Used to accurately measure and deliver variable amounts of a liquid, used in titrations where accurate volume measurements of a reagent solution and a known reaction of this reagent with a sample are used to measure and analyte's concentration
• Pipette


  Used to accurately measure and transfer a volume of liquid from one container to another
• Aspirator


  Used to safely fill glass and plastic pipettes, also help control the flow of liquid from the dropping bottle
• Test Tube


  Used to hold small samples, primarily used for qualitatively assessment and comparison
• Test Tube Holder


  Used for holding test tubes
• Test Tube Rack


  A wooden or metal bars used for supporting the test tubes when not in use or while waiting for the reaction of reagents to take place
• Crucible Tong


  Used to hold crucibles and evaporating dishes when they are hot
• Forceps


  Used to hold and move parts you should not touch
• Funnel


  A cone-shaped vessel ending in a tube at the base, used for pouring liquids and solids through a small opening and to hold the filter paper in filtering technique
• Thistle Tube


  Used to add liquid to an existing system of apparatus used for osmosis experiment
• Separatory Funnel


  Used for separating immiscible liquids with different densities
• Watch Glass


  A circular concave piece of glass used as a surface to evaporate a liquid to hold solids while being weighed for heating a small amount of substance and as a cover for a beaker
• Evaporating Dish


  A glazed porcelain vessel used to heat and consequently evaporate liquids
• Crucible with Cover


  A porcelain container used for heating or melting substance requiring extreme heat
• Spot Plate


  Plate with small wells used to perform reactions on a very small amount of materials
• Spatula


  Used for scooping solid material out of a container
• Stirring Rod


  Used to manually stir solutions assist in pouring liquids transfer a single drop of a solution
• Rubber Policeman


  Keeps the glass stirring rod from scratching beaker or other container, allows to scrape solids out of containers
• Desiccator


  A tightly closed container charged with a suitable desiccant (commonly calcium chloride or calcium sulfate) that allows an atmosphere of low humidity to be obtained
• Thermometer


  Measures temperature
• Wash Bottle


  A squeeze bottle with a nozzle, used to rinse various pieces of laboratory glassware, such as test tubes and round bottom flasks
• Magnetic Stirrer


  Uses a rotating magnetic field to move a stir bar around in liquid samples, the movement of this stir bar mixes the sample thoroughly with rapid movement and agitation
• pH Meter


  A precise instrument that quantitatively measure the acidity or basicity of solutions expressed as pH
• Microscope Slide


  Holds the object you are looking at on the microscope
• Cover Slip


  Covers materials on a glass slide
• Petri Dish


  Shallow dish for bacterial culture
• Microscope


  To magnify very small objects, and observe objects you cannot see with the naked eye