Most Common Laboratory Glassware
There are numerous pieces of laboratory glassware, both standard and custom made.
We will highlight the most common ones in order to enlighten the reader as to which is the most common material.
We will start with the Beaker. This is a cylindrical shaped artifact with a bottom and a spout that is graduated. These can be either high or low form. They are excellent pieces for containing solutions.
We will move on to the Erlenmeyer Flask, also known just as the Erlenmeyer. This is a piece that is conical in shape with a bottom that is graduated. It is an excellent piece if you need to stir something because, due to its conical shape, it has a neck that allows it to be gripped and thus stir the solution it contains so that it doesn’t overflow.
Next we have the Round Bottom Flask or Boiling Flask. It is nothing more than a spherical flask with a neck. Often, unlike the Erlenmeyer flask, the Round Bottom Flask has a ground joint (a frosted glass part) that is used to join this piece to others that have a joint of identical dimensions. It is an excellent piece if it is necessary to heat a solution.
We move on to introduce the Funnel. The Funnel is nothing more than a conical piece with a stem that can vary in length, and there are models where the stem can have a length equal to the diameter of the funnel opening (called General Purpose Funnels) or a longer length (called Long Stem Funnels). They are used during the transfer of liquid solutions to other pieces of glassware.
Next we will talk about the Graduated Cylinder. This is a cylinder with a hexagonal glass base with a spout and is graduated almost from top o bottom. It is a highly accurate item that allows the user to know the capacity of a given solution in a step-by-step manner. It may have a ground joint. An excellent tool for monitoring the placement of solutions gradually
Last but not least we have the Volumetric Flask. It is a flask with a narrow neck, a ground joint, and a line (which indicates its capacity). It is the most rigorous laboratory item when it comes to storing liquid solutions.
All the articles decribed above are manufactured in borosilicate 3.3 glass.
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