Science Lab
Equipment
Identification
Lab
Florence Flask
A Florence flask (also known as a
round bottom flask or a boiling flask)
is a piece of laboratory glassware. It
is a round or flat-bottom flask with a
long neck. It is designed for uniform
heating and is produced in a number
of different glass thicknesses to stand
different types of use. They are often
made of borosilicate glass that has
alkali to prevent cracks or defacing of
the glass. The flask is named after
Florence, Italy.
Ring, Ring Stand, & Clamp
Erlenmeyer Flask
• An Erlenmeyer flask (also known as a conical
flask) is a type of laboratory glassware which
consists of an inverted conical base with a
cylindrical neck. The main advantages in an
Erlenmeyer flask are that it is less likely to tip
over than a Florence flask and the smaller neck
slows evaporative loss better than a beaker. It
can also be swirled without fear of the contents
spilling. It is named after the German chemist
Richard Erlenmeyer. The conical flask's
counterpart is the beaker. However the main
difference is that conical flasks may be
stoppered using rubber bungs, so as the
contents of the flask may be mixed or
transported safely. The flask is not usually used
when heating substances vigorously, this task
usually being left to the Florence flask.
Stopper
• A stopper is a truncated conical
piece of rubber or cork used to close
off a glass tube, piece of laboratory
glassware, a wine bottle or barrel and
other containers with orifices. A
rubber stopper is sometimes called
a rubber bung, and a cork stopper is
called cork. Ground glass stoppers
are commonly used with laboratory
glassware, mainly because of their
nonreactivity.
Beaker
• A beaker is a type of laboratory glassware which
consists of a cylindrical cup with a notch on the
top to allow for the pouring of liquids. They are
about as wide as they are tall. This makes
beakers very stable and easy to handle. They
may be made of plastic, glass, or Pyrex®. Some
beakers have graduated markings, or
calibrations, to allow an easy rough measure of
liquid volume. As a means to make solutions,
they are probably the most used piece of
laboratory glassware. Coupled with a good
magnetic stirrer, they see frequent heavy use in a
laboratory. Like a test tube or a boiling tube, a
beaker can be placed over a burning flame (such
as a Bunsen burner) to be heated.
Test Tube
• A test tube (Sometimes culture tube) is a kind
of laboratory glassware, composed of a
fingerlike length of glass tubing, open at the top,
sometimes with a rounded lip at the top, and a
rounded 'U' shaped bottom. They range in size
from a few centimetres to over 20 centimetres in
length and from a few millimetres to several
centimetres in diameter. They are designed to
allow easy heating of samples, to be held in a
flame, and often are made of expansionresistant glasses, such as Pyrex. Tests tubes
are often preferred above beakers when multiple
small chemical or biological samples have to be
handled and/or stored.
Test Tube Rack
Used to store and hold test tubes in an upright
position.
Test Tube Holder
Used to hold test tubes, especially when heated or
containing harmful chemicals.
Test Tube Brush
Used to clean the insides of test tubes.
Graduated Cylinder
• A graduated (Grad for short) cylinder, also
referred to as a measuring cylinder, is a type of
laboratory glassware that is used for measuring
the volumes of liquids in a quantitative manner.
The top usually has a small curled lip to allow
easy pouring of liquids, and the bottom is usually
anchored with a wide base, to keep the cylinder
from easily tipping. The volumes of liquids
graduated cylinders can handle range from a few
milliliters to many liters. A graduated cylinder can
be made of plastic or glass or Pyrex. Often, the
largest graduated cylinders are made of plastic,
making them lighter and more break resistant.
Petri Dish
•
A Petri dish is a shallow glass or plastic
cylindrical dish that biologists use to culture
microbes. It was named after the German
bacteriologist Julius Richard Petri (1852-1921)
who invented it in 1877 when working as an
assistant to Robert Koch. Usually, the dish is
partially filled with warm liquid agar along with
a particular mix of nutrients, salts and amino
acids and, optionally, antibiotics, that match the
metabolic needs of the microbe being studied
(technically referred to as a "selective
medium"). After the agar solidifies, the dish is
ready to receive a microbe-laden sample
(although to grow some microbes it is often
necessary to apply the sample with the hot
agar). Modern Petri dishes often have rings on
the lids and bases which allow them to be
stacked so that they do not slide off of one
another. As well as making agar plates, empty
Petri dishes may be used to observe plant
germination, or small animal behaviour.
Culture Dish
Mortar and Pestle
• A mortar and pestle are two tools used with
each other to grind and mix substances. The
mortar is a bowl-like vessel used to contain a
substance. Mortars have smooth, rounded
bottoms and wide mouths. The pestle is a stick
used for pounding and grinding. Mortar and
pestles were traditionally used in pharmacies to
crush various ingredients prior to preparing an
extemporaneous prescription. The mortar and
pestle is the most common icon associated with
pharmacies. For pharmaceutical use, the mortar
and the head of the pestle are usually made of
porcelain, while the handle of the pestle is made
of wood.
Funnel
• A funnel is a conically shaped pipe, employed
as a device to channel liquid or fine-grained
substances into containers with a small
opening. The diameter of the spout of a
regular kitchen funnel is about 1 /10 that of the
upper bowl. The almost cylindrical tube below
the conical upper part that opens into the
spout can vary in length. Funnels are usually
made of either stainless sheet metal or plastic,
but sometimes paper funnels are used in
cases where it would be difficult to adequately
clean the funnel afterwards (for example, in
adding motor oil to a car).
Eye Dropper/Medicine Dropper
Used to mix or dispense small amounts of liquid, a
drop at a time.
Microscope
A microscope (Greek: micron =
small and scopos = aim) is an
instrument for viewing objects
that are too small to be seen by
the naked or unaided eye.
Microscope Slide & Cover Slip
• A microscope slide is a thin sheet of glass
used to hold objects for examination under a
microscope. A standard microscope slide
(shown on the right) is 75 x 25 mm (3" X 1")
and 1.2 mm thick. A range of other sizes is
available for various special purposes. Since
compound or high power microscopes have
a very narrow region within which they focus,
the object to be viewed ("specimen") is
typically placed on the middle of the slide
with another, much thinner square (or circle
or rectangle) of glass placed over the
specimen. This smaller sheet of glass is
called a cover slip or cover glass, and
typically measures between 18 and 25 mm
on a side. The cover glass serves two
purposes: (1) it protects the microscope's
objective lens from contacting the specimen,
and (2) it creates an even thickness (in wet
mounts) for viewing.
Hand Lens/Magnifying Glass
• A magnifying glass is a single convex lens
which is used to produce a magnified image
of an object. The lens is usually mounted in
a frame with a handle. The magnifying
glass is the simplest form of optical
microscope. A magnifying glass works by
creating a magnified virtual image of an
object behind the lens. The distance
between the lens and the object must be
shorter than the focal length of the lens for
this to occur. A lens is a device for either
concentrating or diverging light, usually
formed from a piece of shaped glass.
Telescope
The word "telescope" (from the Greek tele = 'far'
and skopein = 'to look or see'; teleskopos = 'farseeing') usually refers to optical telescopes, but
there are telescopes for most of the spectrum of
electromagnetic radiation and for other signal
types.
An optical telescope is an optical tool that gathers
and focuses electromagnetic radiation. Telescopes
increase the apparent angular size of distant
objects, as well as their apparent brightness.
Telescopes work by employing one or more
curved optical elements - lenses or mirrors - to
gather light or other electromagnetic radiation and
bring that light or radiation to a focus, where the
image can be observed, photographed or studied.
Triple Beam Balance
• A balance (also balance scale, beam balance or
laboratory balance) is used to accurately measure the
mass of an object. This class of measuring instrument
uses a comparison technique in its conventional form of
a beam from which a weighing pan (weighing bason)
and scale pan (scale bason) are suspended. To weigh
an object, it is placed on the measuring pan, and
standard weights are added to the scale pan until the
beam is in equilibrium.
Tongs
• Tongs are gripping and lifting tools, of which
there are many forms adapted to their specific
use.
Safety Goggles
• Goggles or safety glasses are
a form of protective eyewear that
usually enclose the eye area to
prevent particulates or chemicals
from striking the eyes. They are
used in chemistry laboratories
and in woodworking
Thermometer
• A thermometer is a device
used to measure
temperatures or
temperature changes.
Hot Plate
• A hot plate is a small electric stove
often used in a laboratory setting to
heat glassware. Some hotplates
also contain a magnetic stirrer,
allowing the heated liquid to be
stirred simultaneously. Hot plates
are also used in food preparation,
generally for small dishes in places
where a full kitchen stove would
not be convenient.
Scalpel
• A scalpel is a very sharp knife used for
surgery as well as various arts and crafts.
Scalpels can have a fixed blade, or a
disposable blade. The blades on scalpels
are extremely sharp—merely touching a
medical scalpel with bare hands to test it will
cut through the skin. The handles of
medical and dissection scalpels are flatter,
more like a bread knife. They do not have
the same level of grip as art scalpels, as this
would make cleaning and sterilization more
difficult. The grip in medical scalpels is
usually just a slight corrugation.
Forceps
• Forceps are a hand-held instrument for grasping
and holding objects, similar in concept to tongs,
tweezers or pincers. They have a locking
mechanism to ensure they do not squeeze too
tightly onto the object they are used upon.
Dissecting Pins
Used to hold objects in place during dissection.
Probe
• Probe is a generic term used to refer to a
device used to gather information.
Other Equipment
Bunsen Burner
•
A Bunsen burner is a device used in scientific
laboratories for heating, sterilization, and many
other uses. There is a misconception that the
inventor is Robert Wilhelm Bunsen but it is only
named after him, whose laboratory assistant, Peter
Desdega, in 1855 perfected an earlier design by
Michael Faraday. The device safely burns a
continuous stream of gas without the risk that the
flame will travel back down the tube to the gas
supply. It is most common for the burner today to
run on natural gas. The burner has a weighted
base, where the gas supply attaches, and a vertical
tube rising from it. The gas flows from the gas
supply connection to the base. The stream of gas
then passes through a small hole at the bottom of
the tube and is directed upward through the tube.
There are perforations in the side of the tube at the
bottom to admit air into the stream (via the venturi
effect and the gas burns at the top of the tube, once
it is ignited. The in-flow of gas and thus the heat of
the flame can be controlled by adjusting the size of
the holes at the base of the tube.
Inoculation Loop
• An inoculation loop (sometimes called smear loop) is a
simple tool used mainly by microbiologists to retrieve an
inoculum from a culture of microorganisms. Its tip is a
wire made of platinum or nichrome, which is not as good
but less expensive. The wire forms a small loop with a
diameter of about 5 mm. This loop is handy for taking an
inoculum from a liquid by using the phenomenon of
surface tension. The inoculation loop is always sterilized
in a flame until it becomes red hot before and after each
use. By doing this, the same tool can be reused in
different experiments without fear of crosscontamination.