This document provides descriptions of common laboratory equipment used in chemistry labs. It describes beakers, Bunsen burners, test tubes, test tube holders, racks, tripods, droppers, scoopulas, forceps, microscopes, Erlenmeyer flasks, stirring rods, microscope slides, wire mesh, funnels, evaporating dishes, utility clamps, wash bottles, watch glasses, thermometers, graduated cylinders, crucible tongs, and deflagrating spoons. Each piece of equipment has a specific purpose, such as holding liquids, providing heat, transferring solids, or viewing small objects.

1. Commonly used lab apparatus
Satya Patra
VIII B

2. Beaker: Beakers are
useful as a reaction
container or to hold
liquid or solid samples.
They are also used to
catch liquids from
titrations and filtrates
from filtering
operations.

3. A Bunsen burner, is a
common piece of
laboratory equipment
that produces a single
open gas flame, which is
used for heating,
sterilization, and
combustion. The gas can
be natural gas (which is
mainly methane) or a
liquefied petroleum gas
(LPG).

4. A test tube is a common
piece of laboratory
glassware consisting of a
finger-like length of glass
or clear plastic tubing,
open at the top, usually
with a rounded U-shaped
bottom. Test tubes are
widely used by chemists to
hold, mix, or heat small
quantities of solid or liquid
chemicals

5. A test tube holder is
used to hold the test
tubes during some
experiment.

6. Test tube racks are
commonly used in
laboratories to keep test
tubes upright so that the
equipment does not roll
away, spill or become
accidentally cracked.

7. A tripod is a portable
three-legged frame, used
as a platform for
supporting the weight and
maintaining the stability
of some other object.

8. A chemical dropper is a
laboratory tool
commonly used in
chemistry, biology and
medicine to transport a
measured volume of
liquid, often as a media
dispenser

9. Scoopula is a brand
name of a spatula-like
scoop utensil used
primarily in chemistry
lab settings to transfer
solids to a weigh paper
for weighing, to a cover
slip to measure melting
point, or to a watch glass
from a flask or beaker
through scraping.

10. Forceps is an
instrument
resembling a pair
of pincers or tongs,
used for grasping,
manipulating, or
extracting

11. A microscope is an
instrument used to see
objects that are too
small for the naked eye.
There are many types
of microscopes. The
most common (and the
first to be invented) is
the optical microscope,
which uses light to
image the sample.

12. An Erlenmeyer flask
or conical flask is a
type of laboratory
flask which features a
flat bottom, a conical
body, and a
cylindrical neck.

13. A stirring rod or stir rod
is a piece of laboratory
equipment used to mix
chemicals and liquids for
laboratory purposes. They
are usually made of solid
glass.

14. A microscope slide is a
thin flat piece of glass,
used to hold objects for
examination under a
microscope. Typically the
object is placed or
secured ("mounted") on
the slide, and then both
are inserted together in
the microscope for
viewing.

15. Wire mesh (wire
gauze) is used for
uniform distribution
of flame heat in base
of a heated body. It is
made of a iron wire
strands with or
without ceramic
interior cores.

16. Laboratory funnels are
funnels that have been made
for use in the chemical
laboratory. There are many
different kinds of funnels
that have been adapted for
these specialized
applications. Filter funnels
thistle funnels and dropping
funnels have stopcocks which
allow the fluids to be added
to a flask slowly.

17. An evaporating dish is
a piece of laboratory
glassware used for the
evaporation of
solutions and
supernatant (the
usually clear liquid left
above a precipitate or
sediment) liquids, and
sometimes to their
melting point.

18. A utility clamp is
used to provide
stability and
support for other
equipment by
attaching the
equipment to a ring
stand.

19. The wash bottle is
generally used in the
clean-up phase of
many experiments .
Most bottles contain an
internal dip tube
allowing upright use.

20. A watch glass is a circular
concave piece of glass used
in chemistry as a surface to
evaporate a liquid, to hold
solids while being weighed,
or as a cover for a beaker.
The latter use is generally
applied to prevent dust or
other particles entering the
beaker; the watch glass
does not completely seal the
beaker, and so gas
exchanges still occur.

21. Laboratory
thermometers are
devices used to
measure temperature.
There are many types
of lab thermometers
such as differential,
mechanical, logging,
etc.

22. A graduated cylinder,
measuring cylinder or
mixing cylinder is a
piece of laboratory
equipment used to
measure the volume of
a liquid. Graduated
cylinders are generally
more accurate and
precise than laboratory
flasks and beakers.

23. Crucible tongs are
large pincers made of
welded steel that are
used to grasp and
take a hot crucible
out of a fire or
furnace, or to move a
crucible from one
location to another.

24. Deflagrating spoon is a
long-handled spoon
with a cover, lowered
into a glass vessel filled
with a gas to
demonstrate
deflagration (to burn
violently, or make
something burn
violently)