PHARMACY AND LABORATORY

GLOSSARY OF TERMS: Pronunciation and meaning

1. Microscope
An optical instrument that uses a lens or combination of lenses to produce a magnified image of a small,
close object. Modern optical microscopes have magnifications of about 1500 to 2000.

2. Thermometer
An instrument used to measure temperature, esp. one in which a thin column of liquid, such as mercury,
expands and contracts within a graduated sealed tube.

3. Clamp
A device, usually of some rigid material, for strengthening or supporting objects or fastening them together.

4. Volumetric flask
A glass flask used in a laboratory for holding chemical liquids and solutions.

5. Balance
An instrument for determining weight.

6. Double burette clamp

Double burets clamps hold two burets simultaneously.

7. Florence flask
A round bottle having a flat bottom and long neck, for use in laboratories.

8. Beaker
A large drinking cup or glass with a wide mouth. A type of gas burner, commonly used in chemical
laboratories.

9. Bunsen burner
Which a very hot, practically nonluminous flame is obtained by allowing air to enter at the base and mix with
the gas.

10. Tests tubes in rack

A hollow tube of thin glass with one end closed, used to hold chemicals, specimens, etc., in laboratory
experiments. Their place is the rack.

11. Funnel
A cone-shaped utensil with a tube at the point for channeling a substance through a small opening.

12. Volumetric pipet

These pipettes have a large bulb with a long narrow portion above with a single graduation mark as it is
calibrated for a single volume (like a volumetric flask).

13. Evaporating dish

A small ceramic dish in which liquids are heated over a flame so that they evaporate, leaving a solid residue.

14. Dropper pipet

Consist of a small tube with a vacuum bulb at one end for drawing liquid in and releasing it a drop at a time.

15. Stirring rod or stir rod

Is a piece of laboratory equipment used to mix chemicals and liquids for laboratory purposes.

16. Tongs
A tool or instrument made of two movable arms fastened together, used for picking up an object.
17. Mortar and pestle
Mortars and pestles were traditionally used in pharmacies to crush various ingredients prior to preparing an
extemporaneous prescription.

18. Buchner flask, or suction flask

Commonly used in filtering processes involving vacuum filtration, often with a Buchner funnel or crucible
funnel.

19. Graduated cylinder
Is a common piece of laboratory equipment used to measure the volume of a liquid. It has a narrow
cylindrical shape.

20. Burette
A graduated glass tube, commonly having a stopcock at the bottom, used for accurately measuring or
measuring out small quantities of liquid.

21. Spatula
A tool with a wide, flat, usually flexible blade, used for blending or transferring foods, mixing drugs, spreading
plaster, etc.

22. Magnet
A body, as a piece of iron or steel, that has the property of attracting certain substances, as iron.

23. Barometer
An instrument that measures atmospheric pressure.

24. Indicator
A pointing or directing device, as a pointer on the dial of an instrument to show pressure, temperature,
speed, volume, or the like.

25. Stopwatch
A watch with a hand or counter that can be stopped or started at any instant, used for precise timing, as in
races.

26. Speedometer
An instrument on an automobile or other vehicle for indicating the rate of travel in miles or kilometers per
hour.

27. Protractor
An instrument used for measuring or drawing angles.

28. Tuning fork

A steel instrument made of a stem with two prongs, producing a musical tone of a definite, constant pitch
when struck.

29. Magnifiers
A lens or combination of lenses that magnifies an object; magnifying glass.

30. Pulleys
A piece of equipment for moving heavy objects up or down, consisting of a small wheel over which a rope
or chain attached to the object can be easily raised or lowered.

31. Wash Bottle

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

32. Erlenmeyer flask

A flask having a wide base, narrow neck, and conical form, convenient in laboratory experimentation for
swirling liquids by hand.
33. Retort
A vessel, commonly a glass bulb with a long neck bent downward, used for distilling or decomposing
substances by heat.

34. Forceps
An instrument, as pincers or tongs, for seizing and holding objects, as in surgical operations.

35. Syringe
An instrument, such as a hypodermic syringe or a rubber ball with a slender nozzle, for use in withdrawing or
injecting fluids, cleaning wounds, etc.

36. Filter paper

A porous paper used for filtering liquids

37. Wire gauze

Material made of a network of wire, used to support a container during heating.