Table 2.1.

Common Laboratory Apparatuses and Instruments

Instrument Picture Function/s

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1. aspirator Aspirators use a small jet pump

that creates a vacuum suction to
remove liquids. This process is done
by the Venturi effect as the fluid
flows throw a tube, the fluid
contracts and expands creating a
pressure vacuum.

2. beaker A beaker is a cylindrical glass or

plastic vessel used for holding
liquids. It is a multi- purpose piece
of equipment used for containing a
chemical reaction, measuring
liquids, heating them over a Bunsen
burner's flame or collecting them in
a titration experiment.

3. burner A burner is a device designed

to ensure that the flame is
stabilized by establishing a suitable
flow field to produce the initial
temperature rise. The flame is used
as the source of heat to preheat the
fuel/air mixture to the ignition
temperature.
4. burette A buret is used to deliver solution in
precisely-measured, variable
volumes. Burets are used primarily
for titration, to deliver one reactant
until the precise end point of the
reaction is reached. To fill a buret,
close the stopcock at the bottom
and use a funnel.

5. distillation set-up  It consists of a flask

containing the liquid to be
distilled, an adapter to hold
a thermometer and to
connect the flask to a water-
cooled condenser, and a
flask to hold the condensed
liquid (the distillate).
 Distillation refers to a
process involving the
vaporization of a liquid in
order to separate it from
other compounds. Once it is
separated as a vapor, it is
passed through a condenser
to cool it back into a liquid,
the distillate.

6. Erlenmeyer Flask used to contain liquids and for

mixing, heating, cooling, incubation,
filtration, storage, and other liquid-
handling processes. Their slanted
sides and narrow necks allow the
contents to be mixed by swirling
without the risk of spills, which is
useful for titrations and for boiling
liquids.
7. filter paper used to separate components from
air or liquid flow by acting as a semi-
permeable barrier. Tiny pores are
present because of that it gives a
clear solution as the particles
trapped in the pores of filter paper.
Filter paper is the process of
separating suspended solid matter
from a liquid.

8. graduated cylinder Most of the chemicals used in a

laboratory are liquid solutions and
to ensure that they are used in the
right quantities or proportions, they
need to be measured out. Function
of the cylinder is to measure liquid
volumes accurately. They are
extensively used in chemistry and
biology labs, where quantities of
accurately measured liquids need to
be used. They are purposely
designed to be long, with a shorter
diameter compared to beakers, to
facilitate accurate measurements.
Measurements made with your
naked eye, must be made carefully.

9. Iron stand Iron stand supports the iron ring

when heating substances or
mixtures in a flask or beaker (using a
Bunsen burner) clamps can also be
used to hold glasswares on the iron
ring.
10. iron ring An iron ring, sometimes referred to
as an iron support ring, is used in
chemistry labs to stabilize flasks
mounted to a ring stand and
support them over the work
area. Some iron rings also include a
clamp.

11. pipette A pipette is a laboratory instrument

used to measure out or transfer
small quantities of liquid, in volumes
of milliliters (mL), microliters (μL).

12. pH meter pH meter is an instrument used to

measure acidity or alkalinity of a
solution - also know as pH. pH is the
unit of measure that describes the
degree of acidity or alkalinity. It is
measured on a scale of 0 to 14.
13. spatula used in a wide range of laboratory
and field testing procedures and
come in five different sizes. Spatulas
are an everyday necessity in
materials testing for mixing, lifting,
and handling powders, granular
materials, and other solids, as well
as for stirring or mixing liquids and
other wet products.

14. stirring rod stirring rod is a common piece of

lab equipment used to mix or stir
liquids and chemicals. These rods
are thicker than a typical drinking
straw, have rounded ends and are
made from a special type of
laboratory glassware called
borosilicate. This glass is less
affected by thermal stress and has a
very low thermal expansion point,
so it is less affected by heat than
metals are.

15. test tube test tube is one of the most widely

used glassware apparatus. It is a
cylindrical vessel with a round
bottom that is used to hold
chemicals during the experiments.
Due to their high thermal stability,
test tubes can be used to heat or
boil chemical samples.
16, test tube brush test tube brush or spout brush is a
brush used for cleaning test tubes
and narrow mouth laboratory
glassware, such as graduated
cylinders, burettes, and Erlenmeyer
flasks.

17. test tube holder used to hold test tubes. It is used for
holding a test tube in place when
the tube is hot or should not be
touched. For example, a test tube
holder can be used to hold a test
tube while it is being heated.

18. test tube rack A test tube rack is a piece of

laboratory equipment used to hold
multiple test tubes upright at the
same time. They are especially
useful for organizing test tubes
when different solutions are being
worked on or collected at once.

19. top-loading balance A top loading balance is used

for weighing solid material when an
accuracy of 0.1 g is satisfactory. The
top loading balance is in the
precision class of balances with a
readability of 1 mg or less.
20. water-bath set up made from a container filled with
heated water. It is used to incubate
samples in water at a constant
temperature over a long period of
time. Most water baths have a
digital or an analogue interface to
allow users to set a desired
temperature, but some water baths
have their temperature controlled
by a current passing through a
reader. Utilisations include warming
of reagents, melting of substrates or
incubation of cell cultures. It is also
used to enable certain chemical
reactions to occur at high
temperature.