LABORATORY GLASSWARE

MODULE: LABORATORY EQUIPMENT

WTI /CHEMI STRY/LABORATORY ANALYSES/LABORATORY EQUI PMENT/GLASSWARE/2011/LANCASTER/KYTNAWWA
OBJECTIVES:
After completing this module, you should be able to:

Visually identify graduated cylinders, volumetric flasks, beakers,
Ehrlenmeyer flasks, filtering flasks, Buchner funnels, culture / test tubes
and Petri dishes

Select the appropriate measuring glassware (beaker, graduate,
volumetric) for a desired measurement accuracy

Recognize the appropriate method for filling volumetric glassware



WTI /CHEMI STRY/LABORATORY ANALYSES/LABORATORY EQUI PMENT/GLASSWARE /2011/LANCASTER/KYTNAWWA
ASSIGNED READING:
WATER TREATMENT
PLANT OPERATION (CSUS)


Chapter 11, Lesson 1

WTI /CHEMI STRY/LABORATORY ANALYSES/LABORATORY EQUI PMENT/GLASSWARE/2011/LANCASTER/KYTNAWWA
OVERVIEW OF LABORATORY GLASSWARE
Your text (Water Treatment Plant Operation, CSUS) provides excellent
photos, diagrams and explanations of the different types of laboratory
glassware.

Review the chapter glossary (pages 501-506) and familiarize yourself with
the following terms:

DESSICATOR
FLAME POLISHED
SURFACTANT

WTI /CHEMI STRY/LABORATORY ANALYSES/LABORATORY/GLASSWARE/2011/LANCASTER/KYTNAWWA
REVIEW IMAGES OF LABORATORY GLASSWARE
A picture is worth a thousand words. When you walk into a laboratory to
perform a test, you MUST be able to identify the glassware called for in
the written analytical method. Most of the methods you will be using do
not provide illustrations of equipment.

Carefully study the images in your text. Review the AWWA video linked
to this section, and see if you can name all of the different pieces of
glassware shown in the laboratory segments. If you have the opportunity
to visit a laboratory, test yourself how many pieces of glassware can you
correctly identify?


WTI /CHEMI STRY/LABORATORY ANALYSES/LABORATORY EQUI PMENT/GLASSWARE/2011/LANCASTER/KYTNAWWA
YOU WILL BE EXPECTED TO IDENTIFY IMAGES OF:
WTI /CHEMI STRY/LABORATORY ANALYSES/LABORATORY EQUI PMENT/GLASSWARE/2011/LANCASTER/KYTNAWWA
Graduated cylinders
Beakers
Burets
Pipets
Ehrlenmeyer flasks
Filtering flasks
Buchner funnels
Dessicators
Petri dishes
Culture and Test tubes
What two pieces of glassware are shown in
this picture?
What 3 pieces of glassware are shown in
this picture?
WTI /CHEMI STRY/LABORATORY ANALYSES/LABORATORY EQUI PMENT/GLASSWARE/2011/LANCASTER/KYTNAWWA
WTI /CHEMI STRY/LABORATORY ANALYSES/LABORATORY EQUI PMENT/GLASSWARE/2011/LANCASTER/KYTNAWWA
BEAKER
PIPET
GRADUATED
CYLINDER
EHRLENMEYER
FLASK
BURET
USING GLASSWARE TO MEASURE LIQUIDS
WTI /CHEMI STRY/LABORATORY ANALYSES/LABORATORY EQUIPMENT/GLASSWARE/2011/LANCASTER/KYTNAWWA
VOLUMETRIC GLASSWARE
Volumetric flasks or pipets

Designed to measure only one
specific volume

Used for precise analytical
measurements; required for many
analyses

Made of fragile glass (NOT heat-
resistant)

GRADUATED GLASSWARE
Beakers, graduated cylinders

Allows measurement of varying
amounts due to markings on the
side of the glass

Only adequate for rough
measurements: not precise

Made of sturdier glass
WHY MENTION THAT VOLUMETRIC FLASKS
ARE NOT HEAT RESISTANT?
This is an important laboratory less that I learned many years ago.

If you look on page 510 of your text, you will see a piece of glassware
called a boiling flask. Oddly enough, it is designed for heating liquids to
the boiling point.
In shape and appearance, it is very similar to a volumetric flask. It is,
however, made of heavy heat-resistant glass while the volumetric flask is
made of very thin glass which will crack if it becomes hot (and drench the
analyst with chemicals in the process).

Never, ever heat a volumetric flask. Do not even mix liquids
together in a volumetric flask if you have reason to
believe that their chemical reaction will generate heat.
Heat of reaction can be sufficient to crack the glass
Again, speaking from experience!
WTI /CHEMI STRY/LABORATORY ANALYSES/LABORATORY EQUIPMENT/GLASSWARE/2011/LANCASTER/KYTNAWWA
MEASURING LIQUIDS IN GLASSWARE: REVIEW
When using any type of
glassware (graduated
or volumetric) the
liquid level is always
read at the lowest point
of the meniscus
100 ml
Volumetric
Flask
Graduated
Cylinder
WTI /CHEMI STRY/LABORATORY ANALYSES/LABORATORY EQUIPMENT/GLASSWARE/2011/LANCASTER/KYTNAWWA
TECHNIQUE FOR FILLING VOLUMETRIC FLASKS
The analyst must fill the
volumetric flask until the bottom
of the meniscus is exactly even
with the faint white line in the
neck of the bottle. It is
acceptable to fill the bottom
bowl slightly faster, but as the
analyst approaches the marking
in the neck, the liquid must be
added drop by drop so as not to
overshoot the level. In many
analyses, the analyst cannot just
pour some out overshooting
the marked line means emptying
and washing the flask and
starting all over again (wasting
time and reagents)
WTI /CHEMI STRY/LABORATORY ANALYSES/LABORATORY EQUIPMENT/GLASSWARE/2011/LANCASTER/KYTNAWWA
NOT EVERY PIECE OF GLASSWARE IS USED FOR
THE PURPOSE OF MEASUREMENT
USED FOR STORAGE:
Dessicators, Storage bottles, Reagent bottles

USED AS REACTION VESSELS
Petri dishes
Boiling flasks
Culture tubes
Test tubes

USED FOR PHYSICALLY SEPARATING MATERIALS
Filter flasks
Separatory funnels
WTI /CHEMI STRY/LABORATORY ANALYSES/LABORATORY EQUIPMENT/GLASSWARE/2011/LANCASTER/KYTNAWWA
APPEARANCES CAN FOOL YOU
These pairs of glassware items look similar, but have very different
functions. Can you identify each item?
WTI /CHEMI STRY/LABORATORY ANALYSES/LABORATORY EQUIPMENT/GLASSWARE/2011/LANCASTER/KYTNAWWA
APPEARANCES CAN FOOL YOU
Filter
Flask
Culture
Tube
(no lip)
Test
Tube
Ehrlenmeyer
Flask
WTI /CHEMI STRY/LABORATORY ANALYSES/LABORATORY EQUIPMENT/GLASSWARE/2011/LANCASTER/KYTNAWWA
OBJECTIVES:
Now that you have completed this section, you should be able to:

Visually identify graduated cylinders, volumetric flasks, beakers,
Ehrlenmeyer flasks, filtering flasks, Buchner funnels, culture / test tubes
and Petri dishes

Select the appropriate measuring glassware (beaker, graduate,
volumetric) for a desired measurement accuracy

Recognize the appropriate method for filling volumetric glassware



WTI /CHEMI STRY/LABORATORY ANALYSES/LABORATORY EQUI PMENT/GLASSWARE /2011/LANCASTER/KYTNAWWA