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ACTIVITY 2 - MANIPULATION OF LABORATORY BURNERS

AND GLASS TUBINGS

The Bunsen or Tirril burner are gas burners which provide sufficient flexibility for
most heating operations in the laboratory.

These safely burn a continuous stream of a flammable gas such as natural gas (which
is principally methane) or a liquefied petroleum gas such as propane, butane, or a
mixture of both.

The burning of the gaseous fuel is illustrated by the following chemical reactions:
Complete Combustion : C4H10 + __ O2  __CO2 + __H2O

Incomplete Combustion: C4H10 + __O2  __CO2 + __CO + __C + __H2O

The three principal parts of the burner are barrel/burner tube, air hole, and base. The
quantity of gas admitted to the burner can be adjusted by the gas control valve, while
the air needed for combustion is admitted at the small opening around the bottom of the
barrel. The air is controlled by turning the collar so as to make the air hole larger or
smaller.

Combustion occurs in the barrel. In complete combustion, the fuel burns in abundant
amount of oxygen, producing carbon dioxide, water and heat. Incomplete combustion
occurs when there is not enough oxygen to allow the fuel to react completely to produce
carbon dioxide and water, hence along with carbon dioxide and water, unburned carbon
and carbon monoxide are also formed.

There are three types of laboratory burners: the Bunsen burner (Figure 1), the Tirrill
burner (Figure 2) and the Meker burner. The Tirrill and Meker burners have air and gas
adjustments, while the Bunsen burner only has an air adjustment.

There are basic techniques in working with glass tubings.

Glass tubes are cut to the desired length and bent to the desired shape for specific
laboratory use. Micropipets, capillary tubes, percolator cups, and glass connectors are
some of the devices made by cutting and heating glass tubes.

Necessary precautions are to be observed in order to avoid cuts and burns.

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OBJECTIVES
At the end of the activity, the students should be able to:
1. use the burners with ease and confidence;
2. write a balanced combustion reaction; and
3. develop skill in working with glass tubings.

MATERIALS AND EQUIPMENT

Bunsen burner evaporating dish Tirrill burner


crucible tong wire gauze/ceramic pad ** cardboard
glass tubings rubber tubing **match
coconut oil /glycerine tap water **pencil
cork , big wing top/fish tail **ruler
cork borer triangular file ** hand towel

** To be brought by the students

Figure 1 Figure 2

PROCEDURES
A. USING THE BUNSEN BURNER
Caution: DO NOT LEAN TOWARDS THE BURNER WHEN LIGHTING IT.
1. Connect the rubber tubing of the burner to the gas outlet/cock.
2. Close the air hole/vent by rotating the collar.
3. Bring a lighted match stick at least one centimeter from below the tip of the burner
tube and immediately open the gas cock/gas outlet. Observe the color of the flame
produced.
4. Hold an evaporating dish with a crucible tong and place it over the flame. Describe
the result.
5. Open the air hole little by little until a change in color of the flame is observed.
6. Control the height of the flame to two or three centimeters by adjusting the knob of
the gas cock. Expose a clean portion of the evaporating dish to this kind of flame
and observe.

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7. Carefully place a piece of moist cardboard vertically
over the flame for about 30 seconds. (See Figure 3)
8. Observe the cardboard carefully and determine the
coolest and hottest portions of the flame by the
degree of burning that happened to it.

Figure 3
B. Using the TIRRILL BURNER
1. Connect the rubber tubing of the burner to the gas outlet.
2. Close the air hole and the gas control valve located at the bottom of its base.
3. Place a lighted match stick at least one centimeter below the tip of the barrel.
4. Open the gas outlet/gas cock to produce a flame.
5. Adjust the height of the flame by rotating the gas control valve. Adjust the opening
of the air hole to produce a blue flame.

C. CUTTING GLASS TUBING


Caution: PROTECT YOUR HANDS WITH A TOWEL OR RAG.
DO NOT TOUCH THE CUT ENDS OF GLASS TUBING.
1. Mark the center of a 12-cm glass tubing with a pencil.
2. Place the glass tubing on a flat desk. With the edge of a triangular file, make a
deep scratch along the mark on the glass using a single stroke. (Figure 4)
3. Hold the glass tubing with the thumbs on both sides of the scratch, then
quickly push the tubing away from you. (Figure 5)

Figure 4 Figure 5

D. FIRE POLISHING
Caution: DO NOT SEAL NOR TOUCH THE HEATED ENDS OF THE GLASS
TUBING.
1. Light the burner, applying the learned technique. Hold the cut glass tubing in a
slanting position, with the cut end to be polished just above the tip of the inner cone.
2. Continue heating while rotating it over the flame ( Figure 6).
3. Stop heating when a light orange flame is observed from the glass tubing.
4. Place the polished glass tubing on a wire gauze to avoid contact with the
surface of the table. Set aside to cool and mount it on an illustration board.

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Figure 6 Figure 7

E. BENDING GLASS TUBING

1. Place a wing top/fish tail at the nozzle of the burner and light it.
2. Horizontally place the glass tubing at the hottest zone of the blue flame, as
shown in Figure 8.
3. Rotate the glass tubing while heating, until it sags or until an orange flame is
observed from the glass.
4. Remove the glass tubing from the flame and slowly bend to form a 90° angle.
CAUTION:
DO NOT HOLD /TOUCH THE HEATED GLASS TUBING WITH BARE HANDS.
5. Place the bent glass tubing on a wire gauze to avoid contact with the surface of
the table. Set aside the bent tube to cool and mount it on an illustration board.

Figure 8 Figure 9

Sample bends:
A. is a good, smooth bend.
B. is a poor bend due to holding the tube too low in the flame where the middle portion did
not get hot enough, so the tube is only softened and bent at two points.
C. is a poor bend produced by heating only one small portion of the tube(flame spreader
was not used), so the glass is softened and bent at one narrow point

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F. BORING A HOLE INTO A CORK

1. Place the smaller end of a big cork on the flat surface of the table.
2. Position the borer at the center of the cork and push it through the cork little by
little with twisting (screw-like) motion until it is at least halfway through the cork.
3. Reverse the position of the cork and repeat step 2 until the hole is completely
bored through.

G. INSERTING GLASS TUBING INTO A CORK

CAUTION: DO NOT HOLD THE CORK WITH THE HOLE TOWARDS THE
PALM OF YOUR HAND. PROTECT THE HANDS WITH A CLOTH/TOWEL.

CAUTION: WORK WITH HANDS FAIRLY CLOSE TOGETHER TO MINIMIZE


THE CHANCE OF BREAKING THE TUBING.
a. 1. Wet the glass tubing and the cork with water.
2. Hold the cork on its side with one hand. (Figure 10)
3. With the other hand, CAREFULLY insert the polished end of the glass
tubing through the hole with twisting (screw- like) motion.

Figure 10

b. Repeat steps 1 to 3 inserting the other end of the tubing through another cork,
but apply glycerin or coconut oil instead of water.

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Name_________________________________ Rating _____________________
Course/Yr/Sec__________________________ Teacher ___________________
Group No.______________________________ Date ______________________

ACTIVITY 2 - MANIPULATION OF LABORATORY BURNERS


AND GLASS TUBINGS

QUESTIONS

1. How would you adjust a burner which –


(a) has a yellow and smoky flame?________________________________________
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(b) is noisy with a tendency to blow itself out? _____________________________


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2. What is combustion? Give the difference between complete and incomplete combustion.
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3. How do the results on the heated evaporating dish distinguish complete from incomplete
combustion of the fuel gas? _____________________________________________
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4. Compare the color and type of flame observed when the air hole of the burner is closed
and when it is open. ______________________________________________________
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5. Draw the cones observed on the non-luminous flame. Identify the oxidizing region,
reducing region, coolest and hottest zone based on the burned cardboard.
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6. Why are glass tubes always fire-polished after cutting?
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7. Compare the advantages and disadvantages in the use of coconut oil and
water as lubricant when inserting a glass tubing through a cork.
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References: ______________________________________________________
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