lesson 16-2 Laboratory Equipment

Lesson 16-2

Laboratory Equipment

Students are required to learn the names and functions of various types of equipment that they will use in Chemistry laboratory activities. This knowledge will come in handy when designing or conducting experiments during the course of the year. This page shows some of the most common items, and describes what they are used for. Images from this page can also be used for laboratory reports or web pages that you will make during the course of the year.

Each student is responsible for becoming familiar with the laboratory room. You need to know where to find equipment when working on an activity. When you are done with an activity, clean your materials and return them to the proper drawers.


Beam Balance Used to find the mass of various materials.	Electronic Balance Used to find the mass of materials. This particular balance is not as precise as the beam balance	Bunsen Burner Shown with rubber hose connected to gas jet. Used to heat materials in lab.

Sparker Used to ignite the Bunsen burner.	Gas Jet and Outlet The hose from the Bunsen burner connects to the jet.	Hot Plate Used for heating liquids.

Ring Stand Used in many lab activities as the support for other apparatus.	Iron Ring Often attached to ring stand to use as support for a beaker.	Wire Gauze Often placed over the iron ring, to provide a "stage" for a beaker.

Typical Setup Ring stand shown with iron ring, wire gauze and a beaker. The Bunsen burner would go below the "stage".	Clamp May be attached to a ring stand and be made to hold a test tube or thermometer.	Tongs Used to handle hot beakers and other glassware

Funnel May be placed in an iron ring. Used for filtration or the delivery of liquids.	Massing Tray Chemicals are not placed directly on a balance. These trays hold the reagents.	Scoop Used to transfer chemicals from one vessel to another.

Goggles Must be worn for each lab activity.	Trough Used for lab activities that require a basin for water.	Sink Wash all glassware after each activity.

Test Tube Rack Holds many test tubes.	Test Tube Used for many activities which require multiple reagents or solutions.	Pipestem Triangle Can be placed on an iron ring to provide a stage for a crucible.

Beaker Probably the most common vessel for holding liquids in the laboratory.	Erlenmeyer Flask May be used to hold liquids, instead of beakers, when a smaller opening is preferred.	Volumetric Flask Often used when solutions of specific concentration are being made.

Graduated Cylinder Used to measure the volume of liquids.	Dropper Pipet Used to transfer small amounts of liquid.	Glass Stirring Rod Used to stir liquids.

Watch Glass Used to evaporate off the liquid part of a solution.	U Tube Useful as a "salt bridge" when making batteries.	Titration Setup Typical setup for conducting acid-base neutralization reactions.

All of the images on this page were produced by Doyle Hunt, Jose Gomez-Davidson, and John Lucaj of the Fordham Prep class of 2000. These three students worked hard to make up for the limitations of the equipment that I provided them with. With little instruction and no help from me, they worked independently until the project was finished.

Laboratory Equipment Quizzes

Laboratory Equipment Worksheets