Laboratory instruments are renowned for their precision in size and composition. Measuring devices must be accurate to the smallest degree while containers must hold their contents securely without adding to or changing any of their characteristics. That s why lab glassware is so dependable. It is needed to do experiments and conduct tests.

Glass Traits

While some containers that were once made of lab glassware are now being made in plastic, the qualities of glass make its replacement by any other material impossible. Glass is inert. It has the quality of being chemically inactive. It will not react with any chemical that it holds. It can be transparent allowing scientists to observe any chemical reactions taking place inside of a glass container and is heat-resistant. The image of a scientist in a lab coat holding a beaker or flask over a Bunsen burner is almost a stereotype in the American culture.

Glass containers can also be opaque to protect the ingredients from the effects of light. Usually the non-transparent lab glassware is brown. Besides holding and storing chemicals and different types of chemical mixtures, lab glassware may be used for measuring, heating, cooling, mixing, or prepping solutions.

Glass Blowing

While plastics can be heat-resistant, transparent and inert, it is difficult to find pieces that rival lab glassware for all three qualities. In addition, because plastics are molded in a factory process, it is easier to fashion custom glassware when needed. Most of the large laboratories have glass blowers on staff to create custom lab glassware when the need arises. These glass blowers are trained in precision craftsmanship. They have the responsibility for repairing lab glassware that would be difficult to replace and fusing together glass parts to form special pieces such as vacuum manifolds or reactions flasks.

Glass is also easy to clean and prepare for re-use. To make sure that all organic compounds, hydrocarbon or silicone grease, lab glassware is usually soaked in ethanol saturated with sodium hydroxide for an entire day. It is then rinsed with tap water. Any excess sodium hydroxide is removed by soaking the lab glassware in diluted hydrochloric acid for several hours before rinsing repeatedly and drying in a oven. The qualities that make glassware useful at home are the same qualities that make glassware so useful in the lab as well.

Portmeirion Strawberry Fair Earthenware Hand painted Glassware Tall Footed Beverage

Portmeirion Strawberry Fair Earthenware Hand painted Glassware Tall Footed Beverage The luscious berries and delicate blossoms of the Elsanta strawberry are brilliantly captured in this Susan Williams-Ellis botanical design. While it could easily mix in with Botanic Garden or Pomona, it is equally capable of standing alone as its own collection. The ruffled leaves of the strawberry rim each piece creating an animated border motif.