The 10 Instruments You’ll Find in Every Chemical Lab

Whether you’re working in a chemistry lab or on your own at home, it’s important to have the right tools for the job to ensure that your work goes smoothly and as planned. In most cases, these tools are relatively inexpensive and easy to find, and they make all the difference between success and failure. The 10 most common chemical lab instruments are described below; if you’re looking to purchase any of them, they can be found at Amazon, eBay, or other retailers.

1) Stirring Rod
This is exactly what it sounds like—usually made of glass, a stirring rod is used to mix solutions and other chemicals, such as acids and bases. Though you can use something like a spoon to mix your solutions, using a stirring rod helps you get more consistent results. It’s also important to make sure that any stirring rod you buy is heat-resistant; some chemicals may break down if exposed to extreme temperatures. Make sure that any stirrer you purchase is certified for food contact (i.e., safe for cooking). And, as always, don’t forget about lab safety! Make sure you wear gloves when handling chemicals or sharp objects and don’t stick your hands into hot liquids or put them on flammable surfaces. Finally, try not to lose your stirrer or leave it out where others could come across it by accident!

2) Bunsen Burner
The Bunsen burner, named after Robert Bunsen, is a common piece of lab equipment used for heating or boiling liquids. Its distinctive blue flame can be adjusted to different levels using controls that change how much oxygen is introduced into it. Used in chemistry and biology labs around the world, it’s also seen action as a power source for science fiction gadgets.

3) Tongs
Tongs are a common piece of lab equipment and are used to hold or manipulate flammable liquids. The advantage tongs have over beakers is that they allow you to manipulate whatever you’re holding without having direct contact with it. Typically, if you need a small, controlled amount of liquid for an experiment, a pair of tongs will come in handy. They’re also relatively inexpensive, which makes them popular for use among students on tight budgets.

4) Erlenmeyer Flask
An Erlenmeyer flask is named after its inventor, German chemist Friedrich Emil Erlenmeyer. It is a conical flask with a flat bottom and sloping shoulders. It has a large opening at one end and smaller openings at regular intervals around its circumference. The mouth of an Erlenmeyer flask can be fitted with several accessories that help minimize heat loss when heating chemicals inside it.

5) Beaker
A beaker is a simple piece of laboratory glassware with a flat bottom and vertical sides that taper upwards to meet at a lip. Beakers are typically used for weighing chemicals, mixing solutions, and as reaction vessels. Beakers are sometimes colored with blue or yellow tinting in order to help differentiate between chemicals. Glassware like beakers should always be handled with care and disposed of properly when broken or no longer needed.

6) Test Tubes
To hold samples for analysis, test tubes are a chemist’s most important instrument. For many experiments, you’ll need dozens or even hundreds of them. If you use polypropylene tubes, they should be heat-resistant and stain-resistant to keep chemicals from destroying them over time.

7) Graduated Cylinder
As its name suggests, a graduated cylinder is an instrument used to measure volume. Like measuring cups, graduated cylinders are often made of glass and have measurement lines etched into them. Unlike measuring cups, however, they can be made of plastic or metal; usually these materials are clear so that you can tell at a glance how much fluid is inside.

8) Filter Paper
Filter paper is most commonly used as a filtration device. Using filter paper means that any impurities or undissolved solids can be left behind while chemicals are transferred from one container to another. Filter paper is also commonly used to test for chemical reactions—when combined with certain solutions, it will turn specific colors. For example, phenolphthalein will turn pink when combined with an acidic solution. These colors can be helpful when creating calibration curves and testing which solutions are acidic or basic.

9) Glass Pipettes
Pipettes are one of several commonly used laboratory instruments. They consist of two separate parts, a glass pipette that is used to take up a volume of liquid and a rubber bulb that is used to pump or suck out air or liquid from either end. The most common type of pipette is known as a volumetric pipette, which uses an air displacement system to accurately measure volumes of liquids to between 0.1 mL and 25 mL. This volume range can be expanded depending on what you need it for.

10) Safety Goggles
In a chemistry lab, even on simple experiments with materials that don’t seem dangerous, you’ll always wear safety goggles. It’s not just to protect your eyes from eye-irritants. It also protects your eyes from chemicals that might splatter or vapors that might be released. And if there’s an explosion (and there sometimes is), it protects your eyes from flying debris and ruptured glassware.