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Beaker (glassware)
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Beaker

Beakers of several sizes

Liquid volume containment
Uses
and measurement
Related items
Laboratory flask
A beaker is a simple container for stirring, mixing and heating liquids commonly used in
many laboratories. Beakers are generally cylindrical in shape, with a flat bottom.[1] Most also
have a small spout (or "beak") to aid pouring as shown in the picture. Beakers are available in
a wide range of sizes, from one millilitre up to several litres.

Contents

1 Structure

2 Materials

3 Shape

4 See also

5 References

6 Further reading

Structure

(A) A low-form or Griffin form beaker (B) A tall-form or Berzelius beaker (C) A flat beaker
or crystallizer
Standard or "Low-form" beakers typically have a height about 1.4 times the diameter.[2] The
common low form with a spout was devised by John Joseph Griffin and is therefore
sometimes called a Griffin beaker.[3][4] These are the most universal character and are used for
various purposes - from preparing solutions and decanting supernatant fluids to simple
reactions.
"Tall-form" (B) beakers have a height about twice the diameter.[2] These are sometimes called
Berzelius beakers.[4] They are mostly used for titration.
Flat beakers (C) are often called crystallizers, because most are used to perform
crystallization, but often it is also used as a vessel for use in hot-bath heating. These beakers
usually do not have a flat scale.
A beaker is distinguished from a flask by having sides which are straight rather than sloping.
The exception to this definition is a slightly conical sided beaker called a Phillips beaker.

Materials
Beakers are commonly made of glass (today usually borosilicate glass[2]), but can also be in
metal (such as stainless steel or aluminium) or certain plastics (notably polythene,
polypropylene, PTFE). A common use for polypropylene beakers is gamma spectral analysis
of liquid and solid samples.

Shape

Beakers are often graduated, that is, marked on the side with lines indicating the volume
contained. For instance, a 250 mL beaker might be marked with lines to indicate 50, 100,
150, 200, and 250 mL of volume. These marks are not intended for obtaining a precise
measurement of volume (a graduated cylinder or a volumetric flask would be a more
appropriate instrument for such a task), but rather an estimation.
The presence of a lip means that the beaker cannot have a lid. However, when in use, beakers
may be covered by a watch glass to prevent contamination or loss of the contents, but
allowing venting via the spout. Alternatively, a beaker may be covered with another larger
beaker that has been inverted, though a watch glass is preferable.

See also
Chemistry portal

Volumetric flask

Stirring rod

Test tube

Graduated cylinder

Scoop

References
1.

^ Oxford English Dictionary 1989 edition

2.

^ a b c British Standard 6523 (1984) Glass beakers for laboratory use

3.

^ A. I. Vogel (1974) Practical Organic Chemistry Third edition (Longman,

London) page 46 ISBN 0-582-44245-1

4.

^ a b Chemistry World August 2011 Classic kit: Griffin's Beaker

Further reading

ASTM E960 - 93 (2008) Standard Specification for Laboratory Glass Beakers

[hide]

Laboratory equipment

Beaker

Boston round (bottle)

Bchner funnel

Burette

Cold finger

Condenser

Conical measure

Cuvette

Dean-Stark apparatus

Dropping funnel

Eudiometer

Evaporating dish

Gas syringe

Graduated cylinder

Pipette

Petri dish

Pycnometer

Separatory funnel

Soxhlet extractor

Ostwald viscometer

Glassware

Watch glass

Bchner

Dewar

Erlenmeyer

Fernbach

Fleaker

Florence

Retort

Round-bottom

Schlenk

Volumetric

Boiling

Ignition

NMR

Test

Thiele

Thistle

Flasks

Tubes

Other

Agar plate

Aspirator

Autoclave

Biosafety cabinet

Bunsen burner

Calorimeter

Chemostat

Colony counter

Colorimeter

Laboratory centrifuge

Crucible

Eyewash

Fire blanket

Fume hood

Glove box

Homogenizer

Hot air oven

Incubator

Laminar flow cabinet

Magnetic stirrer

Meker-Fisher burner

Microscope

Microtiter plate

Picotiter plate

Plate reader

Retort stand

Safety shower

Spectrophotometer

Static mixer

Stir bar

Stirring rod

Stopper

Scoopula

Teclu burner

Thermometer

Vacuum dry box

Vortex mixer

Wash bottle

See also: Instruments used in medical laboratories

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This page was last modified on 16 November 2012 at 02:38.

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