The kind of equipment scientists use in a chemistry lab are analytical instruments. Simple instruments include pH meters, which have a small probe that identifies the pH of a sample. Some of these instruments are highly complex machines that take in a sample and identify constituents of that sample. Examples of complex equipment include spectrophotometers to measure light absorption, a High Performance Liquid Chromatography machine, mass spectrometers or a gas chromatography instrument to detect compounds in a sample.
A chemistry laboratory also uses a lot of glassware for mixing, drying, burning and diluting samples. The glassware includes flasks, watch glasses and beakers. A chemistry analyst also needs lots of pipettes and burettes (long thin glass tubes with graduation measurements) for dispensing liquids.
Microbiology analysts need to grow up colonies of bacteria or fungi from their samples in order to identify the microorganism, so one of the most important pieces of equipment in a microbiology lab is an incubator. The autoclave machine sterilizes growth media known as agar or broth, and the analyst mixes the sample with this medium. He uses sterile plastic pipettes, sterile glass test tubes, a pipette filler, sterile plastic petri dishes and sterile autoclaved glass bottles to prepare the sample. Sometimes, analysts perform tests in laminar airflow cabinets, which prevent any dirty air from contaminating the sample. The sample is incubated in the media in an incubator at a specific temperature until any bacteria grow, and the analyst then inspects the bacteria under a microscope.
Genetics laboratories take a sample and extract the DNA inside the sample using a combination of chemical additions and a centrifuge machine. The centrifuge spins samples at high revolutions so that pieces of a cell spin down into a pellet. After a few steps, the pellet is made entirely of DNA. This DNA is then mixed with enzymes that cut and then make copies of the DNA in a Polymerase Chain Reaction machine. The PCR machine provides heat to encourage the DNA replication. Then the DNA is passed through an electrophoresis machine, which uses electric current running through a gel to separate DNA fragments by size.
Basic physics labs use equipment such as telescopes, barometers to measure atmospheric pressure, multimeters, potentiometers, galvanometers, ammeters and voltmeters to measure electrical energy and spring scales and pendulums for measuring gravity and motion.
More complex physics labs have lasers, software and computers to track waves of energy, Geiger counters to measure radioactivity, and instruments such as spectrometers that chemistry labs also use.
Classroom labs use a basic range of equipment. Common lab equipment includes pipettes, burettes, watch glasses, thermometers, pipette fillers, glass flasks, test tubes, test tube racks, mortar and pestle, bunsen burner, triangle and crucible to hold a sample over a Bunsen burner, bottles and beakers.