The fume hood is a glass-front cabinet used in laboratories. The main purpose of a fume hood is safety. When an experiment known to produce smoke or noxious fumes is to be performed, it is done in the safety of a fume hood. The exhaust fan in the fume hood must be turned on before the experiment is performed. After the experiment, the door of the fume hood is pulled down, while the fan continues running, until all possible fumes have been removed.
Any experiment that requires heat is done using a laboratory burner. The laboratory burner has a hose that is connected to a gas nozzle on the laboratory bench and through which a continuous stream of methane, propane or butane is safely obtained from a central gas source. The experimenter ignites this gas at the burner orifice to obtain a concentrated heat source during the experiment. When the burner is properly adjusted, gas combustion in the burner will be complete. The burner flame will then appear blue. The most common type of burner is the Bunsen burner. Alternatives include the Meker burner and the Teclu burner.
A volumetric flask is used in laboratories for the preparation of solutions of known concentration. It can be made of either plastic or glass. A volumetric flask has a flat base, a bulb-like body and a long neck that can be topped with a stopper. Volumetric flasks are usually colorless, except for those flasks used to handle light-sensitive compounds like vitamin A and silver nitrate. These flasks are usually amber colored.
A volumetric pipette is used to move liquid from one container to another and to control how that liquid is released. Volumetric pipettes measure exact volumes of a liquid. They are often used to prepare solutions for titration as well as to make laboratory solutions from a base stock. A laboratory balance is used to measure the weight of experimental materials and yields. There are two types of balances, top-loading balances and analytical balances. Top-loading balances are used to measure items for which an approximate degree of measurement is sufficient; analytical balances are used when a precise degree of accuracy is needed.
A beaker is a container, usually shaped like cylinder, used in laboratories for heating and mixing liquids. Beakers come in various sizes. They are usually graduated, meaning that they have markings down one side to indicate their volume. These markings are for volume estimates only; volumetric pipettes or volumetric flasks are more accurate than beakers when precise measurements of liquid volumes are necessary.