Demonstration of Glassware

Used in Microbiology
Laboratory
By
Sujoy Tontubay, Assistant Professor (iLEAD)
Biomedical Laboratory Science and Management (M.Sc.)
Petri dish
• Petri dish is glassware used in different
biological laboratories, especially
microbiology laboratories, to culture
bacteria, fungi, or cell lines. The Petri
dish is a shallow, circular, and
transparent glassware invented by the
scientist Richard Julius Petri. A
transparent lid covers the base which is
slightly larger in diameter.
• The types of Petri dish differs extensively
based on their size. The diameter ranges
from 30 mm to 200 mm. The standard
diameter used is 90 mm.
Beaker
• Beakers are cylindrical containers that hold
chemicals and liquids in laboratories. It is
called a beaker due to a beak-like spout at
the top to prevent spilling while pouring
fluids.
• These are available in various sizes.
Volumetric markings are present in the
beaker, but these are not precise. The
beakers are of two types; low form or
Griffin beakers and tall or Berzelius beakers.
The tall-form beakers have handles for easy
pouring, but handles may be absent in low-
form ones.
Test tube
• Test or sample tubes are cylindrical glassware with
finger-length that is useful to collect, heat, or gently
mix samples/chemicals in laboratories. These can
withstand high temperatures due to the borosilicate
or quartz glass used for their construction. These are
round at the bottom, and the top is open.
• These have uses in chemistry and biological
laboratories for conducting different experiments. In
diagnostic laboratories, these help in the collection
of samples and for storing chemicals. The use of
color-coded lids is popular in clinical laboratories.
Conical flask
• A conical or Erlenmeyer flask, named after the
inventor German chemist Emil Richard August Carl
Erlenmeyer, is glassware with a shape like cone with
a flat bottom and cylindrical neck. These are useful
as reaction flasks, especially during titration or
making culture media manually.
• Erlenmeyer flask is available in various sizes based on
volume/size and mouth. The size of the conical flask
available is 25 ml, 50 ml, 100 ml, 125 ml, 150 ml, 250
ml, 300 ml, 500 ml, 100 ml, 2000 ml, 3000 ml, 4000
ml, 5000 ml, and 6000 ml. Two types of flasks based
on the mouth are; wide mouth and narrow mouth.
Graduated pipettes
• Graduated pipettes are glassware with
graduation marks for precise
measurements. It has use in transferring
liquids, drawing up samples or chemicals,
and performing many more experiments.
The pipettes are cylindrical tube-like
structures. Some graduated pipettes have
a bulb in between and a marking on the
top part that indicates its volume
capacity. Others have markings at an
interval of 0.1 to 1 ml, depending on the
pipette size.
Volumetric burette
• A volumetric burette is a laboratory glassware with
graduation marks that are commonly useful in
titration. It has long cylindrical tube like body with
slightly pointed bottom. There is a stop cock in the
bottom of the burette to control the flow of the
liquid. It is of two types; gas and liquid volumetric
burette. The liquid falls due to gravity when the
valve opens. In the case of a gas volumetric
burette, the stop cock is at the top. The tube fills
with water or mercury and connects to a reservoir
with fluid at the base. The collection of gas occurs
by displacement of the liquid.
Round bottom flask
• As the name suggests, it is a flask with a
round or circular base or bottom. These
flasks are applicable for distillation and gas
preparation in the laboratory. While
working with a round bottom flask, a cork
ring keeps it upright. Likewise, while
performing the experiment stand holds it.
• The material of RB is borosilicate glass and
the flask is available in various sizes. The
neck of the round bottom flask can be
narrow, wide, or have a ground glass joint.
Likewise, the number of necks can also vary
from single, twin, and triple-necked.
Volumetric flask
• A volumetric flask is laboratory glassware
applicable for precise measurements at a
specific temperature. The base of the
volumetric flask is flat, and the bottom has
pear like shape. The neck is long and
cylindrical, with a calibrated marking for the
volume it can measure.
• It is useful for preparing molar solutions in the
laboratory for various analyses. The apparatus
is available in different volumes from 1 ml to
2000 ml. These lack graduation marks.
Microscope Slide
• A slide or microscope slide is a thin piece of
glass 3 by 1 inch in size. It is useful to hold
samples and specimens for viewing under a
microscope. The slide can be either plain or
frosted at the end. The frosted glass slide is
helpful in the preparation of blood smears.
• The glass slide has staining purpose for
biological specimens before observing
them under the microscope. It is widely
used in diagnostic, microbiological,
botanical, and zoology laboratories.
Stirring rods
• Stirring or glass rods are
laboratory glassware useful for
mixing liquids. It is made up of
solid borosilicate glass. Another
use of a stirring rod is in
spreading bacterial culture in
solid growth media and
conducting various tests. It is
made up of a single piece of thin
glass. It is usually 10-40 cm long
and 0.5 cm in diameter.
Graduated cylinders
• A graduated or measuring cylinder is a glassware
that are useful in the laboratory for measuring the
volume of liquids. It is available in different sizes.
The cylinder is a long cylinder. It has horizontal
graduation marks for precisely measuring the
volume. The upper part of the cylinder is open and
has a spout or beak-like shape for easy pouring.
Some have ground joint glass and can be closed by
using a stopcock.
• Accuracy classes available for graduated cylinders
are of two types; class A and B. Class is two times
more accurate than class B. The graduation mark
can be single- or double-scaled. The calibration is
either to deliver (TD) or to contain (TC).
Funnel
• Funnels are laboratory glassware that is
useful for filtering and transferring purposes.
It has a narrow neck that allows only specific
volumes of chemicals to flow through. Using
filter paper helps in performing filtration in
the laboratory. It is also useful for
transferring fine-graded chemicals and
liquids from one container to another. Using
these kinds of funnel help avoid spillage in
the laboratory. Other experiments where
funnels are useful are separating mixed
compounds by evaporation and
condensation.
Watch glass
• It is a concave glass applicable in evaporating liquid in a chemistry
laboratory by placing it on top of a beaker with boiling water. Watch
glass is also known as clock glass. It is also useful to hold solid
substances and as a cover for beakers.