Laboratory Materials: 23 Required Items and Equipment

Much of the scientific progress of recent centuries has been able to pursue progressive technology and its application efforts in the investigation of the phenomenon of real branches or aspects of reality, usually through experimental research.

While these tests can be performed in a variety of ways and at different locations, they are usually performed in some kind of laboratory, where there are sufficient elements and conditions to generate experiments that can examine or analyze samples. are, as well as reproduce under controlled conditions, events or circumstances.

And in this context the need for adequate equipment and adequate laboratory equipment has been highighted. Throughout this article we’ll talk about elements of the latter separately, at least in relation to the more commonly available common bases.

Laboratory Materials: Basic Items

We can understand by laboratory material the set of instruments and equipment that a laboratory must be able to conduct the research or experiments necessary to generate knowledge and analyze the phenomenon of reality.

Keep in mind that there are different types of laboratory types. They each require specialized materials in the field of study in which they work: for example, the same type of material from a chemistry laboratory is not required from a physics laboratory. The material we indicate below is usually associated with the most basic and laboratory prototypes, perhaps with an orientation towards chemistry, biology, and medicine.

1. Test Tube

This small transparent tube with a base as its main function is to measure the volume of a liquid or solid (by Archimedes’ principle).

3. Rack / Grid

When we use test tubes it is important to be able to leave them in a certain place, that doesn’t give them a base of support. This is why a grid or rack can be very useful for storing them, especially when we have many samples.

4. Microscope

Although the first laboratories did not have this material, the invention of the microscope was considered a revolution at the scientific level, allowing the investigation of matter, its structure and composition, and its interaction with the environment at a level different to the human eye. Was. There are few laboratories nowadays that don’t have any.

5. Petri Dish

Small round containers, transparent and with lids, are typically used to produce crops, containing samples of tissues, bacteria, and cells.

6. Storage Slides

Like the previous one, a slide is usually a small and thin glass or plastic plate in which a minimal portion of the sample is analyzed (for example, a drop of blood), so that it can be viewed under a microscope.

 

7. Pipette

Laboratory apparatus, typically of glass or plastic, that allows the measurement of the amount of a substance that we can control with one of our ends in a controlled manner, leaving it easy to determine the amount of the substance.

8. Burette

Similar to the mixture between an instrument test tube and a funnel, the burette allows the volume of a liquid or solution to be determined, with a handle or stopcock to allow regulation of the passage of the liquid.

9. Flask

Large container and usually in the form of a test tube with closed end, used for mixing, mixing or distilling substances. They exist of various kinds, the most being Erlenmeyer.

10. oscillator / mixer

An agitator is any device that allows uniform mixing of the sample with which it is acted upon through its agitation. Traditionally a rod is used, but currently there are electronic mixers or with various mechanisms.

11. Funnel

Particularly in chemistry, it is common to have a variety of funnels that allow for the separation of different compounds in a controlled manner by mixing or for the separation of solids from liquids. It is one of decidability (which allows the amount of filtered substance to be handled).

12. scale-scale

Being able to weigh accurately is basic in a large number of scientific disciplines we know, which is why a scale or balance (currently mostly digital) are basic tools.

13. Tweezers

Tweezers are a must in a laboratory, usually for holding a specific instrument or for moving certain elements of the sample we are analyzing.

14. Scalpel

Particularly in a science such as medicine or chemistry, it may be necessary to make precise cuts in order to access or isolate a sample of material for analysis (for example to make a biopsy). A scalpel can be useful in this sense.

15. Spatula

With the appearance of a round knife, it is a useful tool for collecting small solids such as dust.

16. Lima

Sometimes it may be necessary to file an object or material to extract a small sample or even to cut a particular material.

17. Spoon

Something as basic as a spoon is also a useful tool in the laboratory, especially if we’re making any kind of solution that requires the use of certain chemical ingredients in powder form.

18. Toilet Brush

Cleaning laboratory material, both before and after using it, is something fundamental that can actually greatly alter the results of an experiment or analysis. This is why a brush that allows for cleaning flasks or test tubes is a must.

19. Wash the Bottle

Normally, to clean the material used, we would need more than a brush needed to apply water to clean it. Washing bottles are usually filled with distilled water or some type of alcohol, allowing for comfortable application in appliances.

20. Cigarette lighter / burner / stove

In many experiments and with multiple substances and chemical reactions it may be necessary to use the components, or even cause them to burn. Obviously  we’re talking about lab stuff, not employees on a day-to-day basis.

 

21. Thermometer

Knowing the extent to which a substance or specimen exists can be fundamental to being able to study it accurately or even being able to preserve it (for example, living in the case of cells such as organs or sperm cells). The use of some kind of thermometer is useful in this sense.

22. Dropper

Another device that is extremely simple is common in a variety of laboratories. However, it should be borne in mind that the amount of material expelled may be more or less precise and that different devices may sometimes have the same function (such as a handle in a separate funnel).

23. Computer

Perhaps this tool seems obvious, but the fact is that the computing capability of computers allows for recording and automatically automating the concrete processes used during recording, which would take a long time for a human to achieve. can spend.