TABLE OF CONTENTS
General information
Container in the lab is any item that can be used in the laboratory to hold a reagent in any form (solids, liquids, gases). Containers usually come in a variety of volumes. In the standard case volumes of 50, 100, 250, 500 and 1000 mL are available, but other volumes may be made available as well (see container description).
Container descriptions provided below are grouped into three broad types:
- Storage containers. A key property of storage containers is substance purity. Reagents cannot be added to storage containers but can be withdrawn.
- Reaction vessels. A reaction vessel is a universal container that can hold any substance that is available in the laboratory in any form, as well as mixtures of substances.
- Miscellaneous containers. Containers that were not included in the other categories: measuring vessels, transfer containers, and containers for specific procedures.
Storage containers:
Narrow-mouth bottles
Bottles come in volumes from 50 to 1000 mL and used for liquids storage.
- Narrow-mouth bottles can only contain liquids.
- Reagents CANNOT be added to bottles.
- Reagents can be poured out of bottles or withdrawn by another method (eg with a pipettor).
- Narrow-mouth bottles are used in the laboratory for storing and dispensing pure substances or specific mixtures of substances in liquid form.
Wide-mouth bottles
Jars, or wide-mouth bottles, come in volumes from 50 to 1000 mL and used for powders storage.