Beakers are most suited for mixing, stirring and pouring chemicals. Common sizes are 100 ml, 250 ml and 400 ml.

Conical flasks (also called Erlenmeyer flasks) are most suited to mixing and stirring chemicals and are better than beakers for heating chemicals as the shape reduces solvent evaporation. Common sizes are 100 ml and 250 ml.

Round bottom flasks are used for a variety of tasks including heating, distillations and containing reactions. They have up to 3 quick-fit necks which allow easy attachment to other glassware. Common sizes are 50 ml, 100 ml and 250 ml.

Separating funnels are teardrop shaped vessels with a stopper at one end and a tap at the other. They are used in liquid-liquid extractions to separate immiscible solvent phases, to extract a product. Common Sizes are 100 ml and 250 ml.

Condensers are used to condense vapours to liquid and are most commonly used for refluxes and distillation.

More information about the different condensers in teaching labs.

Watch glasses have a variety of uses including for weighing solids and as a lid for a beakers. They are generally made of glass and convex in their shape, they come in a variety of sizes with diameters ranging from 5 cm upwards.

Petri dishes are glass dishes with a lid, traditionally used for growing cell cultures they are often used in chemistry for growing or holding crystals.

Glass rods are used for stirring and mixing. Spatulas are used for transferring solids. There are regular and micro spatulas which are helpful for different quantities of solid.

Cork rings are used to support round bottom flasks when weighing or leaving to stand.

Standard thermometers measure from -10 to 110 °C. Other options are available including those with a maximum temperature of 300 °C, those with a minimum temperature of -100 °C, digital thermometers, and those with ground glass joints. 

Test tubes are used to carry out small scale tests or reactions or to take small samples from a larger system. They come in a variety of sizes with larger styles sometimes referred to as boiling tubes and smaller tubes called ignition tubes.

Cuvettes are used when carrying out UV-Vis spectroscopy of liquids. There are different types available with different uses.

More information about the different cuvettes in teaching labs.

Filter funnels are used in conjunction with filter paper to separate solids from liquids. They rely on gravity filtration. They can also be used for filling narrow necked containers to avoid spillages. 

Stemless funnels are most commonly used for hot filtration, the lack of a stem reduces the chances of the solid recrystallising in the funnel.

Powder funnels are used when transferring powders or other dry reagents into a narrow neck vessel to reduce chances of spillage. They can be either plastic or glass. The most common use in teaching labs is for filling columns with silica.

Sinter funnels are used in vacuum filtration. They have a porous solid layer which traps the solid above while letting the liquid pass through. They come in a variety of pore sizes although in teaching labs they are mostly all the same.

Büchner funnels are used in vacuum filtration. The Büchner funnel requires filter paper to act as its porous layer.

Hirsch funnels work in the same way as Büchner funnels, but differ in that they have angled sides and are used for much smaller volumes.They also need to be used in conjunction with filter paper to catch the solids being filtered out.

Büchner flasks are used in vacuum filtration to collect the filtrate. They are made of thicker glass than standard conical flasks to withstand the higher pressure and have a side arm to which the vacuum lines can connect. 

Büchner rings are used to provide a seal to a Büchner flask when using either a Büchner or sinter funnel under vacuum. There are two styles in Teaching labs. The grey cones are size dependent whereas the black rings will fit most Büchner flasks.

Measuring cylinders are used for measuring liquids accurately. The accuracy is written on each measuring cylinder. Common sizes are 10 ml, 25 ml and 50 ml.

Volumetric flasks are for making solutions. They are the most accurate pieces of glassware in teaching labs, the accuracy is written on the side. Volumetric flasks come in a wide range of sizes from 1 ml to 5000 ml.

Graduated pipettes are used for measuring liquids. They are more accurate than measuring cylinders and can measure smaller volumes, the accuracy is written on each pipette. A pipette bulb is used to fill them.

Volumetric pipettes are used to measure out volumes of liquid accurately. They are more accurate than graduated pipettes and should be used whenever volumetric solutions are required. A pipette bulb is used to fill them.

Pipette bulbs are used to fill graduated or volumetric pipettes. 

Micropipettes also referred to as Gilson pipettes (a brand name) are used for pipetting small volumes of aqueous samples. Some micropipettes can be used with organic samples but not the ones that we have in Teaching labs.

Burettes are used in titrations. They consist of a graduated glass tube with a tap on the end. They are used to measure how much of a liquid is added to a reaction. The accuracy of the burette is written on the top.