User:MaxD02/Laboratory glassware

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Mary the Jewess, an alchemist during the 1st century AD, is credited for the creation of some of the first glassware for chemical use including the kerotakis, the water-bath, and the first distillation device. Despite these creations, glassware for chemical uses was still limited during this time because of the low thermal stability necessary for experimentation and was therefore primarily made using copper or ceramic materials.

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• Full article draft can be seen at User:DaleHabe/sandbox. This is the work I plan to add to the group edit.

Things to look up

• Expansion/Neutral borosilicate glass
• Soda-lime glass
• Pyrex
• Standards

Laboratory glassware selection (Taken from actual article to edit)

Laboratory glassware is typically selected by a person in charge of a particular laboratory analysis to match the needs of a given task. The type of glassware used in a laboratory will change based on the conditions of the experiment and a specific type of glass will be chosen to meet those requirements. A mix of the type of glass used and the shape of the glassware, from standardized to specialized pieces, can be used to meet the quality assurance requirements and physical properties necessary for any experiment. The task may also require the control of fluids in which extra pieces can be added to the glassware.

Type of glass

Brown glass jars with some clear lab glassware in the background

Laboratory glassware may be made from several types of glass, each with different capabilities and used for different purposes. Borosilicate glass is a type of transparent glass that is composed of boron oxide and silica, its main feature is a low coefficient of thermal expansion making it more resistant to thermal shock than most other glasses. Quartz glass can withstand very high temperatures and is transparent in certain parts of the electromagnetic spectrum. Darkened brown or amber (actinic) glass can block ultraviolet and infrared radiation. Heavy-wall glass can withstand pressurized applications. Fritted glass is finely porous glass through which gas or liquid may pass. Coated glassware is specially treated to reduce the occurrence of breakage or failure. Silanized (siliconized) glassware is specially treated to prevent organic samples from sticking to the glass.

Scientific glass blowing

Scientific glass blowing, which is practiced in some larger laboratories, is a specialized field of glassblowing. Scientific glassblowing involves precisely controlling the shape and dimension of glass, repairing expensive or difficult-to-replace glassware, and fusing together various glass parts. Many parts are available fused to a length of glass tubing to create highly specialized piece of laboratory glassware.

Controlling fluid flow

When using glassware it is often necessary to control the flow of fluid. It is commonly stopped with a stopper. Fluid may be transported between connected pieces of glassware. Types of interconnecting components include glass tubing, T-connectors, Y-connectors, and glass adapters. For a leak-tight connection a ground glass joint is used (possibly reinforced using a clamping method such as a Keck clips). Another way to connect glassware is with a hose barb and flexible tubing. Fluid flow can be switched selectively using a valve, of which a stopcock is a common type fused to the glassware. Valves made entirely of glass may be used to restrict fluid flows. Fluid, or any material which flows, can be directed into a narrow opening using a funnel.

History

The history of glassware dates back to the Phoenicians who fused obsidian together in campfires making the first glassware. Glassware evolved as other ancient civilizations including the Syrians, Egyptians, and Romans refined the art of glassmaking. Mary the Jewess, an alchemist in Alexandria during the 1st century AD, is credited for the creation of some of the first glassware for chemical use including a device to heat such as the kerotakis which was used for the collection of fumes from a heated material. Despite these creations, glassware for chemical uses was still limited during this time because of the low thermal stability necessary for experimentation and therefore was primarily made using copper or ceramic materials.

The art of glassmaking in 16th century Venice was refined to the point where intricate shapes could be made.

Glassware improved once again during the 14th-16th century, with the skill and knowledge of glass makers in Venice. During this time, the Venetians gathered knowledge about glassmaking from the East with information coming from Syria and Byzantine. Along with knowledge about glassmaking, glassmakers in Venice also received higher quality raw materials from the East such as imported plant ash which contained higher soda content compared to plant ash from other areas. This combination of better raw materials and information from the East led to the production of clearer and higher thermal and chemical durability leading towards the shift to the use of glassware in laboratories.

During the 19th century, more chemists began to recognize the importance of glassware due to its transparency, and the ability to control the conditions of experiments.. Jöns Jacob Berzelius, who invented the test tube, and Michael Faraday both contributed to the rise of chemical glassblowing. Faraday published Chemical Manipulation in 1827 which detailed the process for creating many types of small tube glassware and some experimental techniques for tube chemistry. Berzelius wrote a similar textbook titled Chemical Operations and Apparatus which provided a variety of chemical glassblowing techniques. The rise of this chemical glassblowing widened the availability of chemical experimentation and led to a shift towards the dominate use of glassware in laboratories. With the emergence of glassware in laboratories, the need for organization and standards arose. The Prussian Society for the Advancement of Industry was one of the earliest organizations to support the collaborative improvement of the quality of glass used.

Most laboratory glassware was manufactured in Germany up until the start of World War I. Before World War I, glass producers in the United States had difficulty competing with German laboratory glassware manufacturers because laboratory glassware was classified as educational material and was not subject to an import tax. During World War I, the supply of laboratory glassware to the United States was cut off.

In 1915 Corning Glassworks developed borosilicate glass, introduced under the brand Pyrex, which was a boon to the war effort in the United States. Though after the war, many laboratories turned back to imports, research into better glassware flourished. Glassware became more immune to thermal shock while maintaining chemical inertness. Further important technologies impacting the development of laboratory glassware included the development of polytetrafluoroethylene, and a drop in price to the point laboratory glassware is, in some cases, more economical to throw away than to re-use.