A volumetric flask is a piece of laboratory glassware

Laboratory glassware

Laboratory glassware refers to a variety of equipment, traditionally made of glass, used for scientific experiments and other work in science, especially in chemistry and biology laboratories...

, a type of laboratory flask

Laboratory flask

Laboratory flasks are vessels which fall into the category of laboratory equipment known as glassware. In laboratory and other scientific settings, they are usually referred to simply as flasks...

, used in analytical chemistry

Analytical chemistry

Analytical chemistry is the study of the separation, identification, and quantification of the chemical components of natural and artificial materials. Qualitative analysis gives an indication of the identity of the chemical species in the sample and quantitative analysis determines the amount of...

 for the preparation of solutions. It is made of glass

Glass

Glass is an amorphous solid material. Glasses are typically brittle and optically transparent.The most familiar type of glass, used for centuries in windows and drinking vessels, is soda-lime glass, composed of about 75% silica plus Na2O, CaO, and several minor additives...

 or plastic

Plastic

A plastic material is any of a wide range of synthetic or semi-synthetic organic solids used in the manufacture of industrial products. Plastics are typically polymers of high molecular mass, and may contain other substances to improve performance and/or reduce production costs...

 and consists of a flat bottomed bulb with a long neck, usually fitted with a stopper. The stopper is normally made in a chemically resistant plastic such as polypropylene

Polypropylene

Polypropylene , also known as polypropene, is a thermoplastic polymer used in a wide variety of applications including packaging, textiles , stationery, plastic parts and reusable containers of various types, laboratory equipment, loudspeakers, automotive components, and polymer banknotes...

 rather than glass. The neck has a single ring graduation

Graduation (instrument)

-Linear graduation:Linear graduation of a scale occurs on a straight instrument. The graduation can identify linear measures, such as inches or millimetres on a rule. They can also be non-linear such as logarithmic or other transcendental scales....

 mark and a label. The label should show the nominal

Real versus nominal value

In economics, nominal value refers to a value expressed in money terms in a given year or series of years. By contrast, real value adjusts nominal value to remove effects of price changes over time...

 volume

Volume

Volume is the quantity of three-dimensional space enclosed by some closed boundary, for example, the space that a substance or shape occupies or contains....

, tolerance, calibration

Calibration

Calibration is a comparison between measurements – one of known magnitude or correctness made or set with one device and another measurement made in as similar a way as possible with a second device....

 temperature

Temperature

Temperature is a physical property of matter that quantitatively expresses the common notions of hot and cold. Objects of low temperature are cold, while various degrees of higher temperatures are referred to as warm or hot...

, class, relevant manufacturing standard and the manufacturer’s logo. The glass or plastic is generally colourless but may be amber colored for handling light sensitive compounds such as silver nitrate

Silver nitrate

Silver nitrate is an inorganic compound with chemical formula . This compound is a versatile precursor to many other silver compounds, such as those used in photography. It is far less sensitive to light than the halides...

 or vitamin A

Vitamin A

Vitamin A is a vitamin that is needed by the retina of the eye in the form of a specific metabolite, the light-absorbing molecule retinal, that is necessary for both low-light and color vision...

.

Use

Volumetric flasks are used for making up solutions to a known volume. A typical procedure to make up a 1 M solution of sodium chloride

Sodium chloride

Sodium chloride, also known as salt, common salt, table salt or halite, is an inorganic compound with the formula NaCl. Sodium chloride is the salt most responsible for the salinity of the ocean and of the extracellular fluid of many multicellular organisms...

 would be to weigh out 58.4 g (1Mol

Mole (unit)

The mole is a unit of measurement used in chemistry to express amounts of a chemical substance, defined as an amount of a substance that contains as many elementary entities as there are atoms in 12 grams of pure carbon-12 , the isotope of carbon with atomic weight 12. This corresponds to a value...

) of sodium chloride into a 1000 ml volumetric flask and add approximately 800 ml of distilled water

Distilled water

Distilled water is water that has many of its impurities removed through distillation. Distillation involves boiling the water and then condensing the steam into a clean container.-History:...

. One would then swirl the flask gently until all the solid is dissolved, and then add more distilled water until the bottom of the meniscus

Meniscus

The meniscus is the curve in the upper surface of a liquid close to the surface of the container or another object, caused by surface tension. It can be either convex or concave. A convex meniscus occurs when the molecules have a stronger attraction to each other than to the material of the...

 touches the graduation line. The meniscus

Meniscus

The meniscus is the curve in the upper surface of a liquid close to the surface of the container or another object, caused by surface tension. It can be either convex or concave. A convex meniscus occurs when the molecules have a stronger attraction to each other than to the material of the...

 can be made clearer by holding a black card behind the neck just below the line of sight. The stopper is then placed in the neck and the whole flask inverted repeatedly to homogenize

Homogenization (chemistry)

Homogenization or homogenisation is any of several processes used to make a chemical mixture the same throughout.-Definition:Homogenization is intensive blending of mutually related substances or groups of mutually related substances to form a constant of different insoluble phases to obtain a...

 the solution. Care must be taken when making up concentrated solutions because 500 ml of a concentrated solution added to 500 ml of distilled water does not necessarily make 1000 ml and thus the volume may change when the solution is homogenized. A well known example of this is found when mixing water ethanol mixtures. In this case it is better to make up near the mark, then homogenize, then make up to the mark.
Volumetric flasks have also been used as decanter

Decanter

A decanter is a vessel that is used to hold the decantation of a liquid which may contain sediment. Decanters are normally used as serving vessels for wine. Decanters vary in shape and design. They are usually made of an inert material and will hold at least one standard bottle of wine...

s, for brandy

Brandy

Brandy is a spirit produced by distilling wine. Brandy generally contains 35%–60% alcohol by volume and is typically taken as an after-dinner drink...

, malt whisky

Malt whisky

Malt whisky is whisky that is made from a fermented mash produced primarily from a malted grain. Unless otherwise specified, it is generally assumed that the primary grain is barley, although whisky is also made using malted rye...

, or other alcoholic beverages. They are less decorative than the fancy crystal decanters made by Baccarat

Baccarat (company)

Baccarat Crystal is a manufacturer of fine crystal glassware located in Baccarat, France. The company owns two museums: the Musée Baccarat in Baccarat, Meurthe-et-Moselle and the Galerie-Musée Baccarat, on the Place des États-Unis in Paris...

 and similar vendors, but they have stoppers that seal well enough to prevent evaporative losses.

Standards

Volumetric flasks generally come in two different standards. The higher standard flasks (Class A, United States Pharmacopeia

United States Pharmacopeia

The United States Pharmacopeia is the official pharmacopeia of the United States, published dually with the National Formulary as the USP-NF. The United States Pharmacopeial Convention is the nonprofit organization that owns the trademark and copyright to the USP-NF and publishes it every year...

 or equivalent depending on the country) are made with a more accurately placed graduation mark, and have a unique serial number for traceability. Where this is not required, a lower standard (Class B or equivalent) is used for qualitative or educational work.

See Also

• Beaker
  Beaker
  Beaker may refer to:* Beaker , a beverage container* Beaker , or "laboratory beaker", a glass object used for holding fluids and chemicals in a laboratory setting.* Beaker , a prehistoric drinking vessel...
  
  
• Bottle
  Bottle
  A bottle is a rigid container with a neck that is narrower than the body and a "mouth". By contrast, a jar has a relatively large mouth or opening. Bottles are often made of glass, clay, plastic, aluminum or other impervious materials, and typically used to store liquids such as water, milk, soft...
  
  
• Bunsen Burner
  Bunsen burner
  A Bunsen burner, named after Robert Bunsen, is a common piece of laboratory equipment that produces a single open gas flame, which is used for heating, sterilization, and combustion.- Operation:...
  
  
• Buret
• Crucible
  Crucible
  A crucible is a container used for metal, glass, and pigment production as well as a number of modern laboratory processes, which can withstand temperatures high enough to melt or otherwise alter its contents...
  
  
• Erlenmeyer Flask
  Erlenmeyer flask
  An Erlenmeyer flask, also known as a conical flask, is a widely used type of laboratory flask which features a flat bottom, a conical body, and a cylindrical neck. It is named after the German chemist Emil Erlenmeyer, who created it in 1861...
  
  
• Evaporating Dish
  Evaporating dish
  An evaporating dish is a piece of laboratory glassware used for the evaporation of solids and supernatant fluidsA fluid containing a saturated solution of a dissolved compound, overlying a forming precipitate of this compound., and sometimes to their melting point...
  
  
• Florence Flask
  Florence flask
  A Florence flask is a type of flask used as an item of laboratory glassware. It can be used as a container to hold solutions of chemicals. A Florence flask has a round body with a single long neck and with either a round or a flat bottom...
  
  
• Food Coloring
  Food coloring
  Food coloring is a substance, liquid or powder, that is added to food or drink to change its color. Food coloring is used both in commercial food production and in domestic cooking...
  
  
• Funnel
  Funnel
  A funnel is a pipe with a wide, often conical mouth and a narrow stem. It is used to channel liquid or fine-grained substances into containers with a small opening. Without a funnel, spillage would occur....
  
  
• Microspatula
• Mortar and Pestle
  Mortar and pestle
  A mortar and pestle is a tool used to crush, grind, and mix solid substances . The pestle is a heavy bat-shaped object, the end of which is used for crushing and grinding. The mortar is a bowl, typically made of hard wood, ceramic or stone...
  
  
• Paper Towels
• Pipet
• Ring Stand
• Stirring Rod
  Stirring rod
  A stirring rod or "stir rod" is a piece of laboratory equipment used to mix chemicals and liquids for laboratory purposes. They are usually made of solid glass, about the thickness and slightly longer than a drinking straw, with rounded ends....
  
  
• Stopper
  Stopper
  stopper may refer to:*Stopper , a type of a knot at the end of the rope*Stopper , also known as a cork, a plug or a bung used to temporarily seal a bottle opening...
  
  
• Test tube Brush
• Test tube Holder
• Test tube Rack
• Thermometer
  Thermometer
  Developed during the 16th and 17th centuries, a thermometer is a device that measures temperature or temperature gradient using a variety of different principles. A thermometer has two important elements: the temperature sensor Developed during the 16th and 17th centuries, a thermometer (from the...
  
  
• Tongs
  Tongs
  Tongs are used for gripping and lifting tools, of which there are many forms adapted to their specific use. Some are merely large pincers or nippers, but the greatest number fall into three classes:...
  
  
• Triangle
  Triangle
  A triangle is one of the basic shapes of geometry: a polygon with three corners or vertices and three sides or edges which are line segments. A triangle with vertices A, B, and C is denoted ....
  
  
• Volumetric Flask
  Volumetric flask
  A volumetric flask is a piece of laboratory glassware, a type of laboratory flask, used in analytical chemistry for the preparation of solutions. It is made of glass or plastic and consists of a flat bottomed bulb with a long neck, usually fitted with a stopper. The stopper is normally made in a...
  
  
• Watch Glass
  Watch glass
  A watch glass is a circular, slightly convex-concave piece of glass used in chemistry as a surface to evaporate a liquid, to hold solids while being weighed, or as a cover for a beaker...