Burettes

Used in analytical chemistry to measure specific volumes of liquid as they are added to a mix. There is a tap at the bottom of the long glass cylinder to control the volume added. Allows for large volumes of a reagent to be added dropwise, so is favoured over plastic pipettes for increased volume and is favoured over measuring cylinders or beakers for ability to add liquid dropwise. Burettes have very narrow necks to allow for easier reading of volume from the meniscus (the lower curve in the top of a surface of liquid, where scientists measure volume from) resulting in more accurate measurements.

Uses

In school, burettes are used in titrations. They allow scientists to add their reagent (most commonly a base or an acid) to their beaker of premeasured liquid (the neutralising agent to the base or acid added via burette) dropwise, and provide a reading on the volume of reagent added. This value is useful in calculating the concentration or moles if unknown for either reactant.

How to Use

The video below by SupremeScience on youtube shows how to use a burette correctly

Image

Image by Roland Mattern – Roland1952, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=10245763

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.