A volumetric pipette, bulb pipette, or belly pipette allows extremely accurate measurement (to four significant figures) of the volume of a solution. It is calibrated to deliver accurately a fixed volume of liquid. These

pipette A pipette (sometimes spelled as pipett) is a laboratory tool commonly used in chemistry, biology and medicine to transport a measured volume of liquid, often as a media dispenser. Pipettes come in several designs for various purposes with diffe ...

s have a large bulb with a long narrow portion above with a single graduation mark as it is calibrated for a single volume (like a

volumetric flask A volumetric flask (measuring flask or graduated flask) is a piece of laboratory apparatus, a type of laboratory flask, calibrated to contain a precise volume at a certain temperature. Volumetric flasks are used for precise dilutions and preparat ...

). Typical volumes are 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 25, 50 and 100 mL. Volumetric pipettes are commonly used in

analytical chemistry Analytical chemistry studies and uses instruments and methods to separate, identify, and quantify matter. In practice, separation, identification or quantification may constitute the entire analysis or be combined with another method. Separati ...

to make laboratory solutions from a base stock as well as to prepare solutions for

titration Titration (also known as titrimetry and volumetric analysis) is a common laboratory method of quantitative chemical analysis to determine the concentration of an identified analyte (a substance to be analyzed). A reagent, termed the ''titrant'' ...

ASTM ASTM International, formerly known as American Society for Testing and Materials, is an international standards organization that develops and publishes voluntary consensus technical standards for a wide range of materials, products, systems, an ...

standard E969 defines the standard tolerance for volumetric transfer pipettes. The tolerance depends on the size: a 0.5-mL pipette has a tolerance of ±0.006 mL, while a 50-mL pipette has a tolerance of ±0.05 mL. (These are for Class A pipettes; Class B pipettes are given a tolerance of twice that for the corresponding Class A.) A specialized example of a volumetric pipette is the microfluid pipette (capable of dispensing as little as 10 µL) designed with a circulating liquid tip that generates a self-confining volume in front of its outlet channels.

History

Pyrex Pyrex (trademarked as ''PYREX'' and ''pyrex'') is a brand introduced by Corning Inc. in 1915 for a line of clear, low-thermal-expansion borosilicate glass used for laboratory glassware and kitchenware. It was later expanded to include kitchenw ...

started to make laboratory equipment in 1916 and became a favorite brand for the scientific community due to the

borosilicate glass Borosilicate glass is a type of glass with silica and boron trioxide as the main glass-forming constituents. Borosilicate glasses are known for having very low coefficients of thermal expansion (≈3 × 10−6 K−1 at 20 °C), ma ...

's natural properties. These included strength against; chemicals, thermal shift, and mechanical stress.

References

External links

Helpful Hints on the Use of a Volumetric Pipet
by Oliver Seely Laboratory glassware Laboratory equipment Analytical chemistry Volumetric instruments {{analytical-chemistry-stub