An iron ring or ring clamp is an item of

laboratory A laboratory (; ; colloquially lab) is a facility that provides controlled conditions in which scientific or technological research, experiments, and measurement may be performed. Laboratory services are provided in a variety of settings: physicia ...

equipment which comprises a conjoined metal ring and radially-extending rod. In some cases, the rod terminates in a screw clamp for attachment to a

retort stand In chemistry, a retort stand, also called a clamp stand,Laboratory-Equipment.com (2020):Large Clamp Stand, for Q700. Online catalog item 5323-07. Accessed on 202-02-18. a ring stand, or a support stand,Fischer Scientific (2020):American Education ...

or other support; in others, the rod may be attached to a stand by means of a laboratory clamp holder. Iron rings are commonly used in chemistry laboratories for supporting apparatus above the work surface, for example: * a tapered item such as a

filter funnel A filter funnel is a laboratory funnel used for separating solids from liquids via the laboratory process of filtering. In order to achieve this, a cone-like shaped piece of filter paper is usually folded into a cone and placed within the funnel. ...

separatory funnel A separatory funnel, also known as a separation funnel, separating funnel, or colloquially sep funnel, is a piece of laboratory glassware used in liquid-liquid extractions to separate (''partition'') the components of a mixture into two immisci ...

. * a clay triangle, which itself supports an item such as a

crucible A crucible is a ceramic or metal container in which metals or other substances may be melted or subjected to very high temperatures. While crucibles were historically usually made from clay, they can be made from any material that withstands te ...

. * a

wire gauze A wire gauze or wire mesh is a sheet of thin metal that has net-like patterns. Wire gauze is placed on the support ring that is attached to the retort stand between the Bunsen burner and glassware or is placed on a tripod to support the beakers, ...

, which itself supports a flat-bottomed beaker or conical flask. * a large, and therefore heavy,

round-bottom flask Round-bottom flasks (also called round-bottomed flasks or RB flasks) are types of Laboratory flask, flasks having spherical bottoms used as laboratory glassware, mostly for chemistry, chemical or biochemistry, biochemical work. They are typicall ...

. In some cases, a slot is cut in the side of the ring opposite the rod. This is to allow a funnel to be placed upon and removed from the ring from the side rather than from above, a safer procedure.

References

Laboratory equipment {{chemistry-stub