Reagent bottles, also known as media bottles or graduated bottles, are containers made of

glass Glass is a non-crystalline, often transparent, amorphous solid that has widespread practical, technological, and decorative use in, for example, window panes, tableware, and optics. Glass is most often formed by rapid cooling (quenching) of ...

plastic Plastics are a wide range of synthetic or semi-synthetic materials that use polymers as a main ingredient. Their plasticity makes it possible for plastics to be moulded, extruded or pressed into solid objects of various shapes. This adaptab ...

borosilicate 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 ...

or related substances, and topped by special

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Java ...

or stoppers. They are intended to contain

chemical A chemical substance is a form of matter having constant chemical composition and characteristic properties. Some references add that chemical substance cannot be separated into its constituent elements by physical separation methods, i.e., wi ...

s in

liquid A liquid is a nearly incompressible fluid that conforms to the shape of its container but retains a (nearly) constant volume independent of pressure. As such, it is one of the four fundamental states of matter (the others being solid, gas, a ...

or powder form for

laboratories 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 ...

and stored in

cabinets A cabinet is a body of high-ranking state officials, typically consisting of the executive branch's top leaders. Members of a cabinet are usually called cabinet ministers or secretaries. The function of a cabinet varies: in some countrie ...

or on shelves. Some reagent bottles are tinted amber (actinic), brown or red to protect light-sensitive chemical compounds from visible light, ultraviolet and infrared radiation which may alter them; other bottles are tinted blue (cobalt glass) or uranium green for decorative purposes -mostly vintage apothecary sets, from centuries in which a doctor or apothecary was a prominent figure. The bottles are called "graduated" when they have marks on the sides indicating the approximate (often with a 10% error) amount of liquid at a given level within the container. A reagent bottle is a type of

laboratory glassware Laboratory glassware refers to a variety of equipment used in scientific work, and traditionally made of glass. Glass can be blown, bent, cut, molded, and formed into many sizes and shapes, and is therefore common in chemistry, biology, and anal ...

. The term "

reagent In chemistry, a reagent ( ) or analytical reagent is a substance or compound added to a system to cause a chemical reaction, or test if one occurs. The terms ''reactant'' and ''reagent'' are often used interchangeably, but reactant specifies a ...

" refers to a substance that is part of a

chemical reaction A chemical reaction is a process that leads to the IUPAC nomenclature for organic transformations, chemical transformation of one set of chemical substances to another. Classically, chemical reactions encompass changes that only involve the pos ...

(or an

ingredient An ingredient is a substance that forms part of a mixture (in a general sense). For example, in cooking, recipes specify which ingredients are used to prepare a specific dish. Many commercial product (business), products contain secret ingredie ...

of which), and "media" is the plural form of "

medium Medium may refer to: Science and technology Aviation *Medium bomber, a class of war plane * Tecma Medium, a French hang glider design Communication * Media (communication), tools used to store and deliver information or data * Medium of ...

" which refers to the liquid or gas which a reaction happens within, or is a processing chemical tool such as (for example) a

flux Flux describes any effect that appears to pass or travel (whether it actually moves or not) through a surface or substance. Flux is a concept in applied mathematics and vector calculus which has many applications to physics. For transport ph ...

. Several companies produce reagent bottles, including Wheaton, Kimble, Corning,

Schott AG Schott AG is a German multinational glass company specializing in the manufacture of glass and glass-ceramics. Headquartered in Mainz, Germany, it is owned by the Carl Zeiss Foundation. The company's founder and namesake, Otto Schott, is credi ...

, Sklárny Moravia and trademark glass names include

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 ...

Kimax 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 ...

, Duran, Boro and

Bomex 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 ...

. Common bottle sizes include 100 ml, 250 ml, 500 ml, 1000 ml (1 liter) and 2000 ml (2 liter). Older bottles, especially for medical use and for expensive chemicals, can be found of capacities well under 100 ml. The selection of caps and stoppers that reagent bottles are closed with are as important as the material the bottles are made of, and the decision as to which cap to use is dependent on the material stored in the container, and the amount of heat which the cap can be subject to. Common cap sizes include 33-430 (33mm), 38-430 (38mm), and GL 45 (45mm). Caps range in size from narrow mouthed to wide mouthed and often a glass or plastic

funnel A funnel is a tube or pipe that is wide at the top and narrow at the bottom, used for guiding liquid or powder into a small opening. Funnels are usually made of stainless steel, aluminium, glass, or plastic. The material used in its construct ...

is needed to properly fill a reagent bottle from a larger or equal sized container's mouth. Reagent bottle caps are commonly said to be " autoclavable". Antique or vintage reagent bottles tend to resemble the classic apothecary bottle and have a glass stopper, very often not of standard size, so that very old bottles and samples should be stored with care, as replacing a missing glass stopper would require dedicated glassworking. Reagent bottles are subject to

OSHA OSHA or Osha may refer to: Work * Occupational Safety and Health Administration, a federal agency of the United States that regulates workplace safety and health * Occupational Safety and Health Act (United States) of 1970, a federal law in the Un ...

regulations, and global scientific standards.

References

* Soroka, W, "Fundamentals of Packaging Technology", IoPP, 2002, * Yam, K. L., "Encyclopedia of Packaging Technology", John Wiley & Sons, 2009, Glass compositions Glass trademarks and brands Boron compounds Transparent materials Laboratories Laboratory glassware Glass bottles {{Sci-stub

See also

References