A jar is a rigid, cylindrical or slightly conical container, typically 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 ...

ceramic A ceramic is any of the various hard, brittle, heat-resistant and corrosion-resistant materials made by shaping and then firing an inorganic, nonmetallic material, such as clay, at a high temperature. Common examples are earthenware, porcelain ...

, or

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 ...

, with a wide mouth or opening that can be closed with a

lid A lid, also known as a cover, is part of a container, and serves as the closure or seal, usually one that completely closes the object. Lids can be placed on small containers such as tubs as well as larger lids for open-head pails and drums. S ...

screw cap A screw cap or closure is a common type of closure for bottles, jars, and tubes. Usage A screw closure is a mechanical device which is screwed on and off of a "finish" on a container. Either continuous threads or lugs are used. It must be engi ...

, lug cap,

cork stopper A stopper or cork is a cylindrical or conical closure used to seal a container, such as a bottle, tube or barrel. Unlike a lid or bottle cap, which encloses a container from the outside without displacing the inner volume, a bung is partially ...

, roll-on cap, crimp-on cap, press-on cap, plastic shrink, heat sealed lidding film, an inner seal, a

tamper-evident band A tamper-evident band or security ring serves as a tamper resistant or tamper evident function to a screw cap, lid, or closure. The term ''tamper-proof'' is sometimes used but is considered a misnomer given that pilfering is still technica ...

, or other suitable means.

Etymology

The English word "jar" originates from the

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...

word ''jarra'', which means an earthen pot or vessel.

Creation

Jars are sterilised by putting them in a

pressure cooker Pressure cooking is the process of cooking food under high pressure steam and water or a water-based cooking liquid, in a sealed vessel known as a ''pressure cooker''. High pressure limits boiling, and creates higher cooking temperatures which ...

with boiling

water Water (chemical formula ) is an Inorganic compound, inorganic, transparent, tasteless, odorless, and Color of water, nearly colorless chemical substance, which is the main constituent of Earth's hydrosphere and the fluids of all known living ...

or an oven for a number of minutes. Glass jars are considered microwavable.

Utility

Jars can be used to hold

solid Solid is one of the four fundamental states of matter (the others being liquid, gas, and plasma). The molecules in a solid are closely packed together and contain the least amount of kinetic energy. A solid is characterized by structural ...

s too large to be removed from, or liquids too

viscous The viscosity of a fluid is a measure of its resistance to deformation at a given rate. For liquids, it corresponds to the informal concept of "thickness": for example, syrup has a higher viscosity than water. Viscosity quantifies the inte ...

to be poured through a

bottle A bottle is a narrow-necked container made of an impermeable material (such as glass, plastic or aluminium) in various shapes and sizes that stores and transports liquids. Its mouth, at the bottling line, can be sealed with an internal stop ...

's neck; these may be foods,

cosmetics Cosmetics are constituted mixtures of chemical compounds derived from either natural sources, or synthetically created ones. Cosmetics have various purposes. Those designed for personal care and skin care can be used to cleanse or protect ...

medication A medication (also called medicament, medicine, pharmaceutical drug, medicinal drug or simply drug) is a drug used to diagnose, cure, treat, or prevent disease. Drug therapy ( pharmacotherapy) is an important part of the medical field and ...

s, or

chemicals 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., wit ...

. Glass jars—among which the most popular is the

mason jar A Mason jar, also known as a canning jar or fruit jar, is a glass jar used in home canning to preserve food. It was named after American tinsmith John Landis Mason, who patented it in 1858. The jar's mouth has a screw thread on its outer perime ...

—can be used for storing and preserving items as diverse as

jam Jam is a type of fruit preserve. Jam or Jammed may also refer to: Other common meanings * A firearm malfunction * Block signals ** Radio jamming ** Radar jamming and deception ** Mobile phone jammer ** Echolocation jamming Arts and ente ...

, pickled gherkin, other pickles,

marmalade Marmalade is a fruit preserve made from the juice and peel of citrus fruits boiled with sugar and water. The well-known version is made from bitter orange. It is also made from lemons, limes, grapefruits, mandarins, sweet oranges, bergamot ...

sun-dried tomato Sun-dried tomatoes are ripe tomatoes that lose most of their water content after spending a majority of their drying time in the sun. These tomatoes are usually pre-treated with sulfur dioxide or salt before being placed in the sun in order to i ...

es, olives, jalapeño peppers,

chutney A chutney is a spread in the cuisines of the Indian subcontinent. Chutneys are made in a wide variety of forms, such as a tomato relish, a ground peanut garnish, yogurt or curd, cucumber, spicy coconut, spicy onion or mint dipping sa ...

s, pickled eggs,

honey Honey is a sweet and viscous substance made by several bees, the best-known of which are honey bees. Honey is made and stored to nourish bee colonies. Bees produce honey by gathering and then refining the sugary secretions of plants (primar ...

, and many others.

Types

Bell jar A bell jar is a glass jar, similar in shape to a bell (i.e. in its best-known form it is open at the bottom, while its top and sides together are a single piece), and can be manufactured from a variety of materials (ranging from glass to differe ...

- typically used in scientific laboratories to produce a

vacuum A vacuum is a space devoid of matter. The word is derived from the Latin adjective ''vacuus'' for "vacant" or " void". An approximation to such vacuum is a region with a gaseous pressure much less than atmospheric pressure. Physicists often di ...

; also used in Victorian times for display purposes *

Cookie jar Cookie jars are utilitarian or decorative ceramic or glass jars often found in American and Canadian kitchens. In the United Kingdom, they are known as biscuit barrels or biscuit jars. If they are cans made out of tinplate, they are called bis ...

- typically ceramic or glass, common in the United States, Canada, and United Kingdom *

Killing jar A killing jar (or killing bottle) is a device used by entomologists to kill captured insects quickly and with minimum damage. The jar, typically glass, must be hermetically sealable and one design has a thin layer of hardened plaster of Paris on ...

- used to kill captured insects *

Leyden jar A Leyden jar (or Leiden jar, or archaically, sometimes Kleistian jar) is an electrical component that stores a high-voltage electric charge (from an external source) between electrical conductors on the inside and outside of a glass jar. It typ ...

- a historical electrical capacitor * Specimen jar - an instrument used in anatomy to preserve specimens * Apothecary jar - historically for storage of medicines; made of ceramics or more typically in modern centuries, clear glass. Typically cylindrical or with rotationally symmetric decorative curves, sometimes with a glass disc foot separated from the main body. Modern glass versions are also used for artistic display of the contents. Modern glass food storage jars come in a variety of shapes, all of which have a circular opening on top for screwing on a lid: * Economy round or wide mouth jars - tall but rotund cylinder slightly rounded at the top and bottom, relatively wide with a wide mouth, commonly used for sauces like a mayonnaise * Paragon jars - tall and narrow cylinder, commonly used for pickled foods like olives * French square or Victorian jars - roughly a small cube * Spice jars - small cylinder or

rectangular cuboid In geometry, a cuboid is a hexahedron, a six-faced solid. Its faces are quadrilaterals. Cuboid means "like a cube", in the sense that by adjusting the length of the edges or the angles between edges and faces a cuboid can be transformed into a cub ...

* Hexagon or hex jars - regular hexagonal prism *

Mason jar A Mason jar, also known as a canning jar or fruit jar, is a glass jar used in home canning to preserve food. It was named after American tinsmith John Landis Mason, who patented it in 1858. The jar's mouth has a screw thread on its outer perime ...

s - moderately tall cylinder typically used in home canning, sealed with a metal lid *

Kilner jar A Kilner jar is a rubber-sealed, screw-topped jar used for preserving (bottling) food. It was first produced by John Kilner & Co., Yorkshire, England. History The Kilner Jar was originally invented by John Kilner (1792-1857) and associate ...

- similar to a Mason jar but sealed with rubber * Straight-sided jars - cylinders with no neck. Squat straight-sided jars are suitable for creams which can be scooped out. Ancient ceramic types include: * Amphora - large, but typically holding under 50 L * Pithos - very large, typically the size of a person and holding hundreds of liters

Gallery

File:PreservedFood1.jpg, Preserved food in

s File:Jam jar.jpg, Reusable jam jar with

flip-top A flip-top, swing-top, lightning toggle, or Quillfeldt stopper (after the inventor, Charles de Quillfeldt) is a type of closure frequently used for bottles containing carbonated beverages, such as beer or mineral water. The mouth of the bottle i ...

or bail closure File:Jar made of PLA-Blend Bio-Flex.jpg, Jar made of PLA-blend bio-flex, a

bioplastic Bioplastics are plastic materials produced from renewable biomass sources, such as vegetable fats and oils, corn starch, straw, woodchips, sawdust, recycled food waste, etc. Some bioplastics are obtained by processing directly from natural bi ...

File:CandyJaracp.png, Candy jar File:HK Central Kai Bo Foods Buddy's 花生醬 Peanut creamy Butter Skippy April-2012.JPG, Peanut butter File:Orzas in Spain.jpg, Six types of "earthenware jar" in Spain File:Brown-glazed Jar with Design of Three Fish. Yuan Dynasty. Excavated from Hancheng City.jpg, Brown-glazed jar with design of three fish.

Yuan Dynasty The Yuan dynasty (), officially the Great Yuan (; xng, , , literally "Great Yuan State"), was a Mongol-led imperial dynasty of China and a successor state to the Mongol Empire after its division. It was established by Kublai, the fift ...

. File:Jar with pump dispenser.jpg, PP jar of skin cream with pump dispenser

Recycling

Some regions^{n what country?/sup> have a legally mandated deposit refundable upon return of the jar to its retailer, after which the jar is recycled according to the SPI recycling code for the material.Soroka, W, "Fundamentals of Packaging Technology", IoPP, 2002,

See also

* Canning
* Home canning

Home canning or bottling, also known colloquially as putting up or processing, is the process of preserving foods, in particular, fruits, vegetables, and meats, by packing them into glass jars and then heating the jars to create a vacuum seal an ...

* Child-resistant packaging
Child-resistant packaging or CR packaging is special packaging used to reduce the risk of children ingesting hazardous materials. This is often accomplished by the use of a special safety cap. It is required by regulation for prescription drugs, o ...

* Hu (vessel)

A ''hu'' is a type of wine vessel that has a pear-shaped cross-section. Its body swells and flares into a narrow neck, creating S-shaped profile. While it is similar to ''you'' vessel, ''hu'' usually has a longer body and neck. The shape of ...

* Jar opener
* Tamper-evident

Tamper-evident describes a device or process that makes unauthorized access to the protected object easily detected. Seals, markings, or other techniques may be tamper indicating.
Tampering
Tampering involves the deliberate altering or adultera ...

* Tamper resistant

Tamperproofing, conceptually, is a methodology used to hinder, deter or detect unauthorised access to a device or circumvention of a security system. Since any device or system can be foiled by a person with sufficient knowledge, equipment, and ti ...

* The asterism Water Jar in the constellation Aquarius
Aquarius may refer to:

Astrology

* Aquarius (astrology), an astrological sign
* Age of Aquarius, a time period in the cycle of astrological ages
Astronomy
* Aquarius (constellation)
* Aquarius in Chinese astronomy
Arts and entertainme ...

References

External links

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*

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Storage vessels
Glass jars

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