Erlenmeyer Flask

Erlenmeyer flask is one of the commonest apparatus in the labs without which most of the chemical and biology experiments are incomplete. It is just a simple flask and thus extremely easy to use. However, there are several students who keep pondering why is it referred to as Erlenmeyer flask or E spot. Simply because it was created by Emil Erlenmeyer, who was a German chemist, in the year 1861.

To understand the function of a Erlenmeyer flask, you need to know some details of the flask, initially. If you see the snaps of the flask or have used it sometime in life, you must be knowing it is a conical-shaped flask for which it is also referred to as conical flask, many times. The base of the flasks are flat and the mouth is narrow, precisely narrow neck, as you can see in the adjacent picture. This is mainly to hold the flasks while heating as well as to plug them with either the cotton plugs or stoppers. The flasks are mostly made of borosilicate glass.

The plastic Erlenmeyer flasks, on the other hand, are used for storage purposes since plastic would melt if heated. These flasks are manufactured in different sizes according to the quantity of chemical mixture it can hold. If you check the flasks neatly, they have markings stating the volume of liquid say 25ml, 50ml, 100ml, 150ml, 200ml, 250ml, etc. As small for 25ml to as large for 1000ml and 2000ml, different volume holding capacity flasks are available in the market and generally present in all good chemical and biological laboratories as essential laboratory equipment. You would also find an empty space of ground glass or enamel on the flasks wherein you can label the flask with the help of a marker, say for instance, the chemical mixture or cell culture name.

Uses

First of all, as you must have guessed, being made from borosilicate, they are used for heating purposes wherein chemicals are needed to be exposed to higher temperatures. Borosilicate can resist very high temperatures and thus proves helpful. You can choose the flask size according to the needs and demands of the experiment. If you ask which experiments they are commonly used for, then I would say titration wherein the flask is kept on the wire gauze above a Bunsen burner. Here, you can hold the flask through its neck with the help of a clamp for stirring purpose.

Secondly, apart from chemistry, they are also used in microbiology practicals. Whenever the experiment demands liquid media for microorganism growth, the cell culture and media is added into the flask and kept in the shaker for the required time period. Likewise, Erlenmeyer flasks are used in plant tissue culture experiments very often. You can use them to induce the growth of roots by adding the media in the flask and keeping it for incubation. However, you have to cotton plug the flasks to prevent any sort of contamination.