Test tube

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A test tube, also known as a culture tube, is a piece of laboratory glassware composed of a finger-like length of glass tubing, open at the top, with a rounded U-shaped bottom. Often, the top features a flared lip. This is to aid pouring of a liquid from the test tube to a beaker.

[edit] Construction and Uses

Test tubes are available in a multitude of lengths and widths to serve a varying number of needs. They are typically used by chemists to retain multiple discrete samples of materials, usually liquids, during chemical procedures and experiments, and are designed to allow easy heating of these samples. Often, test tubes are constructed of expansion-resistant glasses such as Pyrex, and can usually be held in a flame such as that produced by a bunsen burner. A boiling tube is, however, preferred when heating samples for any length of time. It is used to hold chemicals.

[edit] See also

One variation of the test tube is the vacutainer, used for the collection and storage of blood
A boiling tube is a wider variation of the test tube, and is better designed for extensive and/or prolonged heating

Laboratory equipment