Resources
Technical references for the instruments we sell. Each one is a full page of its own, linked below.
How to Use a Hydrometer
How a hydrometer works, from Archimedes principle through specific gravity, and the practical steps for taking a reading: filling the jar, dislodging bubbles, and lining your eye up with the surface of the liquid.
IRS Alcohol Hydrometer Correction Table
Table 1970A from the U.S. Internal Revenue Service. Proof readings from 10 to 200, with the correction to add or subtract for temperature bands between 51 and 90 °F, for hydrometers calibrated at 60 °F.
Using Specific Gravity to Determine the Concentration of a Solution
The specific gravity of ethanol and water mixtures, and how to work back from a measured specific gravity to the alcohol concentration, with a worked example.
How Hot Is a Bunsen Burner Flame?
Propane flame temperatures, why published figures vary so widely, and what adiabatic temperature and heat loss mean for a sample placed in the flame.
Stopper Specifications
Size chart for rubber stoppers, sizes 000 through 16, with top diameter, bottom diameter and length in both inches and millimeters.
What Is a Scoopula?
What a scoopula is and what it is used for, how it differs from a flat laboratory spatula and from a spoonula, and how to choose a length and a material for the work you do.
What Is a Clay Triangle?
What a clay triangle is and what it supports, how to size one to your crucible from the diameter of the opening, and why it is not interchangeable with a wire gauze.
