Uses in Chemistry
There are two types of wire gauze used in chemistry: a normally woven wire gauze, and one with a white circle imprinted on it. The latter has a ceramic composite intended to aid in the dispersal in heat. The normal set-up is a ring stand which a support ring attached to it. The wire gauze is centered on the ring stand as to allow the open flame to be in contact with it to a certain extent, depending on the desired heat. In the context of laboratory experimentation, the combination of the wire gauze plus the added ceramic composite greatly aids in the even dispersal of heat. This means that an object placed over this type of wire gauze will receive a more uniform heat from a Bunsen burner than the naked flame of it. This property is specially important in various chemical processes where precise, even heat dispersal is sought after, as a consistent heat is crucial for the successful maintenance of the chemical process intended. Because of this desired heat dispersal ability, wire gauze can also be used as a cooling surface for beakers, Erlenmeyers flasks or other vessels without damaging the supporting surface (workbench, tabletop, etc.).
Read more about this topic: Gauze, Uses and Types
Famous quotes containing the word chemistry:
“For me chemistry represented an indefinite cloud of future potentialities which enveloped my life to come in black volutes torn by fiery flashes, like those which had hidden Mount Sinai. Like Moses, from that cloud I expected my law, the principle of order in me, around me, and in the world.... I would watch the buds swell in spring, the mica glint in the granite, my own hands, and I would say to myself: “I will understand this, too, I will understand everything.””
—Primo Levi (1919–1987)