A hot plate magnetic stirrer is a common piece of equipment in the laboratory. There are several things you should know about this equipment concerning how it is used;
- Hot plate magnetic stirrers are superior to traditional heating mantle hot plates because they can heat viscous or reactive chemicals that ignite on contact with the flame of a heating mantle.
- It’s also possible to use them as chemical reactors for reactions that require multiple steps. Each step can occur at a different temperature without removing and replacing the stirring rod every time you adjust the temperature.
- They are also useful when performing titrations or analyzing samples by weighing, since you can use them as digital scales along with an appropriate container. Zero out the scale using the tare before adding the sample, then zero out again after adding the sample but before re-weighing it for accurate results.
- Some hot plate magnetic stirrers are also designed as shakers; others have built-in timers for timing the duration of reactions or heating times. They can even be used as incubators to grow yeast cultures or heat-shock proteins for various scientific applications.
- Finally, hot plate magnetic stirrers are relatively affordable and reliable equipment, making science more practical since they require less time to set up and perform an experiment than a heating mantle. This makes the stirring hotplate ideal lab equipment for college-level laboratories or high school science classes. One person may need multiple pieces of equipment at once to complete entire experiments without having help from anyone else.
The hot plate magnetic stirring method is useful for laboratory applications, including chemical analysis and microscopy. Other uses can be found in both academic settings and commercial laboratories. The versatility of the equipment allows it to be used across different disciplines for several purposes, making it an important addition to any chemistry lab.
