Historical information

A test tube, also known as a culture tube or sample tube, is a common piece of laboratory glassware consisting of a finger-like length of glass or clear plastic tubing, open at the top, usually with a rounded U-shaped bottom. Test tubes are widely used by pharmacists to hold, mix, or heat small quantities of solid or liquid chemicals, especially for qualitative experiments and assays. Their round bottom and straight sides minimize mass loss when pouring, make them easier to clean, and allow convenient monitoring of the contents. The long, narrow neck slows down the spreading of vapours and gases to the environment. Test tubes are usually held in special-purpose racks, Test tubes for physics and chemistry are usually made of glass for better resistance to heat and corrosive chemicals and longer life. Tubes made from expansion-resistant glasses, such as borosilicate glass, can be placed directly over a Bunsen burner flame.

Physical description

8 clear glass test tubes of varied capacity with 3 glass mixers sitting in a wooden stand. A 1 metre length of clear plastic tubing is with this set