Chemcalequip©
Chemistry Unit 2 - A
Concentrating On Keeping Up Standards
Technical Assistant Report - January 2020
Calibration of Apparatus
As part of accurate scientific work procedures, the apparatus used during practical
work needs to be kept up to a high standard of accuracy. For this reason our
equipment is regularly tested and adjusted in order to correlate with these standards.
1. Balances
2. Volumetric Glassware
3. Thermometers
4. pH metres
1. Balances are used often in practical work in order to get specific masses of
reagents or calculate mass changes. 2 and 4 decimal place balances were
calibrated using weights of a known and accurate mass. We tested using 1g and 10g
masses, each with a slight error interval of between 0.9999g/1.0001g and
9.9998g/10.0002g. We weighed the masses to see if the balances were within the
allowed tolerance.
Date Balance Mass of 1g Within Mass of 10g Within
type (d.p.) tolerance? tolerance?
26/09/19 2 d.p. 1.00 Yes 10.02 Yes
26/09/19 4 d.p. 1.0001 Yes 10.0160 Yes
After carrying out this test we can conclude that the balances are accurate and do
not need to be adjusted before reuse.
Hazard: Balances are sensitive so should be used delicately in order to preserve
them.
2. Volumetric glassware is vital for chemical work in order to use correct volumes of
desired reagents. Pipettes, burettes, measuring cylinders and beakers are the most
commonly used and should be tested regularly. In order to calibrate the glassware, a
mass change is calculated from an empty beaker to the same beaker containing
25cm3 of water, which should give an exact 25g increase in mass.
, Pipette Burette 100 cm3 25 cm3
beaker measuring
cylinder
Mass of 68.25 72.09 70.8 67.64
beaker plus
25 cm3 water
Mass of 43.42 43.42 43.42 43.42
empty beaker
Mass of 25 24.83 28.67 27.38 24.22
cm3 water
% Error -0.68 14.68 9.52 -3.12
anomaly
Chemistry Unit 2 - A
Concentrating On Keeping Up Standards
Technical Assistant Report - January 2020
Calibration of Apparatus
As part of accurate scientific work procedures, the apparatus used during practical
work needs to be kept up to a high standard of accuracy. For this reason our
equipment is regularly tested and adjusted in order to correlate with these standards.
1. Balances
2. Volumetric Glassware
3. Thermometers
4. pH metres
1. Balances are used often in practical work in order to get specific masses of
reagents or calculate mass changes. 2 and 4 decimal place balances were
calibrated using weights of a known and accurate mass. We tested using 1g and 10g
masses, each with a slight error interval of between 0.9999g/1.0001g and
9.9998g/10.0002g. We weighed the masses to see if the balances were within the
allowed tolerance.
Date Balance Mass of 1g Within Mass of 10g Within
type (d.p.) tolerance? tolerance?
26/09/19 2 d.p. 1.00 Yes 10.02 Yes
26/09/19 4 d.p. 1.0001 Yes 10.0160 Yes
After carrying out this test we can conclude that the balances are accurate and do
not need to be adjusted before reuse.
Hazard: Balances are sensitive so should be used delicately in order to preserve
them.
2. Volumetric glassware is vital for chemical work in order to use correct volumes of
desired reagents. Pipettes, burettes, measuring cylinders and beakers are the most
commonly used and should be tested regularly. In order to calibrate the glassware, a
mass change is calculated from an empty beaker to the same beaker containing
25cm3 of water, which should give an exact 25g increase in mass.
, Pipette Burette 100 cm3 25 cm3
beaker measuring
cylinder
Mass of 68.25 72.09 70.8 67.64
beaker plus
25 cm3 water
Mass of 43.42 43.42 43.42 43.42
empty beaker
Mass of 25 24.83 28.67 27.38 24.22
cm3 water
% Error -0.68 14.68 9.52 -3.12
anomaly
