Hot Plate Stirrer To Heat And Mix Review
A hot plate stirrer is most commonly used in a laboratory setting. The hot plate is capable of capable of heating several gallons of a solution and some stirrers are able to stir up to five gallons of liquid at one time.
These devices are also called a magnetic stirrer. This is because the stir bar is a magnet that has been coated in a thick jacket of non reactive material. Magnetic stirrers with hot plates allow the user to continuously heat the solution while stirring to help dissolve solids or the ensure even heat in of the contents of the container being heated.
The magnetic stirrer can cause the liquid to spin quickly to ensure agitation or mixing of the liquid.
These devices are useful for several reasons. They are generally quieter and more efficient than gear driven stirrers. They have no external parts which can wear out. Since the magnetic stir bar is small in size, it can easily be cleaned. If necessary, the bar can also easily be sterilized.
Motorized mixers or stirrers that can be used in the laboratory present two problems that magnetic stirrers help to prevent. Motorized stirrers must have lubricants in the motor mechanism. These lubricants, when heated by the constant use of the mixers can contaminate the solution that is being heated and cause contamination of the finished product. In addition, it is often difficult to seal a vessel if the system must be closed because of OSHA rules or other requirements of the process.
There are some drawbacks to the use of magnetic stirrers. Since the stir bar size is limited, the size of the experiment must often be small. When liquids are viscous or suspensions are very thick, some of the stirrers have difficulty in stirring sufficiently.
Combining the magnetic stirrer with a hotplate makes it an ideal too for use in the laboratory. The hot plate can be used to safely heat flammable liquids that could not be heated using the open flame of a Bunsen burner. These liquids, when heated to their flash point could cause an explosion with an open flame. With a hot plate, they can be safely heated without the fear of such an occurrence.
When used with a temperature probe, the heat can be adjusted to precisely the correct temperature required for the procedure. For example, some seed that are susceptible to a certain mold can be heated to a precise temperature that is sufficient to kill the mold but still allow the seeds to germinate. Overheating the seeds can kill them so that they will not germinate and under-heating them allows the mold to spread.
Stirring hotplates are also useful in distillation. The constant stirring prevents bumping, which happens when a solution is overheated and boils over into the column resulting in contamination of the distillate.
A hot plate stirrer is an excellent device for use when a compound is in solution and needs to be dried. The water can evenly be driven off of the compound using the heat and the stirrer makes sure that there are no water pockets left behind.
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