Question

Dr. Malani Mackey, works for a pharmaceutical company developing a drug for treating skin cancer. This particular drug requires her to make a mixture of L-histidine, polysorbate 80, and sucrose that must heated and swirled to mix. Which of the following types of glassware will she used for making this mixture? Justify your answer.

Answer 1

Answer:

This question lacks options, the options are:

A) 100 ml Beaker

B) 250 ml Erlenmeyer Flask

C) 250 ml Graduated Cylinder

The answer is B). 250 ml Erlenmeyer Flask

Explanation:

Several types of glasswares are used in chemical laboratories for performing processes like mixing, heating and stirring of chemicals. In this question, Dr. Malani Mackey who works for a pharmaceutical company is trying to develop a cancer drug by making a mixture of L-histidine, polysorbate 80, and sucrose. This mixture is required to be heated and stirred (shaked) during the mixing. Hence, a glassware adapted for this purpose must be used.

- Erlenmeyer Flask, also known as Conical flask is a laboratory flask named after its conical base/bottom. This glassware is used to mix and even heat chemicals in the laboratory. Due to its cone-shaped body coupled with a long cylindrical neck, the contents in the Erlenmeyer Flask can be shaked or stirred without spilling them. This property gives the ERLENMEYER flask an edge over the BEAKER (has a large open mouth) when used for stirring purposes.

The Graduated cylinder is best suited for making precise measurements of liquid chemicals, hence, it is not an appropriate glassware for heating and stirring.