Sciencemadness Discussion Board

Interface betwixt condenser and vessel? Ref Matl?

jgourlay - 20-6-2009 at 05:12

Gents, two questions.

First, I have a condenser with ground glass input/output ports. What is the name of the doohickey that will interface that ground glass taper with a typical boiling flask?

Second, is there a (preferably cheap) reference out there that shows a pictures of all the different types of laboratory glass one typically finds, and a short paragraph of it's intended use with maybe a short comparative of why you would use this for that as opposed to something that looks close to it?

I have many chemistry texts, but none seem to do a comprehensive job in this department....

Sauron - 20-6-2009 at 05:24

Wow, you really are at the start of the curve.

1. Practical Organic Chemistry 3rd Ed., by Arthur Vogel, in forum library, free download.

Online catalogs from Ace Glass, Kimble-Kontes, LabGlass, ChemGlass etc.

In general you can download these for offline browsing.


chemrox - 20-6-2009 at 12:16

The term you're looking for is joints. More particularly they are standard taper ground glass joints. The two pubs Sauron pointed you toward should assist you in becoming conversant with the various sizes in use and the different applications they are used with. For 250 to 1,000 ml flasks the usual size joints will be 24/40. Use of a stirrer bearing may introduce 29/42 ... Sohxlet extractors get big joints on top and 24/40 on the bottom. ... anyway look in the books.

UnintentionalChaos - 20-6-2009 at 12:26

I think he's saying that he has a non-ground boiling flask and a ground condenser....have fun with that.

Normally you put a 3-way adapter between the boiling flask and condenser, which has a spot for a thermometer adapter. Sometimes a claisen adapter also gets in there so you can add an addition funnel as well. If you are fractionating, you will have a column of some sort (packed or vigreux) between the flask and 3 way or between the claisen and three way.

jgourlay - 20-6-2009 at 18:56

Quote: Originally posted by UnintentionalChaos  
I think he's saying that he has a non-ground boiling flask and a ground condenser....have fun with that.


Yeah, pretty much. The point was (is) to distill the smelly stuff out of plumeria flowers to show my daughter more or less how perfume is made. Oopsy boo boo?

sparkgap - 20-6-2009 at 19:24

It indeed is a classical "boo-boo" as you put it. NEVER EVER fit a ground glass joint to anything other than ground glass joints, it's poor form.

As for books, S.C. Wack scanned Zubrick's The Organic Chem Lab Survival Manual (it's somewhere in these forums); it would profit you greatly to read it.

sparky (~_~)

UnintentionalChaos - 20-6-2009 at 19:25

Quote: Originally posted by jgourlay  
Quote: Originally posted by UnintentionalChaos  
I think he's saying that he has a non-ground boiling flask and a ground condenser....have fun with that.


Yeah, pretty much. The point was (is) to distill the smelly stuff out of plumeria flowers to show my daughter more or less how perfume is made. Oopsy boo boo?


essential oil yields are generally very low and require kilos of plant matter to make a few milliliters. If you get a "vacuum adapter" that is just a barb attached to a male joint, you can use a piece of tubing to connect the condenser to a stopper perforated by a glass tube.

I recommend orange peels because they give a very high yield of oil, which is almost entirely d-limonene and smells great.

[Edited on 6-21-09 by UnintentionalChaos]

jgourlay - 22-6-2009 at 04:59

Thanks!