Unit 3

LABORATORY

 Laboratory Equipment
 Countable and Uncountable Nouns
 Alchemy

Laboratory Equipment
Match the following expressions with pictures. What are their Slovak equivalents?

single neck flat bottom flask Buchner funnel

Erlenmeyer flask crucible

graduated cylinder mortar and pestle

filtering flask pH sticks

three neck round bottom flask burette (buret)

beaker oven

round bottom boiling flask tongs

separatory funnel stand

test tube bath

pH meter pH

buffers

watch glass ring

condenser Buchner flask

Petri dish pipette

volumetric flask funnel

vial filter paper

analytical balance
 1 2 3 4 5
(1)Single neck flat bottom flask (2)Three neck round bottom flask (3)Erlenmeyer
flask (4)Round bottom boiling flask (5)Filtering flask

6 7 8 9 10
(6)Beaker (7)Burette (8)Graduated cylinder (9)Separatory Funnel (10)Condenser

11 12 13 14 15
(11)Crucible (12)Buchner funnel (13)Mortar and pestle (14)Stand (15)Ring

16 17 18 19 20
(16)Buffers (17)PH sticks (18)pH (19)pH meter (20)Watch glass
21 22 23 24 25
(21)Tongs (22)Petri dish (23)Vial (24)Funnel (25)Test tube

26 27 28 29 30
(26)Pipette (27)Volumetric flask (28)Filter paper (29)Oven (30)Analytical balance

Fill the following schemes with suitable expressions. What are their Slovak equivalents?

funnel

filter paper

mixture

residue

glass rod

filtrate

Filtration
Adapted from: http://library.thinkquest.org/11430/research/filtration.htm
 uncountable
THERMOMETER Bunsen burner
DISTILATI WATER condenser
ON FLASK OUTLET COOLING WATER
Y cooling water
CONDENSER condensed water
thermometer
STEAM mixture
SALT CONDENSED stand
WATER WATER
Cold distillate
BUNSEN water in
DISTILLATEdistillation flask water outlet steam cold water inlet
BUMER
Distilled
CLAM water
STAND
Distillationkijujk
Adapted from: http://student.britannica.com/eb/art/print?id=66040&articleTypeId=0

Countable and uncountable nouns

1. Fill in the gaps with the following words in their appropriate forms.

item, glassware, neck, laboratory, approximate, boiling tube, container, mass, weight,
experiment, weigh

1. Laboratory glassware refers to a variety of equipment, traditionally made of glass, used for
scientific experiment and other work in science, especially in chemistry and biology
laboratory. There are many different kinds of laboratory glassware _items.
2. A boiling tube is essentially a scaled-up test tube, being about 50% larger in
every aspect.
3. A bottle is a small container with a neck that is narrower than the body and a
"mouth."
4. Rounded numbers are only approximate .
5. mass is a measurement of how much matter is in an object; weight is a measurement
of how hard gravity is pulling on that object. Your mass is the same wherever you
 are - on Earth, on the moon, floating in space. But your weight
depends on how much gravity is acting on you at the moment.
You would weigh less on the moon than on Earth,

2. Identify the nouns in these sentences.

 Laboratory : laboraturium
 Glassware : gelas kimia
 Equipment : peralatan
 Glass : gelas
 Items : barang-barang
 Boiling tube : tabung didih
 Bottle : botol
 Container : wadah
 Neck : leher
 Mass : massa
 Weight : berat
 Chemistry : kimia
 Biology : biologi
 Gravity : gravitasi

Countable uncountable

 Laboratory  equipment

 Glassware  chemistry

 Glass  biology

 Items  gravity

 Boiling tube

 Bottle

 Container

 neck

3. Which of the nouns are countable and which uncountable?

 Here are some rules about using countable and uncountable words. Write C,
if they are true for countable and U for uncountable words.

U are also called mass nouns

C can be both singular and plural.
U have only one form e.g. rice.
U can be used alone – without articles.
C must be used with articles – a/ an or the.
U are used with much and little
C are used with many and few

Alchemy
1. What is alchemy? What is the difference between alchemy and modern
science?

2. Have you ever read a book or seen a film that dealt with alchemy?

3. Are there any famous alchemists you know?

4. Read the following article. What do the words in bold mean?

5. What is the meaning of the expressions in italics?

Alchemy in the Middle Ages was a mixture of science, philosophy and

mysticism. At the heart of medieval alchemy was the idea that all matter
was composed of four elements: earth, air, fire and water. With the right
combination of elements, any substance on earth might be formed. This
included precious metals as well as elixirs to cure disease and prolong
life. Alchemists believed that the "transmutation" of one substance into
another was possible; thus we have the cliché of medieval alchemists
seeking to "turn lead into gold."

Goals:
 To find the "philosopher's stone," an elusive substance that was
 believed to make possible the creation of an elixir of immortality and
the transmutation of common substances into gold.
 In the later Middle Ages, to use alchemy as a tool in the advancement of
medicine.

Achievements:
 Medieval alchemists produced hydrochloric acid, nitric acid, potash and
sodium carbonate.
 They were able to identify the elements arsenic, antimony, and bismuth.
 Through their experiments, medieval alchemists invented and
developed laboratory devices and procedures that are, in modified
form, still used today.
 The practice of alchemy laid the foundation for the development of
chemistry as a scientific discipline.

Adapted from: http://historymedren.about.com/od/alchemy/p/alchemy.htm

6. Were the goals of alchemy achieved?

7. What are the goals of modern chemistry?

There were often many symbols for an element. For a time, the
astronomical symbols of the planets were used to denote the elements.
However, as alchemists came to be persecuted, particularly in medieval
times, secret symbols were invented. This led to a great deal of
confusion, so you will find some overlap of symbols. The symbols were
in common use through the 17th century; some are still in use today.

8. Look at the following symbols that alchemists used. Can you

guess which elements they symbolize? One element can have several
symbols.

copper tin mercury gold silver air earth fire iron salt
1 2 3 4 5 6 7

8 9 10 11 12 13 14

Adapted from:
http://chemistry.about.com/od/periodictableelements/ig/Alchem
y- Symbols/index_t.htm

9. What was the meaning of the word ‘element’ in the Middle Ages? Is it
different now?

10. What symbols do we use for elements today?

Exercises:

Exercise 1 Use these words in the sentences. Make sure you know the
difference between the uncountable and countable meanings.

drink/ a drink hair/ a hair paper/ a paper

1. She has dark - just like her mother.
2. There’s in my soup!
3. Did you buy today?
4. All the models in the exhibition were made of _ .
5. was the cause of all their family problems.
6. May I invite you for _ ?

Exercise 2 Which of the underlined parts of these sentences are correct?

1. I thought there was somebody in the house because there was light/ a light on
inside.
2. Light/ a light comes from the sun.
3. I was in a hurry this morning. I didn’t have time/ a time for breakfast.
4. “Did you have a good vacation?” “Yes, we had wonderful time/ a wonderful
time.
5. Sue was very helpful. She gave me some very useful advice/ advices.
6. I had to buy a/ some bread because I wanted to make some sandwiches.
7. It’s very difficult to find a work/ job at the moment.

Adapted from: MURPHY, Raymond. 2002. Grammar in Use. Intermediate. 2nd

edition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002, p. 135.