Separatory Funnel
Abhishek Deshmukh
Growing, passionate, thriving through curiosity Chemist. Specializing in Injectable Pharmaceuticals.
What is a Separatory funnel??
A funnel usually in the shape of a globe or cylinder provided with a stopcock for drawing off the lower layer of a mixture of immiscible liquids.
?During the production of film about the teaching laboratory technique, L. F. Fieser asked for information of the inventor of the separatory funnel. Finding sources and trying to answer the question was little bit tedious task. Apparently, the present separatory funnel forms are end result of slow development in chemistry and untraceable to single chemist or inventor. One of the old textbooks talk about separatory funnel (‘Scheidetrichter’) in 1831, Germany. This book focuses on chemical operations and apparatus, a separatory funnel was described as ‘an oval glass vessel with bottle-like neck, provided with glass stopper which ends in narrow tube.’
Because of wide use of separatory funnel from 1800s in extraction, separating oil and water, analysis of soap, preparation of acid by removing water, ether extraction, separating two fluids, and many more similar processes made laboratory apparatus the way it looks now. Even in 2100s we know the importance of separatory funnel in system engineering as well as synthesizing highly important constituents like O. basilicum which is Dried leaf extraction of Tulsi (Basil Leaves).
?It is one of the oldest and simplest apparatus yet important in chemistry. Separatory funnels showcase the history of evolution in field of chemistry. For any chemist, using these funnels feels touching the history in the present.
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