Mouth blowlamp
Use
Qualitative analysis of solid and liquid samples.
Description
The simplest models are formed by one metallic and bent tube with an inside diameter that is variable.
Functioning
The narrowest part of the tube is placed inside the Bunsen burner (it can alcohol or gas) and it is blown in the widest part. With a bit of practice, we can get a very narrow fire tongue that is projected onto a piece of coal. In this piece, we have placed a small portion of a substance to be analysed. The behaviour of this sample (explosion, fusion, etc) and the characteristics of the residue that is left on the coal allow, in some cases, identify it.
History
Johan Kunckel was the first person to describe it in his book “Ars vitraria experimentalis oder vollkommene Glasmacherkunst“. It was published in 1679. He also pointed out its usefulness for analytical purposes.
In the XVIII Century there were many skilful people using the blowlamp. A great number of books about that topic were written in that century, being “De Tubo feruminatorio” by Torbern Bergman the most important piece of work. Bergman was a teacher at the University of Uppsala and his book first came out in 1779.
