Working Safely With A Hot Plate In A Lab

By Andy Zain

Probably when you think of a hot plate, you more than likely think about something that fills in a small place where you may not have a stove, so that you can cook your food. This is one use for it, but they are used quite often in high schools and college labs for a variety of reasons.

It does not matter where a person might be using it at, safety should be of first concern no matter what. But in a laboratory setting, it becomes even more important that the students learn safety first before using one since a lot of the items they use can be dangerous chemicals.

One of the first things and most important things to remember when using one for a water bath is to make sure that they use only heat resistant glassware. Make sure that they are aware that they also need to check the glassware for any size crack that might be visible to the naked eye. A student should be instructed to never to place a glass flask, soft glass or jars directly on the hot plate. And the surface needs to be larger than the object that is being heated.

Before using one of them, the person using it should be aware that they should never heat anything on it that that might be flammable or combustible. The last thing anyone would want would be an explosion or fire.

It is always a good thing to add stones that are specially made for boiling and add them to what you are trying to boil. This will help facilitate the heating process of whatever is being heated on the hot plate.

Always remember that when boiling liquids on a hot plate that they should not be allowed to dehydrate too much or it could cause far too little liquid for the glass to handle, causing the glassware to either crack or break.

It is a good idea to only turn it on to either the medium or the medium high setting for any liquid that might need to be heated. This includes the heating of water. Low boiling liquids should never be heated over the high setting at any time. The surface can actually reach as high as 540 C (1004 F), and that is hot.

It also should be noted that by using foil or a metal pan is not a good thing to use with them. This can damage it, even give an electrical shock to the person using it, if not careful.

When it is time to remove the item from the surface, never use your hands. Tongs or something that has some sort of rubber grips should be used to not just remove the item but to pour it as well.

A hot plate looks exactly the same whether it's been is hot or cold. So, it is important that the person who is using it, lets others know when they have finished and have turned it off. This will alert others that the hot plate may still be hot. They have a tendency to stay hot for a very long time. And it would be quite dangerous if others were not warned beforehand that the plate had just been turned off.

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