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Tuesday, March 31, 2015

National Bunsen Burner Day!



Today we celebrate the all important Bunsen burner that makes many experiments possible.
Wikipedia says:
Bunsen burner, named after Robert Bunsen, is a common piece of laboratory equipment that produces a single open gas flame, which is used for heating, sterilization, and combustion. The gas can be natural gas (which is mainly methane) or a liquefied petroleum gas, such as propane, butane, or a mixture of both.
When the University of Heidelberg hired Robert Bunsen in 1852, the authorities promised to build him a new laboratory building.
While his building was still under construction late in 1854, Bunsen suggested certain design principles to the university's mechanic, Peter Desaga, and asked him to construct a prototype. (Similar principles had been used in an earlier burner design by Michael Faraday as well as in a device patented in 1856 by the gas engineer R W Elsner.) By the time the building opened early in 1855, Desaga had made fifty of the burners for Bunsen's students. Bunsen published a description two years later, and many of his colleagues soon adopted the design. Bunsen burners are now used in laboratories all around the world.

And the rest is history as they say, thanks wiki. I like a bit of silly with my science, so enjoy Beeker and Dr. Bunsen Honeydew in the following pics.

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