Everything about Funnel totally explained
A
funnel is a pipe with a wide, often conical mouth and a narrow stem. It is used to channel
liquid or fine-grained substances into containers with a small opening. Without a funnel, much spillage would occur.
Funnels are usually made of
stainless steel,
glass, or
plastic. The material used in its construction should be sturdy enough to withstand the weight of the substance being transferred, and it shouldn't react with the substance. For this reason, stainless steel or glass are useful in transferring
diesel, while plastic funnels are useful in the kitchen. Sometimes disposable
paper funnels are used in cases where it would be difficult to adequately clean the funnel afterwards (for example, in adding motor oil to a car). Dropper funnels, also called
dropping funnels or tap funnels, have a
tap to allow the controlled release of a liquid.
The term "funnel" is sometimes used to refer to the
chimney or smokestack on a steam
locomotive or a
ship. There is also a type of
spider known as a
funnel-web due to its habit of building its web in the shape of a funnel. The term "funnel" is even applied to other seemingly strange objects like a smoking
pipe or even a humble kitchen
bin.
Laboratory funnels
There are many different kinds of funnels that have been adapted for specialized applications in the laboratory.
Filter funnels,
thistle funnels (shaped like
thistle flowers), and
dropping funnels have stopcocks which allow the fluids to be added to a flask slowly. For solids, a
powder funnel with a wide and short stem is more appropriate as it doesn't clog easily.
When used with
filter paper, filter funnels,
Buchner and
Hirsch funnels can be used to remove fine particles from a liquid in a process called
filtration. For more demanding applications, the filter paper in the latter two may be replaced with a sintered glass frit.
Separatory funnels are used in
liquid-liquid extractions.
Construction
Glass is the material of choice for laboratory applications due to its inertness compared with metals or plastics. However, plastic funnels made of unreactive
polyethylene are used for transferring aqueous solutions. Plastic is most often used for powder funnels which don't come into contact with solvent in normal use.
In culture
The inverted funnel is a symbol of madness. It appears in many Medieval depictions of the mad. For example in
Hieronymus Bosch's The Ship of Fools and
The Allegory of Gluttony and Lust.
In popular culture, the
Tin Woodman in
L. Frank Baum's classic novel
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (and in most dramatizations of it) uses an inverted funnel for a hat, though that's never specifically mentioned in the story - it originated in
W.W. Denslow's original illustrations for the book.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Funnel'.
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