Beaker, Phillip (Conical) with Spout

Quick Answer: A Phillips beaker is a flat-bottomed glass beaker with conical walls that narrow towards a wide mouth, finished with a pouring spout. It sits between an ordinary beaker and a conical flask, and is used for swirling, titration and hot-plate digestions where splashing has to be kept down.

How the Conical Shape Works

The walls of the Phillips beaker slope inwards from a broad, flat base. When the contents are swirled by hand or boil on a hot plate, droplets strike the sloping sides and run back instead of leaving the vessel, protecting both the sample and the person working. The flat base sits squarely on a hot plate or on the white tile under a burette.

Unlike a conical flask, this beaker has no narrow neck. The open mouth takes a stirring rod, thermometer or watch glass cover, the inner walls are easy to wash down from a wash bottle, and the spout gives a clean pour when a solution goes to a filter funnel. The trade-off is that it cannot be stoppered or shaken hard, so it works as an open working vessel rather than for storage.

Compared with a straight-sided low form borosilicate beaker, the conical body makes the corner at the base harder to reach with a spatula, but keeps a swirled liquid inside much more reliably.

Applications

• Acid-base and redox titrations, with the vessel swirled under the burette and its walls rinsed down near the end point
• Acid digestion of soil, food or plant samples on a hot plate under a watch glass, in a fume cupboard
• Gravimetric precipitations, pouring the liquid through a filter by way of the spout and a glass rod
• Warming and swirling a sample to dissolve it before transfer to a volumetric flask

Specifications

Care & Handling

• Clean the conical beaker with a brush that bends into the angle between wall and base, where residues collect.
• Carry out acid digestions under a watch glass and in a fume cupboard.
• Let the beaker cool on a heat-resistant mat before rinsing it with cold water.
• Check the spout and rim for chips, which make pouring dribble and can cut fingers.

Why Choose LabEquip

Conical beakers with spouts are bought mostly by analytical and teaching laboratories that run titrations and digestions, usually alongside ordinary beakers and flasks. LabEquip lists this item in its Lab Glassware category; state capacities and quantities through the LabEquip contact page.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a Phillips beaker used for?

It is used where a solution must be swirled, stirred or heated with little risk of splashing, such as titrations, precipitations and acid digestions. The wide mouth still allows reagents to be added and the walls to be rinsed easily, and the spout gives a controlled pour.

How does it differ from a conical flask?

A conical (Erlenmeyer) flask narrows to a neck, which suits stoppering and vigorous swirling but makes it harder to insert a rod or rinse the walls. The conical beaker keeps a wide open mouth and a spout, so it is easier to work in and to empty, but it cannot be stoppered.

Can the conical beaker be used for titration?

Yes. Stand it on a white tile under the burette, swirl it by hand as titrant is added, and wash the inner walls down with distilled water from a wash bottle as the end point approaches. The sloping sides keep the swirled liquid inside and the wide mouth makes rinsing easy.

Why is a conical shape useful for acid digestions?

During digestion the sample is heated in acid on a hot plate, often under a watch glass. The inward-sloping walls catch spatter and let condensate run back, reducing sample loss, while the flat base heats evenly. Digestions should always be done in a fume cupboard.

Can this beaker be heated on a hot plate?

That depends on the glass, which the product name does not state, so ask about it when you enquire if heating is planned. Heat-resistant borosilicate glass can go on a hot plate or on wire gauze over a burner; soda-lime glass should be kept to room-temperature work.

How should it be cleaned after a digestion?

Let it cool completely, dispose of the acid residue as your laboratory waste procedure requires, then wash with laboratory detergent and a soft brush angled into the base. Rinse with tap water and then distilled water, and retire the beaker if the base shows etching or star cracks.

Last Updated: September 2026