Rubber Bungs
In chemistry, bungs are usually made of hardened rubber. Some chemistry bungs may also include one or more holes so a glass tube or laboratory funnel may be inserted through the bung and into the container or another piece of apparatus. The rubber bung may be used to seal a flask because the user may require the contents to be mixed via shaking the flask or may require that the contents be kept inside the flask and prevented from leaking out. In all cases, the bung keeps the experimentation environment completely sealed so that liquids or gases cannot escape.
Apart from self-made glassware, rubber bungs are rarely used now. They have been supplanted by laboratory glassware which come with standard ground glass joints which allow the pieces to be fitted together easily. Ground glass joints are also much more resistant to solvents and chemicals used.
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Famous quotes containing the word rubber:
“The idea that information can be stored in a changing world without an overwhelming depreciation of its value is false. It is scarcely less false than the more plausible claim that after a war we may take our existing weapons, fill their barrels with cylinder oil, and coat their outsides with sprayed rubber film, and let them statically await the next emergency.”
—Norbert Wiener (1894–1964)