Bunsen Burner Day

Can you imagine a chemistry lab without a Bunsen burner?



It's Bunsen Burner Day, in honor of Robert Wilhelm Bunsen, who was credited with inventing the gas burner that is fundamental to every chem lab. Bunsen was born on this date in 1811. His innovation in the design of the burner was a way to fine-tune the mix of air with gas through slits in the base of the tube, which produced a hotter, non-luminous flame. Bunsen developed several other tubes used by chemists, including the Bunsen cell battery, a grease spot photometer, an ice calorimeter, a vapor calorimeter and a filter pump.