Boiling Chips

Boiling chips are small, insoluble, porous stones made of calcium carbonate or silicon carbide. These stones have pores inside which provide cavities both to trap air and to provide spaces where bubbles of solvent vapor can form. These bubbles ensure even boiling and prevent bumping and boiling over and loss of the solution.

Always use a boiling chip when heating a solvent. Never add a boiling chip to a solvent which is already hot, because it can cause to solvent to boil over violently. If you forget to add a boiling chip before you begin, you must cool the solution before adding one to prevent product loss. Boiling chips cannot be re-used since the pores inside these stones become filled with liquid on cooling.

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