Wire gauze

A Wire gauze is a sheet of thin metal that has net-like crosses or a wire mesh. The purpose of wire gauze is to be placed on the support ring that is attached to the ring stand between the Bunsen burner and the beakers to support the beakers or other glassware or flasks during heating. Moreover, the glassware has to be flat-bottomed to stay on the wire gauze. The wire gauze is made of a material called nichrome wire which is AWG No. 24 galvanized iron wire. This type of material provides long life expectancy and can be used over and over again without a risk of it being torn. The corners of the wire gauze are turned inward to help prevent fraying. The wire gauze is a piece of supporting equipment in laboratory because the beakers or any type of glassware cannot be heated directly with a flame from the Bunsen Burner, and thus by having the wire gauze will help protect the glassware. There are two types of wire gauze: woven wire gauze and a wire gauze with a ceramic center. These two types of wire gauze that are made of metal have a same ability to transmit the heat efficiently but the one that has a ceramic center will allow the heat to disperse more evenly. The ceramic at the center of the wire gauze is enmeshed at high pressure to prevent it from peeling. There are three size of the Wire Gauze with ceramic center which is 4 inches, 5 inches, and 6 inches. There are different sizes of wire gauze with ceramic center to match with different sizes of glassware.