BURETTE

also spelled Buret, laboratory apparatus used in quantitative chemical analysis to measure the volume of a liquid or a gas. It consists of a graduated glass tube with a stopcock (turning plug, or spigot) at one end. On a liquid burette, the stopcock is at the bottom, and the precise volume of the liquid dispensed can be determined by reading the graduations marked on the glass tube at the liquid level before and after dispensing it. In a gas burette, the stopcock is at the top; the tube of the burette is filled with a fluid, such as water, oil, or mercury, and the bottom of the tube is attached to a reservoir of the fluid. Gas is collected by displacing fluid from the burette, and the amount of gas is measured by the volume of fluid displaced.