A large (63 cm tall) glass chemical apparatus consisting of three vessels attached one above the other and joined by a central column. The bottom surface of the lowest vessel is flattened to provide a stable base. The upper two vessels are spherical in overall form. The uppermost vessel is the larger of the two and has a cylindrical opening at its top. The middle vessel has a cylindrical opening near its centre that is angled upwards. A glass channel passes downward through the centre of the instrument from the upper to the lower vessel.
Accession Number: 2024.ihpst.123
Alternative Name:
Primary Materials: Glass
Markings:
Dimensions (cm): Height = 63, Max Diameter = 27.
The Kipp’s apparatus is a chemical instrument that permits the user to collect the gas produced by reacting a solid material with an acid.
To begin the operation, the solid reactant is placed within the central chamber. Acid is placed in the upper chamber and flows downward to the bottom chamber through the central channel. It does not contact the solid material in the central chamber on this descending path. However, liquid reaching the ceiling of the bottom chamber may enter the central chamber and contact the solid material within it, generating gas.
This contact is made when air is released from the opening in the central chamber, for instance, by opening a stopcock fixed to its mouth, permitting the liquid in the bottom chamber to take its place. When the stopcock is sealed, the gas generated by the acid contacting the solid material will push the acid down again. At this point, the gas can be released and the reaction restarted.
The artifact appears undamaged and intact, but is quite dirty. It notably has a reddish deposit on the inside surfaces as well as deeper red marks on the mouth of the opening to the middle chamber.
Associated Instruments:
Manufacturer:
Date of Manufacture: Late 19th or early 20th c.
This artifact was given to Professor Trevor Levere (1944-2022) of the Institute for the History and Philosophy of Science and Technology (IHPST), by Professor Stillman Drake (1910-1993). Drake had been recruited to the University of Toronto in 1967 as a full professor. He led the IHPST, which was founded that year.
This artifact had belonged to Stillman Drake’s father.
This artifact was donated to the IHPST by Jennifer Levere. It was acquired on September 28, 2024.
Kipp’s apparatus. (2020). In A Dictionary of Chemistry (8th ed.). Oxford University Press.
The Science History Institute has a similar example that is catalogued in detail:
Science History Institute. Kipp’s Apparatus, 2022. Science History Institute. Philadelphia. (Archived October 1, 2024).
This apparatus was invented in the mid 1840s by the Dutch chemist and Apothecary, Petrus Kipp (1808–64). Gasses produced in this manner typically required additional processing before they could be used. This instrument was used into the second half of the 20th century, when prepared gasses became widely available.
Models
- Donated to UTSIC