Calibration and toleration standards for volumetric flasks are defined in the following standard specifications and practices: ASTM E288,1 E542,2 E694,3 ISO 1042,4 and GOST 1770-74.5 According to these specifications, volumetric flasks come in two different classes. The higher standard flasks (Class A, Class 1, USP or equivalent depending on the country) are made with a more accurately placed graduation mark, and have a unique serial number for traceability. Where this is not required, a lower standard (Class B or equivalent) is used for qualitative or educational work.
Volumetric flasks are generally colourless but may be amber-coloured for the handling of light-sensitive compounds such as silver nitrate or vitamin A.
A modification of the volumetric flask exists for dealing with large quantities of solids that are to be transferred into a volumetric vessel for dissolution. Such a flask has a wide mouth and is known as a Kohlrausch volumetric flask. This kind of volumetric flask is commonly used in analysis of the sugar content in sugar beets.
While conventional volumetric flasks have a single mark, industrial volumetric tests in analytical chemistry and food chemistry may employ specialized volumetric flasks with multiple marks to combine several accurately measured volumes.
A highly specialized kind of the volumetric flask is the Le Chatelier flask for use with the volumetric procedure in specific gravity determination.6
ASTM E288 - 10 Standard Specification for Laboratory Glass Volumetric Flasks. http://www.astm.org/Standards/E288.htm ↩
ASTM E542 - 01(2007) Standard Practice for Calibration of Laboratory Volumetric Apparatus. http://www.astm.org/Standards/E542.htm ↩
ASTM E694 - 99(2010) Standard Specification for Laboratory Glass Volumetric Apparatus. http://www.astm.org/Standards/E694.htm ↩
ISO 1042:1998 Laboratory glassware – One-mark volumetric flasks. http://www.iso.org/iso/iso_catalogue/catalogue_tc/catalogue_detail.htm?csnumber=25484 ↩
GOST 1770-74 Laboratory volumetric glassware. Cylinders, beakers, measuring flasks, test tubes. General specifications. http://protect.gost.ru/document.aspx?control=7&id=165630 ↩
ASTM C188 - 09 Standard Test Method for Density of Hydraulic Cement. http://www.astm.org/Standards/C188.htm ↩