Chemicals and Reagents

Chemicals are substances of sufficient purity for use in qualitative and quantitative elemental analysis as trace elements or for experimentation. Reagents are substances or compounds which are added to bring about a chemical reaction or are added to see if a reaction will occur. Some are just a single element but most are compounds, of organic or inorganic origin. It would be impossible to give a comprehensive list of all chemicals and reagents used in laboratories since it would be too long and would depend on the nature of the laboratory's work. Chemicals can be categorised as to whether they have strong bases (such as sodium hydride or sodium amide) or weak bases (like potassium carbonate or sodium hydroxide). Other experimental work would entail distinguishing between acids like sulphuric hydrochloric or alkalis. Some commonly used substances are solutions, staining and dying substances such as iodine or ethidium bromide. Salts, minerals, sugars and solvents include agar, ethanol or acetone. More specialised substances would be needed for molecular biology experiments or techniques like chromatography. No laboratory, whether it is research, educational or industrial, would be able to function effectively without chemicals and reagents. Some are basic components but others are highly specialised.