The wide variety of lab shaker designs on the market reflects the increasing diversity of scientific experimentation. Labs now use a greater range of sample sizes than ever before, from liters to microliters.

Shakers and rockers are key pieces in many labs. Check out our resources for buying these instruments

Laboratory shakers come in a variety of configurations, including orbital, horizontal, incubator, tumbling, roller, overhead, rotator, and the subject of this article, rocking shakers. Within these categories, numerous
variables are possible: physical size and sample capacity, speed adjustment, shaking direction, sample pitch, direct temperature control through heating or cooling coils, and environment control through enclosures or use within incubators.

The wide variety of lab-shaker designs on the market reflects the increasing diversity of scientific experimentation. Labs now use a greater range of sample sizes than ever before, from liters to microliters. And while replicate and combinatorial studies increase the number of samples, requirements for environmental control create yet a third dimension that shaker designers must consider.

Get fun facts about shakers and stirrers, a list of questions to ask when buying shakers and stirrers, the most recent shaker and stirrer releases, and an updated shaker and stirrer manufacturer's list in this section.

The wide variety of lab-shaker designs on the market reflects the increasing diversity of scientific experimentation. Labs now use a greater range of sample sizes than ever before, from liters to microliters.

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Assays from academics to industry require shakers. In the life sciences, for example, one expert says the new uses of shakers basically mimic what you see in the industry, which is an increase in the use of genomics. He adds shakers are used in almost every application in some fashion. For example, shakers are widely used in cell culture work.

Customization, shrinking size, and other features open new applications

Magnetic stirrers are a popular type of laboratory stirrer that use a rotating magnetic field to cause a stirrer bar to rotate within the solution.

Mixing solutions is one of the most common laboratory tasks. Over the years, a number of automated methods for mixing have been devised, all of which remove this burden from the operator by offering a sustained and controlled stirring action for indefinite periods of time.

Lab shakers are available in two different mixing actions: orbital and reciprocal and are primarily used for culturing organisms in shake flasks or test tubes, and can also be used for mixing liquids.