Gas chromatography (GC) has long been the backbone of organic chemical analysis.

HPLC has expanded its scope significantly into chemistry, pharmaceuticals, forensics, and organic chemical analysis.

Ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy (UV-Vis), an absorbance-based analytical technique, measures and identifies chemicals that absorb in the contiguous ultraviolet and visible regions of the electromagnetic spectrum.

Among the hyphenated mass spectrometry (MS) techniques, gas chromatography-MS (GC-MS) and high-performance liquid chromatography- MS (LC-MS) are the most notable. These methods combine the resolving power of high-resolution chromatography with the specificity and sensitivity of MS.

Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, a subset of infrared (IR) spectroscopy, uses a mathematical algorithm, Fourier transform, to translate raw infrared data into a spectrum.

Raman spectroscopy is based on the interaction of visible, near-infrared, or near-ultraviolet light on chemical bonds. When excited with light energy, bonds experience short-lived, higher-energy vibrational states.

Atomic absorption (AA) has been known since the 19th century, but it was not until the 1950s, thanks to efforts by Alan Walsh at Australias CSIRO research center, that use of AA spectrometers became routine for metals analysis.

This article looks at the evolution of the laboratory glassware washer; a staple in most labs.

Laboratory workers will immediately recognize the two basic types of balances: analytical balances and top-loaders.

Today, PCR is used routinely in dozens of approved medical tests in diagnostic labs and physician offices, and by millions of scientists worldwide.

Mills and grinders are used to prepare samples (of minerals, plants, food, drugs, pigments, and forensic materials, for example) through particle size reduction (comminution).

A mainstay of environmental and quality control chemistry, total organic carbon (TOC) analysis measures the carbon content of dissolved and particulate organic materials in water.