Vial
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
For other uses, see Vial (disambiguation).
A vial (also known as a phial or flacon) is a small glass or plastic vessel or bottle, often used to store medication as liquids, powders or capsules. They can also be used as sample vessels; for instance, in autosampler devices in analyticalchromatography. Modern vials are often made of plastics such as polypropylene.
Contents[hide] |
[edit]Design
There are several different types of closure systems, including screw vials (closed with a screw cap or dropper/pipette), lip vials (closed with a cork or plastic stopper) and crimp vials (closed with a rubber stopper and a metal cap).[1] Plastic vials can have other closure systems, such as flip-tops or snap caps. A vial can be tubular, or have a bottle-like shape with a neck. The volume defined by the neck is known as the headspace. The bottom of a vial is usually flat, unlike test tubes, which have usually a rounded bottom. The small bottle-shaped vials typically used in laboratories are also known as bijou or McCartney's bottles. The bijou bottle tends to be smaller, often with a volume of around 10 milliliters.
[edit]Etymology
The English word "vial" is derived from the Greek phiale,[3] meaning "a broad flat container".[4] Comparable terms include the Latin phiala, Late Latin fiola and Middle English fiole and viole.
[edit]See also
- Ampoule
- Seven vials, mentioned in the Book of Revelation
- Vacutainer
[edit]References
 | Look up vial in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. |
 | Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Vials |
- ^ "Cappers" (Web). Pharmaceutical Online. Retrieved 2013-03-08.
- ^ "Fiole miniature". Louvre Museum. Retrieved 2012-06-04.
- ^ "Vial at Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionary" (Web). Merriam-Webster. Retrieved 2007-09-15.
- ^ "Phiale" (Web). About.com. Retrieved 2012-06-04.
