A gas burner used in laboratories; has an air valve to regulate the mixture of gas and air; SYN. bunsen, etna.
Gas burner used in laboratories, consisting of a vertical metal tube through which a fine jet of fuel gas is directed. Air is drawn in through airholes near the base of the tube and the mixture is ignited and burns at the tube's upper opening.
The invention of the burner is attributed to German chemist Robert von Bunsen 1855 but English chemist and physicist Michael Faraday is known to have produced a similar device at an earlier date. A later refinement was the metal collar that can be turned to close or partially close the airholes, thereby regulating the amount of air sucked in and hence the heat of the burner's flame.