A hot plate is an adjustable heating source which is ideal for heating beakers, erlenmeyer flasks, hot water baths, and other flat-bottomed containers. It is essentially an electric stove top that is used in the laboratory.
The temperature is adjustable (usually on a scale of 0 to 10) and there is very often a built in spinning magnetic stirrer (to be used in combination with a magnetic star bar) so that you can efficiently stir a solution while heating it. Some have computer controllers to maintain the temperature at an exact level (for instance when using a water or oil bath).
A hot plate or heating mantle should always be used in place of a bunsen burner or other open-flame source to heat a flammable liquid.
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First answer by ID3535481605. Last edit by JEK. Contributor trust: 1779 [recommend contributor]. Question popularity: 29 [recommend question]
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