Soxhlet extractor

English

Soxhlet extractor (with condenser above and flask below)

Etymology

Invented in 1879 by Franz von Soxhlet.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈsɒkslət ɪkˌstɹæktə/

Noun

Soxhlet extractor (plural Soxhlet extractors)

1. (chemistry) A piece of laboratory apparatus consisting of a glass reservoir that sits over a lower flask (containing a boiling solvent) and under a condenser; a sample contained in a paper thimble is placed in the reservoir and soluble materials are continually extracted by the warm solvent and transferred to the lower flask via a siphon.
   • 2006, Thomas Pynchon, Against the Day, Vintage, published 2007, page 264:

     Amid a gleaming clutter of burners and spectroscopes, funnels and flasks, centrifugal and Soxhlet extractors […] , serious girls with their hair in snoods entered numbers into log books

Further reading

• Soxhlet extractor on Wikipedia.Wikipedia