Solution preparation involves mixing liquids and dissolving solids in liquids. There are many specialized devices in addition to balances, volume measuring devices, and pH meters involved in these processes.
- Magnetic stirrers come in the form of a box with a magnet inside attached to a motor that spins the magnet. When a vessel containing a magnetic stir bar is on top of the magnetic stirrer, the stir bar spins and stirs the contents of the vessel.
- A vortex mixer rotates the bottom of a tube rapidly; setting up a vortex in the liquid that rapidly mixes the contents.
- A rotovaporization system can be used to rapidly reduce the volume (and thereby increase the concentration) of a solution by evaporation of solvent. To do this a round bottom flask containing the solution is spun to coat the glass with solution, creating a large surface area for the solvent to evaporate more rapidly. To increase the evaporation rates, a vacuum is pulled on the spinning flask and the flask can be spun in a heated water bath. To prevent the vacuum pump from being damaged by evaporating solvent, a condenser coil is placed between the flask and the pump to condense the solvent from the air.