Tripod and gauze
A tripod is a metal stand with three legs, and a gauze is a square of wire mesh that sits on top of it.
What is it for?
Together they hold a beaker or flask above a Bunsen burner, and the gauze spreads the heat out evenly.
How to use it
Put the tripod over the burner, lay the gauze on top, then place your beaker in the middle of the gauze.
🥽 Safety tip: The tripod and gauze stay hot long after the flame is off, so leave them to cool before you touch them.
Fun fact from Fizzy: Tripod means three feet. Something standing on three legs never wobbles, even on a bumpy table.
A closer look
The tripod is made of iron or steel so it can stand the heat of a flame. Its legs are tall enough for a Bunsen burner to fit underneath. The gauze is a mesh of thin wires, and some have a heat-proof circle in the middle that spreads the heat even more.
Without the gauze, the flame would heat just one small patch of the beaker, and that hot spot could make the glass crack.
Where you would see one
You will see a tripod and gauze in almost every school lab that has Bunsen burners. Bigger labs often use an electric hotplate instead, which heats a flat metal top with no flame at all.