Crucible

In chemistry, a crucible is a kind of laboratory equipment that is usually a small cup, about the size of a shot glass, made of porcelain or non-reactive metal. Crucibles are used to heat chemical compounds to very high temperatures using a gas burner. One of the earliest uses of platinum was as a material in crucibles. Metals such as nickel and zirconium are also used as a modern crucible material.

References

• Metal Technology - a manufacturer of crucibles Archived 2004-04-04 at the Wayback Machine