試験管

1. Origins, structure, and basic meaning

• Structure: 試験管 (しけんかん) is a compound noun for a test tube used to hold or react small amounts of material in an experiment.
• Basic usage: It appears in descriptions of adding liquid, washing, drying, and otherwise handling laboratory equipment.
  • 試験管に少量の液体を入れた。 — I put a small amount of liquid into the test tube.
  • 洗った試験管を逆さにして乾かした。 — I stood the washed test tubes upside down to dry.

2. Common pitfalls and similar expressions

• Test and laboratory object
  • 試験 alone can mean a test or examination, but 試験管 is the fixed name of a laboratory object. The receiving tube is marked with に when liquid is put into it.