A jar is a rigid, cylindrical or slightly conical container, typically made of

glass Glass is a non- crystalline, often transparent, amorphous solid that has widespread practical, technological, and decorative use in, for example, window panes, tableware, and optics. Glass is most often formed by rapid cooling (quenchin ...

ceramic A ceramic is any of the various hard, brittle, heat-resistant and corrosion-resistant materials made by shaping and then firing an inorganic, nonmetallic material, such as clay, at a high temperature. Common examples are earthenware, porcelain, ...

, or

plastic Plastics are a wide range of synthetic or semi-synthetic materials that use polymers as a main ingredient. Their plasticity makes it possible for plastics to be moulded, extruded or pressed into solid objects of various shapes. This adapta ...

, with a wide mouth or opening that can be closed with a lid, screw cap, lug cap, cork stopper, roll-on cap, crimp-on cap, press-on cap, plastic shrink, heat sealed lidding film, an inner seal, a

tamper-evident band A tamper-evident band or security ring serves as a tamper resistant or tamper evident function to a screw cap, lid, or closure. The term ''tamper-proof'' is sometimes used but is considered a misnomer given that pilfering is still technic ...

, or other suitable means.

Etymology

The English word "jar" originates from the

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...

word ''jarra'', which means an earthen pot or vessel.

Creation

Jars are sterilised by putting them in a

pressure cooker Pressure cooking is the process of cooking food under high pressure steam and water or a water-based cooking liquid, in a sealed vessel known as a ''pressure cooker''. High pressure limits boiling, and creates higher cooking temperatures whic ...

with boiling

water Water (chemical formula ) is an inorganic, transparent, tasteless, odorless, and nearly colorless chemical substance, which is the main constituent of Earth's hydrosphere and the fluids of all known living organisms (in which it acts as ...

or an

oven upA double oven A ceramic oven An oven is a tool which is used to expose materials to a hot environment. Ovens contain a hollow chamber and provide a means of heating the chamber in a controlled way. In use since antiquity, they have been use ...

for a number of minutes. Glass jars are considered

microwavable A microwave oven (commonly referred to as a microwave) is an electric oven that heats and cooks food by exposing it to electromagnetic radiation in the microwave frequency range. This induces polar molecules in the food to rotate and produce ...

Utility

Jars can be used to hold

solid Solid is one of the four fundamental states of matter (the others being liquid, gas, and plasma). The molecules in a solid are closely packed together and contain the least amount of kinetic energy. A solid is characterized by structur ...

s too large to be removed from, or

liquid A liquid is a nearly incompressible fluid that conforms to the shape of its container but retains a (nearly) constant volume independent of pressure. As such, it is one of the four fundamental states of matter (the others being solid, gas, ...

s too

viscous The viscosity of a fluid is a measure of its resistance to deformation at a given rate. For liquids, it corresponds to the informal concept of "thickness": for example, syrup has a higher viscosity than water. Viscosity quantifies the in ...

to be poured through a

bottle A bottle is a narrow-necked container made of an impermeable material (such as glass, plastic or aluminium) in various shapes and sizes that stores and transports liquids. Its mouth, at the bottling line, can be sealed with an internal s ...

's neck; these may be

food Food is any substance consumed by an organism for nutritional support. Food is usually of plant, animal, or fungal origin, and contains essential nutrients, such as carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins, or minerals. The substance is in ...

cosmetics Cosmetics are constituted mixtures of chemical compounds derived from either natural sources, or synthetically created ones. Cosmetics have various purposes. Those designed for personal care and skin care can be used to cleanse or protec ...

medication A medication (also called medicament, medicine, pharmaceutical drug, medicinal drug or simply drug) is a drug used to diagnose, cure, treat, or prevent disease. Drug therapy ( pharmacotherapy) is an important part of the medical field and ...

s, or

chemicals A chemical substance is a form of matter having constant chemical composition and characteristic properties. Some references add that chemical substance cannot be separated into its constituent elements by physical separation methods, i.e., wit ...

. Glass jars—among which the most popular is the

mason jar A Mason jar, also known as a canning jar or fruit jar, is a glass jar used in home canning to preserve food. It was named after American tinsmith John Landis Mason, who patented it in 1858. The jar's mouth has a screw thread on its outer perime ...

—can be used for storing and preserving items as diverse as jam, pickled gherkin, other pickles,

marmalade Marmalade is a fruit preserve made from the juice and peel of citrus fruits boiled with sugar and water. The well-known version is made from bitter orange. It is also made from lemons, limes, grapefruits, mandarins, sweet oranges, bergamot ...

sun-dried tomato Sun-dried tomatoes are ripe tomatoes that lose most of their water content after spending a majority of their drying time in the sun. These tomatoes are usually pre-treated with sulfur dioxide or salt before being placed in the sun in order to i ...

es,

olive The olive, botanical name ''Olea europaea'', meaning 'European olive' in Latin, is a species of small tree or shrub in the family Oleaceae, found traditionally in the Mediterranean Basin. When in shrub form, it is known as ''Olea europaea'' ' ...

s, jalapeño peppers,

chutney A chutney is a spread in the cuisines of the Indian subcontinent. Chutneys are made in a wide variety of forms, such as a tomato relish, a ground peanut garnish, yogurt or curd, cucumber, spicy coconut, spicy onion or mint dipping sauce ...

s, pickled eggs,

honey Honey is a sweet and viscous substance made by several bees, the best-known of which are honey bees. Honey is made and stored to nourish bee colonies. Bees produce honey by gathering and then refining the sugary secretions of plants (primar ...

, and many others.

Types

Bell jar A bell jar is a glass jar, similar in shape to a bell (i.e. in its best-known form it is open at the bottom, while its top and sides together are a single piece), and can be manufactured from a variety of materials (ranging from glass to differe ...

- typically used in scientific laboratories to produce a

vacuum A vacuum is a space devoid of matter. The word is derived from the Latin adjective ''vacuus'' for "vacant" or " void". An approximation to such vacuum is a region with a gaseous pressure much less than atmospheric pressure. Physicists often ...

; also used in Victorian times for display purposes *

Cookie jar Cookie jars are utilitarian or decorative ceramic or glass jars often found in American and Canadian kitchens. In the United Kingdom, they are known as biscuit barrels or biscuit jars. If they are cans made out of tinplate, they are called bisc ...

- typically ceramic or glass, common in the United States, Canada, and United Kingdom * Killing jar - used to kill captured insects *

Leyden jar A Leyden jar (or Leiden jar, or archaically, sometimes Kleistian jar) is an electrical component that stores a high-voltage electric charge (from an external source) between electrical conductors on the inside and outside of a glass jar. It ty ...

- a historical electrical capacitor * Specimen jar - an instrument used in anatomy to preserve specimens * Apothecary jar - historically for storage of medicines; made of ceramics or more typically in modern centuries, clear glass. Typically cylindrical or with rotationally symmetric decorative curves, sometimes with a glass disc foot separated from the main body. Modern glass versions are also used for artistic display of the contents. Modern glass food storage jars come in a variety of shapes, all of which have a circular opening on top for screwing on a lid: * Economy round or wide mouth jars - tall but rotund cylinder slightly rounded at the top and bottom, relatively wide with a wide mouth, commonly used for sauces like a mayonnaise * Paragon jars - tall and narrow cylinder, commonly used for pickled foods like olives * French square or Victorian jars - roughly a small cube * Spice jars - small cylinder or

rectangular cuboid In geometry, a cuboid is a hexahedron, a six-faced solid. Its faces are quadrilaterals. Cuboid means "like a cube", in the sense that by adjusting the length of the edges or the angles between edges and faces a cuboid can be transformed into a cub ...

* Hexagon or hex jars -

regular hexagonal prism In geometry, the hexagonal prism is a prism with hexagonal base. Prisms are polyhedrons; this polyhedron has 8 faces, 18 edges, and 12 vertices.. Since it has 8 faces, it is an octahedron. However, the term ''octahedron'' is primarily used ...

Mason jar A Mason jar, also known as a canning jar or fruit jar, is a glass jar used in home canning to preserve food. It was named after American tinsmith John Landis Mason, who patented it in 1858. The jar's mouth has a screw thread on its outer perime ...

s - moderately tall cylinder typically used in home canning, sealed with a metal lid * Kilner jar - similar to a Mason jar but sealed with rubber * Straight-sided jars - cylinders with no neck. Squat straight-sided jars are suitable for creams which can be scooped out. Ancient ceramic types include: *

Amphora An amphora (; grc, ἀμφορεύς, ''amphoreús''; English plural: amphorae or amphoras) is a type of container with a pointed bottom and characteristic shape and size which fit tightly (and therefore safely) against each other in storag ...

- large, but typically holding under 50 L *

Pithos Pithos (, grc-gre, πίθος, plural: ' ) is the Greek name of a large storage container. The term in English is applied to such containers used among the civilizations that bordered the Mediterranean Sea in the Neolithic, the Bronze Age and ...

- very large, typically the size of a person and holding hundreds of liters

Gallery

File:PreservedFood1.jpg, Preserved food in

s File:Jam jar.jpg, Reusable jam jar with

flip-top A flip-top, swing-top, lightning toggle, or Quillfeldt stopper (after the inventor, Charles de Quillfeldt) is a type of closure frequently used for bottles containing carbonated beverages, such as beer or mineral water. The mouth of the bottle i ...

or bail closure File:Jar made of PLA-Blend Bio-Flex.jpg, Jar made of PLA-blend bio-flex, a

bioplastic Bioplastics are plastic materials produced from renewable biomass sources, such as vegetable fats and oils, corn starch, straw, woodchips, sawdust, recycled food waste, etc. Some bioplastics are obtained by processing directly from natural bi ...

File:CandyJaracp.png, Candy jar File:HK Central Kai Bo Foods Buddy's 花生醬 Peanut creamy Butter Skippy April-2012.JPG, Peanut butter File:Orzas in Spain.jpg, Six types of "earthenware jar" in Spain File:Brown-glazed Jar with Design of Three Fish. Yuan Dynasty. Excavated from Hancheng City.jpg, Brown-glazed jar with design of three fish.

Yuan Dynasty The Yuan dynasty (), officially the Great Yuan (; xng, , , literally "Great Yuan State"), was a Mongol-led imperial dynasty of China and a successor state to the Mongol Empire after its division. It was established by Kublai, the fif ...

. File:Jar with pump dispenser.jpg, PP jar of skin cream with pump dispenser

Recycling

Some regions^{n what country?/sup> have a legally mandated deposit refundable upon return of the jar to its retailer, after which the jar is recycled according to the SPI recycling code
Recycling codes are used to identify the materials out of which the item is made, to facilitate easier recycling process. The presence on an item of a recycling code, a chasing arrows logo, or a resin code, is not an automatic indicator that a m ...
for the material.Soroka, W, "Fundamentals of Packaging Technology", IoPP, 2002,

See also

* Canning

Canning is a method of food preservation in which food is processed and sealed in an airtight container ( jars like Mason jars, and steel and tin cans). Canning provides a shelf life that typically ranges from one to five years, althoug ...

* Home canning

Home canning or bottling, also known colloquially as putting up or processing, is the process of preserving foods, in particular, fruits, vegetables, and meats, by packing them into glass jars and then heating the jars to create a vacuum seal and ...

* Child-resistant packaging
* Hu (vessel)

A ''hu'' is a type of wine vessel that has a pear-shaped cross-section. Its body swells and flares into a narrow neck, creating S-shaped profile. While it is similar to ''you'' vessel, ''hu'' usually has a longer body and neck. The shape of ...

* Jar opener
* Tamper-evident
* Tamper resistant
* The asterism Water Jar in the constellation Aquarius
Aquarius may refer to:

Astrology

* Aquarius (astrology), an astrological sign
* Age of Aquarius, a time period in the cycle of astrological ages
Astronomy
* Aquarius (constellation)
* Aquarius in Chinese astronomy
Arts and entertainment ...

References

External links

*
*

{{packaging

Storage vessels
Glass jars

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