In the lab, a hot plate can be more useful than a Bunsen burner because the hot plate has the option of heating the substance slow as opposed to a rapid open flame heat source. The slow heating is important to finding the melting or boiling point of a substance accurately; although, there are other more accurate methods. The hot plate are electrical and less harmless then an open flame like the Bunsen burner because many organic compound are very volatile and extremely flammable.