Taylor Alsaker

Chemistry, 1B
Flame Test Lab

Purpose:
In this lab we are trying to discover how different chemical formulas
have an effect on the color of a flame. This can be found by holding wooden
splints that have been dissolved in a specific chemical solution over the
bunsen burners flame and observing the color that the flame turned.

Materials:
- Chemicals:
- CuSO(aq)
- NaCl(s)
- SrCl(aq)
- MgCl(aq)
- CuCl(aq)
- CaCl(aq)
- BaCl(aq)
- NaCl(aq)
- LiCl(aq)
- KCl(aq)

- Equipment:
- Bunsen Burner
- Striker
- 10 Erlenmeyer Flasks
- Plastic Weigh Boat
- Wooden Splints
- Microchrome Wire

Data Collection:

Color Turned When Chemical Formulas are Held Over Flame

 Chemical Formula Color Turned

CuSO(aq) Green

NaCl Orange

SrCl(aq) Red

MgCl(aq) Blue

CuCl(aq) Green

CaCl(aq) Orange

BaCl(aq) Yellow

NaCl(aq) Orange

LiCl(aq) Red

KCl(aq) Purple

Conclusion:

In the Flame Test Lab we used wooden splints soaked in different

chemical formulas and held them over a burning flame so we could see the
effect of the formula on the color of the flame. Six colors occurred in the lab;
red, orange, yellow, blue, green, and violet. The flame burned red with LiCl(aq)
and SrCl2(aq),
orange with NaCl(aq), NaCl(s), and CaCl2(aq), yellow with BaCl2(aq), green with
CuCl2(aq) and CuSO4(aq), blue with MgCl2(aq), and violet with KCl(aq). The ionic
compounds in the mixture gave off the colors of light because when the
water was tested above the flame there was not a change in the color of the
flame, yet when all other chemical compounds were tested a new color of
light was given off. The metals in the compounds are responsible for the
color of the solution due to the fact that Chlorine was an element in nine of
the ten tests, yet there were six different colors that appeared. Therefore,
the metals must have been in charge of the color change because if the non
metals were in charge, then any with chloride would have all been the same
color. The Flame Test Lab proves that different chemical compounds will
give off a different color of light when held above a flame.
Light is created in a simple-seeming process. First, energy is absorbed
by an electron in its ground state. After the energy is absorbed, the electron
jumps to a higher energy level or an excited state. Once there, the electron
cannot maintain the high energy level state so it drops back down to its
ground level. The energy from this process is released as a photon of light
while the electron is going back down to its ground state. To further explain
light, the Conservation of Energy explains how the energy absorbed in the
electrons jump is the same as the wavelength and frequency released in
the fall. The frequency is how fast a light beam travels and the wavelength is
how far in nanometers it is from crest-to-crest of the wave. The color with the
highest energy level was violet with a wavelength of 405 nm, but all the cool
colors had higher energies than the warm colors. On the other hand, the
warm colors had longer wavelengths than the cool colors did, red having the
longest with a wavelength of about 655 nm. Colors were given off during this
experiment, but the ones I could see were not the only colors given off. The
variations of colors contain many different colors that we do not see when
the larger, whole color is given off. The Flame Lab Test was an interesting
way to learn about light and the relationship between color, energy, and
elements.