Why do flame tests work

Take a damp splint or cotton swab that has been moistened in water, dip it in the sample to be tested, and wave the splint or swab through the flame.

Do not hold the sample in the flame as this would cause the splint or swab to ignite. Use a new splint or swab for each test. Classic Wire Loop Method: First, you need a clean wire loop. Platinum or nickel-chromium loops are most common. They may be cleaned by dipping in hydrochloric or nitric acid, followed by rinsing with distilled or deionized water.

Test the cleanliness of the loop by inserting it into a gas flame. If a burst of color is produced, the loop is not sufficiently clean. The loop must be cleaned between tests. The clean loop is dipped in either a powder or solution of an ionic metal salt. Within the flame, regions of particles with similar energy transitions will create a seemingly continuous band of color. For example, the red region of the flame contains a high proportion of particles with a difference in quantum state energies that corresponds to the red range of the visible light spectrum.

A page from the "Causes of Color" exhibit What causes the colors in flames? Line spectrum for hydrogen. This picture illustrates the distinctive colors produced by burning particular elements. When heated, the electrons gain energy and can be excited into any of the empty higher-energy orbitals—7s, 6p, 4d, or any other, depending on the amount of energy a particular electron happens to absorb from the flame.

Because the electron is now at a higher and more energetically unstable level, it falls back down to the original level, but not necessarily in one transition.

The electron transitions which produced lines in the visible spectrum involved atoms rather than ions. Jim Clark Chemguide. Practical Details in Carrying out Flame Tests Clean a platinum or nichrome a nickel-chromium alloy wire by dipping it into concentrated hydrochloric acid and then holding it in a hot Bunsen flame.

Repeat this until the wire produces no color in the flame. When the wire is clean, moisten it again in the acid and then dip it into a small amount of the solid to be tested so that some sticks to the wire. Place the wire back in the flame. If the flame color is weak, it is often helpful to dip the wire back in the acid and put it back into the flame as if cleaning it.

This should produce a very short but intense flash of color. What color is a flame? What color is rubidium flame? What color flame does magnesium produce? Does magnesium burn with a flame? Why does magnesium not have a flame Colour? Which salt does not impart Colour to the flame? Why do lithium and magnesium not impart Colour to the flame in the flame test? Why is sodium flame yellow? Why do you have to clean the Nichrome wire?

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