Flame Test Lab

By: Natalia Velasco and Dylan Perry November 6th 2012 2B Henderson

Flame Test Lab Intro:

The normal electron configuration of atoms of an element is known as the ground state. This is the most stable energy state all electrons are in the lowest energy levels available. When atoms in the ground state are heated to high temperatures, some electrons may absorb enough energy to allow them to jump to higher energy levels. The element is then said to be in the excited state. This change is unstable, and the electrons fall back to their normal positions of lower energy (ground state). As the electrons return to their normal levels, the energy that was absorbed is released. Some of this energy may be in the form of visible light. The color of this light can be used as a means of identifying the elements involved. By placing the atoms of a metal into a flame the electrons will jump to an exited energy state, this is called a quantum jump. When they return to their ground state (normal energy level) they will release a photon and the color of the photon will tell us how much energy it released. Red is the lowest energy and violet is the highest. The order of the electrons in an atom will determine the size of the quantum jumps and the energy of the photons, this is known as emission spectrum. During the lab we will put the different substances in the flame and watch the different colors of the emission spectra which will help us to figure out the what substance it is. Our Flame lab test is meant to show how the color of a flame is used to distinguish substances. I think that if elements with a higher energy are put into the flame then the flame will turn to a high wavelength color such as violet.

Procedure:
Make sure that everybody in your group is following the safety guidelines. Wear safety goggles and closed toed shoes, tie back loose hair and loose clothing, double check that the nozzle on the spray bottle is facing away from students before spraying and keep in mind the safety rules for when working with Bunsen burners. First light your Bunsen burner to the hottest flame possible and make sure it is about three inches high. Get the spray bottle with one of the known solutions. Point the nozzle towards the hot part of the Bunsen burner flame and spray once. Pay attention to the flash of color, some colors dont remain long. Record your observations in the data table using colored pencils. Return the spray bottle to it proper location and then repeat this process with all of the known solutions. Finally get the bottles for the unknown solutions from your teacher identify them and record them in the table provided. Materials: Bunsen Burner Spray Bottle Apron Safety Goggles

Results:
Element Lithium Potassium Sodium Strontium Calcium Barium Copper V B G Y O R Wavelength 650 nm 415 nm 610 nm 620 nm 610 nm 578 nm 565 nm Unknown Color of Identification # Flame 1 Red Li 2 Green/Yellow Ba 3 Green Cu 4 Violet/Orange K

Discussion:
1. Why do the elements produce light? It is because the electrons release energy when they are returning to their proper energy level after being exited electrons. 2. Why does each element produce a new color of light? Different electrons release different amount of energy. 3. ``energy? Lowest energy? Potassium has the highest because it has the shortest wavelength, which means it has the most energy. The lowest is Lithium because it has the longest wavelength and therefor has the least amount of energy.

Calculations:

Conclusion:

We were able to identify the different unknown elements after we recorded the known elements because we knew what color the flame would turn for each element. We were able to see the color of the flame changing because of the fact that the electrons were jumping to a higher level and them quickly jumping back. When the electrons returned to their normal energy level they released energy and that is what changed the color of the flame. Our lab ran smoothly with no errors, but to make this experiment even better we could have done it in a dark room so that it would be easier to identify the different colors.