Flame colors

A flame (from Latin flamma) is the visible (light-emitting), gaseous part of a fire. It is caused by a highly exothermic reaction such as, combustion, a self-sustaining oxidation reaction) taking place in a thin zone. WHY COLORED FLAME? In the flame, electrons get excited and pushed to higher energy levels by the heat energy. When they fall back down, they give off photons of light of different colors, based upon how far they fall. Different temperatures cause electrons to jump to different levels, but different types of atoms also have energy levels that are different distances apart. Thus putting copper into a flame causes a green glow because electrons on the copper atoms are falling a Colors in general result from either emission of light of specific wavelengths, or absorption of light of specific wavelengths from a mix of photons. At the root of both emission and absorption is the excitement of electrons. and jumping exactly the right distance to emit or absorb photons of the frequency we see as green. Color Of The Flame Depends On: Nature of fuel Temperature of flame Black body radiation

Flame colors
Spectral band emission The Color Of Different Flames W.R.T Their Temperature. The "coolest" flame is a yellow / orange color. It is approximately 300C. It is never used to heat anything, only to show that the Bunsen burner is on. It is called the safety flame. The medium flame, also called the blue flame or the invisible flame is difficult to see in a well-lit room. It is the most commonly used flame. It is approximately 500C. The hottest flame is called the roaring blue flame. It is characterized by a light blue triangle in the middle and it is the only flame of the 3 which makes a noise. It is approximately 700C Flame color depends on several factors, the most important typically being blackbody radiation and spectral band emission, with both spectral line emission and spectral line absorption playing smaller roles. In the most common type of flame, hydrocarbon flames, the most important factor determining color is oxygen supply and the extent of fuel-oxygen pre-mixing, which determines the rate of combustion and thus the temperature and reaction paths, thereby producing different color hues.

Application Of Colored Flame There are some uses of the flame test in industry; 1. It is particularly useful for the identification of polymers, because many of them give off unique burn patterns. 2. It is also used in salt analysis. 3. Salt gives different color depending upon the metal present in them

Flame colors
Element (salt) Name of element Qualitative observations White powder Colour of flame (after the alcohol burned of) Bright magenta/deeper red Red flame wrapping in blue flame Turquoise with the tip of the flame being red Orange yellow Pale green Purple Orange LiCl Lithium Chlorine

SrCl2

Strontium chloride

White powder

CuCl2

Copper(II) chloride

Blue powder

NaCl2 BaCl2 Cl CaCl2

Sodium Chlorine Barium chloride Chlorine Calcium chloride

White powder White powder White powder White powder

Metals Regular wooden splint Barium Calcium Copper Lithium Potassium Sodium Strontium Fe

Flame Color Orange/yellow Yellow Red Green Red/pink Pink Orange Red/orange Gold

Flame colors
Fuel
Ethanol Group1 Group2 Group3 Kerosene Group1 Group2 Group3 Flame Color Clear Clear Clear Orange Orange Orange Reaction Color Bright Yellow Bright Yellow Bright Yellow Yellow Yellow Yellow Drops of NaOH Trial 1 4 5 2 5 4 2 Drops of NaOH Trial 2 5 5 2 3 4 2 Drops of NaOH Trial 3 7 4 2 5 4 4 Aluminum foil test None None None Charred Charred Charred