FLAME TEST

Corleto, Mary Ann1 De Guzman, Caselyn1 Deang, Astrid Jireh1 Javier, Jonard Samuel Rosauro1 Rillorta, Bryan1 Department of Physical Sciences, College of Science, University of the Philippines Baguio

ABSTRACT The goal of this experiment is to observe the excited states of atoms, ions and molecules when exposed to high energy levels and to observe the visible spectrum of light. Using filter paper and cation samples, it was observed that the KCl sample has the shortest wavelength and CaCl2 sample has the longest wavelength. However, wavelength is not proportional to the energy, that is, CaCl2 gave off the lowest energy while KCl gave of the largest. Moreover, the lights that were produced during the experiment were due to electrons that excite to higher energy levels and return to their ground state. The energy absorbed during the process is emitted in the form of electromagnetic energy, that is, light. INTRODUCTION Light is at once both obvious and mysterious. We are bathed in yellow warmth every day and stave off the darkness with incandescent and fluorescent bulbs. But what exactly is a light? Light or visible light is an electromagnetic radiation that is visible to human eye. Visible light corresponds to a wavelength range of 400 - 700 nanometers (nm) and a colour range of violet through red. [1] The human eye is not capable of "seeing" radiation with wavelengths outside the visible spectrum. The visible colours from shortest to longest wavelength are: violet, blue, green, yellow, orange, and red. Ultraviolet radiation has a shorter wavelength than the visible violet light. Infrared radiation has a longer wavelength than visible red light.

The white light is a mixture of the colours of the visible spectrum. Black is a total absence of light. [1] The objectives of the experiment are: (1) to observe the visible spectrum of light using the flame test, (2) To know the basic properties of light and (3) to observe the excited states of particles such as atoms, ions, and molecules to higher energy levels and determine its physical changes. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Table 1. Flame Colour and Energy Level of each Sample Sample Water (blank) CuCl2 CaCl2 NaCl BaCl2 KCl Colour of Flame Orange Blue Green Red Orange Bright Yellow Orange Yellow Pinkish Violet Arranged according to increasing energy 3 5 1 2 4 6

Chloride salts were used because when heated, chlorine does not produce its own colour that would interfere with the colours of the metals. There are no excited states for chlorine that will emit the visible part of the electromagnetic spectrum. When salt is added to flame, the combustion process excites electrons to higher orbitals. To return to its ground state, the electrons release extra energy in form of light. Different metals emit different wavelengths since they have different number of electrons. In the visible electromagnetic spectrum, red has the shortest wavelength (approx. 104) while

white has the longest (approx. 1020.) The shorter the wavelength, the lower the energy, which explains why white is the hottest flame and blue-violet next to it. As seen on the table, calcium chloride has the lowest energy relative to the other metal salts since it emits a red orange flame. Potassium chloride has the highest energy since it emits a pinkish violet colour. Distilled water is used as a control since mineral or tap water contains impurities which can give off other flame colours. Distilled water does not change the colour of the flame and is used as a basis for other metal salts since it is in the middle of the energy level ranking. However, these results are not perfectly accurate. There may be some impurities present in the metal ions which can give off different flame colours. Also, combustion time might not be enough. In barium chloride, for example, the excited electrons take more time to return to its ground state, thus taking longer time to give off a different flame colour. It is supposed to emit a light green light. But since the electrons take a longer time to release light energy, the filter paper is burnt before it can emit green light. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION When water was put into flame, it gave off an orange colour, copper-blue green, calcium- red orange, sodium- yellow orange, barium-yellow, and potassium- pink violet. Because the red colour has the longest wavelength, it means that it has the lowest energy. On the other hand, violet has the shortest wavelength and has the highest energy level. That in mind, the potassium chloride has the highest energy and calcium chloride has the lowest.

There are quite a number of possible errors in this experiment. It is possible that the salt compound used in the experiment have impurities. In that case, the colour of the flame would change or vary. Some of the compounds have longer reaction time than the others. Again, because of the incompleteness of the reaction, the colour observed might have somewhat varied. During the experiment, it was observed that when the various chloride salts were treated in flame, varying colours were emitted by these compounds. This is because each of the metal ions present in each compound emits different colours of light. These lights were produced due to electrons that excite to higher energy levels and return to their ground state. The energy absorbed during the process is emitted in the form of electromagnetic energy, some of this, in the form of light. LITERATURE CITED
[1]

http://science-edu.larc.nasa.gov/EDDOCS/Wavelengths_for_Colors.html

Young, H. and Freedman, R. 2008. University Physics with Modern Physics. San Francisco, CA: Pearson Education, Inc. pp. 1095-1096. http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/ems3.html, Retrieved April 18, 2014. http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/ems1.html#c1, Retrieved April 19, 2014. http://www.chemguide.co.uk/inorganic/group1/flametests.html, Retrieved April 19, 2014.