FLAME COLOR OF METALSChristine Dyan Rioja

De La Salle University-DasmariasDasmarias, Cavite Philippines

ABSTRACT
The experiment about flame color of metals demonstrates how electrons jump into their
excitedstate from their ground state as it came in contact with heat. As it return to its
lower energy state,it emits the absorbed energy in the form of light. A platinum or
nichrome wire was dipped into aconcentrated HCL and was heated to clean it.
The wi re was dipped into different salt solutionsand heated in order to determine
the metallic ions color and wavelength. Metal ions emitting aviolet-colored flame has
the largest amount of energy whi le those that emit red-colored flamehave the
least amount of energy.
INTRODUCTION
An at om i s t he smal l est par t i cl e of an el ement , whi ch can exi st and
st i l l have t heproperties of the elementElectrons determine the chemical properties of
atoms. The electrons in an atom exist inlayers called shells or energy levels. The
negatively charged particles of an electron are kept inorbit in the energy level s.
Normall y, atoms do not emit radiation but there are ways of causingradiation
to be emitted. The simplest of these is to heat the atoms. When an atom is
heated, itabsorbs energy causing its electrons to get excited to positions of higher
potential energy farther away from the nucleus. At this state, the atom becomes
unstable. When an electron goes back toits ground state, it radi ates the absorbed
energy in the form of light, which has a characteristi cwavelength. This is the
basis of the flame test used to identify the element. The quantity of energyabsorbed will
account for the presence of a spectral line. The emission spectrum may be used
todetect the presence of an element in both qualitative and quantitative way. Elements
may oftenbe recognized by the color they impart to a flame.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
A platinum or nichrome wire was dipped into a concentrated HCL. The wire was
heatedi nt o t he f l ames hot t est r egi on unt i l t her e was no vi si bl e col or .
The cl eani ng pr ocedur e wasrepeated as necessary. On a watch glass, a few
crystals of CaCl2 were added on to 2 or 3 dropsof distil led water. It was stirred
until it was di ssol ved. The clean wi re was dipped into a saltsolution and was
returned to the hottest part. The flame color was then noted. Using other salts,namely
KCl, NaCl, CuCl2, LiCl, SrCl; the process was repeated.


RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
As the salt solutions were exposed to the hottest region of the flame, the atoms
of thefollowing metal ions jumped into their excited states and immediately emitted
different kinds of color according to their own characteristic line spectrum.For this
experiment, necessary computations were needed such as the energy,frequency of
light, and wavelength. Below are the formulae and references used in theexperiment.
Equation 1: E=hc/ Equation 2: E=hv
Where:
E
-energy of light
C
-speed of light (3.00 x10
8
m/s)
H
-Plancks constant (6.63 x10
-34
J-s)
V
-frequency of light
= wavelength2TABLE 1. CORRELATION BETWEEN WAVELENGTH AND
COLORw a v e l e n g
t h ( n m ) C
o l o r
3 8 0 -
4 3 5 V
i o l e t
4 3 5 -
4 8 0 B
l u e 4
8 0 -
4 9 0 G r e
e n -
b l u e 4 9
0 -
5 0 0 B l u
e -
g r e e n 5
0 0 -
5 6 0 G
r e e n 5
6 0 -
5 8 0 Y e l l
o w -
g r e e n 5
8 0 -
5 9 5 Y
e l l o w
5 9 5 -
6 5 0 O r
a n g e
6 1 0
-
7 5 0
R e d The table below
shows the complete data of results after doing the experiment andsolving for the
necessary values.
TABLE 2.
RESULTSM e t a l I
o n C o l o r V
( H z ) (
n m ) E ( J )
C a l c i u m ( C a ) O r a n
g e 4 . 4 1 x 1 0
-4
6 8 0 n m 2 . 9 3 x 1 0
-37
JC o p p e r ( C u ) G r e
e n 6 . 1 9 x 1 0
-4
4 8 5 n m 4 . 1 0 x 1 0
-37
JS o d i u m ( N a ) Y e l l
o w 4 . 8 2 x 1 0
-4
6 2 2 . 5 n m 3 . 2 0 x 1 0
-37
JL i t h i u m ( L i )
R e d 4 . 8 2 x 1 0
-4
6 2 2 . 5 n m 3 . 2 0 x 1 0
-37
JP o t a s s i u m ( K ) V i o
l e t 4 . 8 2 x 1 0
-4
6 2 2 . 5 n m 3 . 2 0 x 1 0
-37
JS t r o n t i u m ( S r )
R e d 4 . 4 1 x 1 0
-4
6 8 0 n m 2 . 9 3 x 1 0
-37
J


In this experiment, we were able to anal yze metall ic ions in salts with the use
of flametest. We were also able to determine the metal that emitted the largest amount
of energy which isPotassium ( K) and the metal that emitted the least amount of energy
which is Lithium (Li) andStrontium (Sr).
REFERENCES
(1)
Samonte, J.L.; Figueroa, L.V. General Chemistry Laboratory Manual 3
rd
edition.
(2)
Lontok, B.M.; Montessa D.V. A Laboratory Manual in General Chemistry 3
rd
edition