Happy Christmas!
I have been a little slow with my posting, but now that things have settled down I will start to work a little harder. The following video shows how different metal salts change the colour of a flame. This can be used to identify what metal is in an unknown compound. I recorded the audio with the bluetooth headset from my PS3 so apologies for the sound quality.
The flames in a log fire are orange because of microscopically small particles of soot (carbon) glowing red hot within them. This is the same reason that a Bunsen flame with the airhole shut is yellow.
Answers to the following in the comments section below please…
- To which group of metals do lithium, sodium and potassium belong?
- What do barium, calcium and strontium have in common and what would you expect the pH of their oxides dissolved in water to be?
- Boron is semimetallic so not a true metal. It has more in common with silicon than with any of the metals above. What simple physical test would show that it is not a true metal?
- What cultural reference is the title of this post making?
If you are reading this, you ought to leave a comment somewhere on the blog.
Don’t be shy…
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