FLAME COLOR OF METALS

Christine Dyan Rioja

De La Salle University-Dasmariñas
Dasmariñas, Cavite Philippines

ABSTRACT

The experiment about flame color of metals demonstrates how electrons jump into their excited
state 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 a
concentrated HCL and was heated to clean it. The wire was dipped into different salt solutions
and heated in order to determine the metallic ion’s color and wavelength. Metal ions emitting a
violet-colored flame has the largest amount of energy while those that emit red-colored flame
have the least amount of energy.

INTRODUCTION

An atom is the smallest particle of an element, which can exist and still have the
properties of the element

Electrons determine the chemical properties of atoms. The electrons in an atom exist in
layers called shells or energy levels. The negatively charged particles of an electron are kept in
orbit in the energy levels. Normally, atoms do not emit radiation but there are ways of causing
radiation to be emitted. The simplest of these is to heat the atoms. When an atom is heated, it
absorbs 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 to
its ground state, it radiates the absorbed energy in the form of light, which has a characteristic
wavelength. This is the basis of the flame test used to identify the element. The quantity of energy
absorbed will account for the presence of a spectral line. The emission spectrum may be used to
detect the presence of an element in both qualitative and quantitative way. Elements may often
be 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 heated
into the flames hottest region until there was no visible color. The cleaning procedure was
repeated as necessary. On a watch glass, a few crystals of CaCl2 were added on to 2 or 3 drops
of distilled water. It was stirred until it was dissolved. The clean wire was dipped into a salt
solution 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 the
following 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 the
experiment.

Equation 1: E=hc/ Λ
Equation 2: E=hv

Where: E -energy of light

C -speed of light (3.00 x108 m/s)
H -Planck’s constant (6.63 x10-34 J-s)
V -frequency of light

Λ= wavelength
2

TABLE 1. CORRELATION BETWEEN WAVELENGTH AND COLOR

Wavelength (nm) Color
380-435 Violet
435-480 Blue
480-490 Green-blue
490-500 Blue-green
500-560 Green
560-580 Yellow-green
580-595 Yellow
595-650 Orange
610-750 Red

The table below shows the complete data of results after doing the experiment and
solving for the necessary values.

TABLE 2. RESULTS
Metal Ion Color V (Hz) Λ (nm) E (J)
Calcium (Ca) Orange 4.41 x10-4 680 nm 2.93 x10-37J
Copper (Cu) Green 6.19 x10-4 485 nm 4.10 x10-37J
Sodium (Na) Yellow 4.82 x10-4 622.5 nm 3.20 x10-37J
Lithium (Li) Red 4.82 x10-4 622.5 nm 3.20 x10-37J
Potassium (K) Violet 4.82 x10-4 622.5 nm 3.20 x10-37J
Strontium (Sr) Red 4.41 x10-4 680 nm 2.93 x10-37J
 In this experiment, we were able to analyze metallic ions in salts with the use of flame
test. We were also able to determine the metal that emitted the largest amount of energy which is
Potassium ( K) and the metal that emitted the least amount of energy which is Lithium (Li) and
Strontium (Sr).

REFERENCES

(1) Samonte, J.L.; Figueroa, L.V. General Chemistry Laboratory Manual 3rd edition.
(2) Lontok, B.M.; Montessa D.V. A Laboratory Manual in General Chemistry 3rd edition.