I watched a chemistry professor at the local university use a nebulizer (sp?) to do flame testing through a bunsen burner setup. It was one of the better flames I have seen.
can the salts be dissolved in the alcahol to produce immediate coloured flame...ex dissolving CuCl2 in ethanol tand placing the mixture in an alcahol burner...will it give a coloured flame??
@darrylportelli First, as a warning, I woul duse a non-halogen salt of copper like coper sulfate because it is less toxic, but yet you will get a ccolored flame. However, I've found that it takes a lot of salt and very little alcohol to get a fully colored fire rather than just a few tounges of color, so rather than loading it into a burner I would suggest soaking a cotton swab in it, or something like that. Also the wick will impose an additional color to the flame other than just the metal.
@darrylportelli I would also like to point out that some companies sell "safety fuel" for alcohol burners that have sodium chloride dissolved in it already to give a yellow colored flame that is easier to see in a lit room over the faint blue of the alcohol flame.
Ethyl is C2H5OH and Methyl is CH3OH. I've been told by several reputable sources that ethyl is less poisonous and possibly burns at a slightly lower temperature. Methyl would work, but just needs to be handled with extra care.
Hi, my chemistry teacher did this demo a few days ago, but she didn't specify the type of alcohol used (Isopropyl?) or the specific names of the metal salts, I'm wondering if you could tell me a little more about this experiment? I am really interested in chemistry, and to be honest, I would really like to try that Copper flame test, it looks really cool :)
I'm guessing you're a teacher and have connections, but are the materials for this experiment available to the general public?
Isopropyl would work, but I use ethyl because it is safer and is easier to obtain without impurities.
For all except copper and boron I use chloride salts. I use the sulfate and the acid respectively. Most of the salts are commercially available and certainly available through science supply/chemical supply stores. I would not recommend doing the barium salt because it is highly toxic and difficult to dispose of safely.
I always hesitate to release details because of liability issues.
The green flame is so cool~~~
xahkdlys119 3 months ago
I watched a chemistry professor at the local university use a nebulizer (sp?) to do flame testing through a bunsen burner setup. It was one of the better flames I have seen.
dnawibe1 3 months ago
can the salts be dissolved in the alcahol to produce immediate coloured flame...ex dissolving CuCl2 in ethanol tand placing the mixture in an alcahol burner...will it give a coloured flame??
darrylportelli 1 year ago
@darrylportelli First, as a warning, I woul duse a non-halogen salt of copper like coper sulfate because it is less toxic, but yet you will get a ccolored flame. However, I've found that it takes a lot of salt and very little alcohol to get a fully colored fire rather than just a few tounges of color, so rather than loading it into a burner I would suggest soaking a cotton swab in it, or something like that. Also the wick will impose an additional color to the flame other than just the metal.
mrericsully 1 year ago
@darrylportelli I would also like to point out that some companies sell "safety fuel" for alcohol burners that have sodium chloride dissolved in it already to give a yellow colored flame that is easier to see in a lit room over the faint blue of the alcohol flame.
mrericsully 1 year ago
Hey, thanks I might just try this one sometime (in a safe way)
I won't hold anything against you :)
Some science experiments/demos are just plain cool, like this one.
Barium is a heavy metal?
How is Ethyl different than Methyl alcohol?
Rallscrawls 3 years ago
Barium is a heavy metal and a known carcinogen.
Ethyl is C2H5OH and Methyl is CH3OH. I've been told by several reputable sources that ethyl is less poisonous and possibly burns at a slightly lower temperature. Methyl would work, but just needs to be handled with extra care.
mrericsully 3 years ago
Hi, my chemistry teacher did this demo a few days ago, but she didn't specify the type of alcohol used (Isopropyl?) or the specific names of the metal salts, I'm wondering if you could tell me a little more about this experiment? I am really interested in chemistry, and to be honest, I would really like to try that Copper flame test, it looks really cool :)
I'm guessing you're a teacher and have connections, but are the materials for this experiment available to the general public?
Rallscrawls 3 years ago
Isopropyl would work, but I use ethyl because it is safer and is easier to obtain without impurities.
For all except copper and boron I use chloride salts. I use the sulfate and the acid respectively. Most of the salts are commercially available and certainly available through science supply/chemical supply stores. I would not recommend doing the barium salt because it is highly toxic and difficult to dispose of safely.
I always hesitate to release details because of liability issues.
mrericsully 3 years ago