Flame Test 05

[sadeyedangel]

Try to get "saran resin." It's probably the best you get for pyrotechncs. It donates more chlorine than parlon!

[s0ul101]

umm what ELEMENTS or COMPOUNDS did you use to produce a certain flame color???

ill wait for you reply and oh i really like ya flames especially red ,orange, and yellow they burn bright in the video ^^

[mrericsully]

@s0ul101 I mention all of the elements in the video, they come from chloride compounds with those metals except for copper which is the sulfate.

[suelyparentesouza]

Não me canso desta experiência e nunca vi um só aluno que não se encantasse com ela.

Abraços

Su

[Nguli34689]

I have two things to say about this. Some colors of burning salts are hard to see is due to the distance when the demonstration was in effect. The video recorder has to be further away from the distance of the flames. Moreover, when Strontium salts are subjected to flame, the retina of the eye will pick the color up as orange instead of red if a person is standing 25 feet or less from the flame. We pyrotechnitians use Chlorinated rubber (PARLON) to deepen the hue of burning salts. Give it a try.

[mrericsully]

@Nguli34689 Thanks for the suggestion of PARLON- I've heard of it but I have not been clear on why it is used and your explanation makes sense.

As for the quality of the video this is one of my first videos and I have a better camera and I have picked up filming experience since then. I've not taken down my old videos for sentimental reasons and because some people have them favorited. Having said that check out my "Flame Test 07" video which is better quality and more popular here on YouTube.

[Yashanna42]

@mrericsully I like this one better, because of the commentary! I use it often in class.

[mrericsully]

@Yashanna42 I agree, I filmed this one straight from a lecture. I like 07 better for just the demo- at the time I wasn't sure which type of video to post and how online audiences would receive either.

As a side note, if you'd like to preform this one live I can give you directions for setup if you would like, but I always love to hear that one of my videos is being put to educational, not just entertainment, use.

[SallyLuvsYuh]

wait so i dont get what kind of achohol?

[mrericsully]

@SallyLuvsYuh I usually use ethanol

[SallyLuvsYuh]

@mrericsully does rubbing alcohol work too?

[mrericsully]

@SallyLuvsYuh Most rubbing alcohol from the store is 70% and the rest is water and so it makes it harder to ignite. It is possible to find 90 or 99% and that might work.  Also, personally, I've always found that I get a sore throat when I've burned rubbing alcohol versus other alcohols- I don't know that there is actual evidence to support this safety concern though.

[darkdeamond99]

far better than householdhackers version :D

[mrericsully]

@darkdeamond99 Thanks!

[floodser135]

how does this even work.where can you find the chemicals for this.

[mrericsully]

@floodser135 Any chemistry lab book will have this as a lab or demo.

It works because the atoms gain energy from the heat of the fire and this excites the electrons which then give that energy off as light when they release it.

The chemicals are all mentioned by name in flame test 07 (another video of mine). They are all chlorides of the elements I mention, except for the copper (it is the sulfate) and boric acid.

[664196wassouf]

woow i am taking cp che. but i feel like taking ap chem.

[ashma7777]

terrific

[TheHampdenRaven]

that is so buitiful looking, that be cool if they would burn for hours.

[Skinnyboy5643]

Now, for the ingredients, where can you buy them?

[Elephantintheroom01]

The planet earth? Turn right at the donut shaped universe... you'll get there.

[tupuc43]

ok im doing a science fair project like this but what do i use to make the fire do i have to buy a bunsen burner if not what did you use in this video?

[mrericsully]

A Bunsen burner is not required, I jsut used a long lighter. A Bunsen burner of course requires a gas source to work also.

Matches would work, but I would buy long grill/fireplace ones.

[cmcshane06]

What is the boron salt used in the video?

[mrericsully]

It is actually a borate salt. I get mine from boric acid powder H3(BO3). I don't know where to get it commercially, although I have heard some insecticides (this would of course be very toxic).

[EdevoK]

@mrericsully I get Boric Acid from my Neighborhood Medical Store !!!

[ricarica23]

i saw that using boric acid and methanol the green flame can be made, is that true?

[mrericsully]

Yes but ethanol or even rubbing alcohol is safer than methanol. Also you have to be careful with boric acid because it is toxic (in addition to being an acid).

[ricarica23]

hey heyyy

i've been trying to do the green and red flame with copper sulfate and strontium chloride respectively. i mixed them with alcohol and ethanol but im not having the results i want.

can i mix a piece of wood or trunk with the substances, and burn with color?

[mrericsully]

I suppose you could try to make the flame last longer by using wood or something, but it is also probably going to contaminate the color.

I've never had any problems using ethanol and CuSO4 of SrCl2. You may want to try to play around with your ratios of each (fuel & salt). Also I've never tried to use anhydrous copper sulfate which might have an effect. Lastly I've found it takes very little alcohol to get results and is very easy to over do.

[Fadanna]

wow they so0 pretty... =D

[Bobertss]

IM BRANDON W. 'ELLO THAR!

[lolzfooty]

firey..

[hboy007]

I think you mixed up the Barium color. Barium gives a greenish color very similar to copper. It's fairly difficult to tell the difference between the barium red to yellow spectral lines and Strontium. But Barium also produces a strong blue spectral line so the overall color seems to be something greenish towards yellow.

[mrericsully]

No I'm sure that the chemical I used is barium. Barium is usually described as a muted yellow-green or dirty-yellow color. It is possible (because of hte number of times that I repeated this demo) that there are impuritiesaffecting its color. Personally, I have always thought that copper is more vibrant than barium and boron more vibrant than either.

[mrericsully]

Here I use ethanol because it is safer than most alrenatives although this does not mean that it is safe to do, only that it is safer. Please do not attempt to recreate, unless you are a trained professional.

Also please see my other flame test videos (#7's the best).

[flyingfish555]

Nice colors! I got pretty good results from boric acid and "S-L-X denatured alcohol", which is a near 50/50 mixture of ethanol and methanol. My (warped) logic says methanol might work better because it burns cooler for less "wash out", but it seems you got excellent results from ethanol. Plus I don't know if the toxicity of Methanol is an issue or not.

[mrericsully]

The reason I avoid methanol isn't so much the toxicity, but the temperature it burns at is slightly higher than that of ethanol. Although the ethanol I use is denatured (95-99% "pure").

Something that I am going to test this year is a 50/50 ethanol/water mixture that I use in some other demonstrations. The water would help dissolve the salts and might make them show up more clearly, as well as, help make the flame a bit safer.

[flyingfish555]

That's interesting. It seems that I got my facts mixed up! I for some reason thought that ethanol was the hotter fuel. I remember in a Skylighter article on color alcohol flames they used methanol. Perhaps when they are viewed at a distance, colors may appear a little better - as in the firework applications reviewed in the Skylighter newsletter.

[funny4]

what is the flamable solvent you use?