This is amazing! I am currnetly doing a project on flaming colors, but on candles. Can you please help me on how I can change the flame colors on the candle's wick as it light?
@imthafunshieet You could attempt to soak the wick in solutions (preferably concentrate solutions) of the salts (mostly chloride salts) and the dry the wick before dipping it in wax. Please let me know if it does work.
I am tickled to see this. I wonder, would the various liquids wick up? I think it would be cool to have old fashioned lanterns burning in different patterns/colors for a very good outdoor effect. Holloween, maybe? :)
@MrToshTogo They should wick up for the ones that are soluble in the alcohol itself. I'd have to check to be sure, but I'm pretty sure all of these are alcohol soluble. However, it would have to be a fairly concentrate solution or the alcohol flame would wash out all but the faintest flickers of color.
@Sara1fy Poured a few mLs of the alcohol between/across the watch glasses. Biggest mistake is to use too much, you end up with the alcohol color and not the metal ions' flame color.
@mrericsully OK this does actually demonstrate an interesting property of the sodium flame- if even small amounts enter another sample, the flame will become very yellow.
I think there may be lots of impurities in your lithium- I have burned reagent-grade lithium and reagent-grade lithium compounds, and they are a deep pink color.
@DactaDork I say in the video that it is not showing up properly because of impurities. The impurities in this case are not from the stock bottle, but instead because this is not the first time I used these exact samples to film it and over the course of several demonstrations and setups with it the sodium next to it ended up in the lithium. It does burn a deep pink color and I have had this bottle preform properly.
basic terms: molecules have electrons in differing orbitals; in the ground state the electrons are held in low energy orbitals. With a quantized amount of energy, the electrons can be promoted to high energy orbitals, and once the applied energy is removed the electrons will return to ground state, releasing the energy that it took to maintain high energy state, as light. It has been proposed that the flame being seen is the energy being released as the molecule returns to its ground state
@LtKeller11250 No, it is the vapors of the alcohol that are burning, but that has nothing to do with the color of the flames here and the alcohol was not and is not compressed in any way here.
@mrericsully No I mean regular fire not the fire here its just particles givin off their gases when compressed and how I know this my sisters boyfriend is a firefighter.
@LtKeller11250 The main theory of combustion says that the matter (in whatever form it takes) is vaporizing into a gas and it is the gases burning. But the gas/vapor need not be compressed and then uncompressed to burn (nor burn compressed); it is simply a phase change and the vapors are what is burning.
The fire here behaves in the same way as any fire- vapors ignite and are burned.
Some fires are from compressed states and then pressure is released forming a gas, but not all start compressed.
@themodmancarl You can apply flame to the metal and get some green tongues of flame, but here I am using a copper compound/salt, Copper (II) Sulfate [CuSO4]. All of the metals that I mention in this video are compounds, most of them are chlorides except for the copper (see above) and the boron [I used boric acid]. The flame on them is from an alcohol.
@kazekage1344 I use chloride salts of all of them except for copper where I use the sulfate. Calcium, sodium, and potassium chloride can be purchased at the grocery store. The copper sulfate can be purchased as weed killer from a home & garden/hardware store. The others (and purer versions of those three) will come from a chemical supplier. There are only a few that provided to home chemist- one is United Nuclear.
@kazekage1344 They are called watch glasses and of course because of the fire they are Pyrex/Kimex. I purchased them from Flinn Scientific, but any science glassware supplier should have them, I have also use glass petri and evaporating dishes as well.
@bibilic100 yes, I used ethanol instead here, but methanol works. I also used copper (II) sulfate for the other green and you can get another green, usually, with barium salts.
@bibilic100 I use copper (II) sulfate and I buy it from chemical supply companies but it can be bought from hardware or home & garden stores as weed killer.
@goldengate09 I would recommend going to a Wal-Mart or the like and buying colored flame birthday candles or fireplace crystals and using them.
I don't think you'd have time to purchase the chemicals that you would need otherwise as many of them are kind of specialty (lithium chloride, strontium chloride, boric acid). I used chlorides of all of the metals I mention except for the boric acid and the copper which is copper (II) sulfate. I use a little bit of alcohol poured over lots of the salt.
@odiexx I don't really, I just pour a few mL of the alcohol over the metal salts and then light it. However, most of them are soluble in alcohol so it would really be no different than dissolving something in water.
@xMouseTrapDJx They are all about the same temperature because it is the alcohol that is burning and the metal, not temperature, that is coloring the flame.
@7sevenELFeleven You can, but that's not what I am doing here. I am burning a copper compound [copper sulfate in this case] in an alcohol. I've had other people tell me that they can get copper pipe to give green tongues of fire in a campfire and I've seen the same with copper metal in other instances, but the copper here is not in metallic form.
is the copper and boron as hot as the blue one cause every one know blue is the hottest in the normal color fire , and if u say the green fire is hotter than the blue which material is hotter copper or boron ?
@kaleidoscopeline1 In this case the flame color is not related to the temperature but can almost be viewed as "artificial" coloring. The flames are all of the same alcohol and so have the same relative temperatures.
@bananian Although it is possible for a meteor to burn green and some do contain copper the amount of copper is probably too low to produce a significant green flame.
Instead what green meteors are probably doing is ionizing the oxygen in the atmosphere which emits green light as it settles back down.
This is the reason for the green color of many auroras as well [ionized atmosphere from charged particles from the Sun rather than the heat from a meteor]. Look up "Nebulium" for more.
im sorry but i think u got a part wrong barium does not give a dirty yellow it give a pale or you can say an apple green coz i hv done a flame test with barium chloride and thats the colour i get and also i thought copper doesnt give a flame test if i am wrong plzz do correct me but im very sure about barium's flame test
@coolbratzroc You are not the first to point this out. Many have thought my barium is impure. However, if I do a flame test with nichrome wire and a Bunsen burner I get the expected apple green color. When I do it with alcohol, like in this video, I get what I describe as a "dirty yellow". The color I see is a little darker than what the camera shows here, but I have tested my sample in a variety of ways and find that it is reasonably pure yet behaves oddly under a alcohol flame test.
@EPICGUYDUDE I've never tested either, but I've also never heard of either giving a significant color to its flame. I would hesitate to burn uranium because of its radioactivity.
You should be able to find an emission spectrum for each.
@ShadowBlade448 Any science/chemical supply should have strontium compounds and a few will have strontium medal. I am using strontium chloride here. Personally, I order my chemicals from Flinn Scientific, but they only sell to schools. I recommend United Nuclear to the everyday/home buyer. Edmund Scientifics has some chemicals and there are plenty of other companies out there. I don't know if Ward's, Fisher, or Frey sell to individuals but it is worth the look- you could try eBay too.
@John081590 Another name for cream of tartar is potassium bitartrate or potassium hydrogen tartrate. Its formula is KC4H5O6. The lilac flame is certainly indicative of it being a potassium compound.
@Coolerranch1 It has no significant affect on flame color when I've tested it. Mg metal of course burns bright white , but Mg compounds don't give off light in the visible spectrum.
@2080aloha Strontium and barium are used as colorants in fireworks. Usually it is compounds of the metals that are used rather than the pure metal [something like strontium nitrate or strontium chloride, etc.]. Strontium gives a red color and barium gives a light green to yellow-green colo
@brwneydgirl70 I use a copper compound and not copper metal. I use copper sulfate and it is sold as weed killer in home and garden stores. You can use copper metal, but it usually doesn't color the whole flame as well.
@XxshonenxX As long as you don't ingest the chemicals you are burning it is safe [although I would avoid inhaling the smoke too much also]. However it is hard to get green flames from copper metal in my experience, it is better to have a copper compound. Copper sulfate is sold as weed killer at home & garden stores. You can also buy fireplace crystals (a mixture of compounds that produce colored flames). Keep in mind your fire will still be dominated by normal yellow-orange-red flames.
woah, thanks, this helped alot :] just a question though, when you say you are burning Barium, copper, etc... do you mean just that element or a compound which contains that element? are the colours different? tyvm, im trying to identify a cation and im stressing about whether it is calcium/sodium or something random -,- and chemistry rocks (Y)
@blacktongs I am not burning the element directly here. The element can produce the color, but I am using compounds here and it is the cation that is showing in all of them except the boric acid where the boron is part of a polyatomic anion.
Copper salts will burn differently when they are bonded to a halogen [that is halide copper compounds burn a different blue-green than non-halide copper salts].
Beyond that I've never heard of or seen anions have an effect on other flame colors.
Hello, this is a great video. The various flames are very pretty. I have a question though. You said that alcohol emits a blue flame. What kind of alcohol persay? Do you mean like rubbing alcohol? I'm in the process of writing a book and there is a scene with the flame test being conducted. If you could help with this, I would be incredibly grateful :)
@futurediva222 Rubbing alcohol is slow to burn because it usually is only 70% alcohol and the rest is water (some drug stores carry 90-91%)- it usually burns incompletely with yellow tipped blue flames because of impurities in it and a lack of oxygen. The alcohol I have here is ethanol and burns a little more blue, but too much of it and it will have a hard time getting oxygen and the flames will be more yellow.
@mrericsully Thank you for clearing some of this up for me. I have one more question. Does Methanol have the same reaction that the ethanol has? What type of alcohol emits the purest blue in fire?
@futurediva222 Methanol burns the same and combines with the oxygen in the air to form carbon dioxide and water vapor as all hydrocarbon combustions that burn completely do. The reaction equation is different for each. M: 2CH3OH+3O2->2CO2+4H2O v E: C2H5OH+3O2->2CO2+3H2O. I think that the bluest flame of commonly available alcohols (meth,eth,isopro/rubbing) is ethanol. I have not worked with a lot of alcohols so I won't guarantee that there isn't a bluer one out there.
@futurediva222 Most alcohols burn blue or faint blue (a few have such a faint flame they are impossible to see in room or daylight). If they have a lot of impurities or oxygen is lacking the flame will be yellow.
@bhavek18966 The border between the two is vague. I've seen the topic taught in physical chemistry classes and textbooks. I personally would lean towards calling it a physical process because no bonds are being rearranged.
hey this is great! i have a practical assesmment where i've to be able to recognise ions from flame test colours. bit confusied about calcium. My official user guide says it should give a "yellow-red" colour, whereas i've heard several people, including teachers, call it brick red. In the video, it doesnt appear to have much red at all. Can u help?
@shan9084 I'm glad the video is helpful. I've heard brick red for Calcium before but I don't agree. Colors are of course subjective, but I've always described calcium as an orange or reddish orange. The best way to find out is to test it yourself, there are many calcium compounds you could probably obtain but I would recommend calcium chloride as non-sodium chloride driveway salt and then dissolve it in alcohol or water, soak a cotton swab or wooden splint in it and put it to a hot flame.
Sorry but that is a sin and it is witchery! The Bible clearly warns that sorcery is real and evil and you all should not be playing God. That is evil and it is just wrong. Give your life to Christianity or burn in hell, fact.
@JesusChristRulesYOU I've been debating about approving your comment because I've been try to decide if you are serious or not. This will take more than 500 words so here is Part 1:
Anyway, I am sure that you are just acting like an irrational, extreme conservative, but I'm going to humor you none-the-less.
The Bible does condemn witchery, but that deals with the conjuring of spirits. As for sorcery it does deal with chemicals, but usually in the context of psychopathic drugs.
I don't see how lighting a fire is playing God or how naturally colored fire is wrong especially if God created the world and set it rules (science) in order.
Committing a sin does not equal eternal damnation in hell, but rather it is, as you say, giving your life- to Jesus/God/Holy Spirit/Trinity and not to the religion. Being unrepentant can lead to hell.
I still fail to see how colored fire is any of the mentioned witchery, sin, sorcery, or proof of damnation.
@gatoradeee The electron configuration means that electrons have specific energies and orbit at specific distances from the nucleus. When the atom is excited (as by fire) the electrons jump up to other specific orbitals. When they fall back down they release that energy in the form of light. The wavelength (color) of the light corresponds to the distance of the fall.
@yawn133337 They should be the same since it is the alcohol burning, maybe if the amount/volume of alcohol is different the flame temperature would be different.
@a1b2c3z44 Kind of, but I always tell my students it is not impressive to make something burn or blow something up because any idiot can do that, it takes skill and knowledge to make something burn or blow up safely and still have it be impressive.
Yes, very dramatic indeed. I have found that if potassium nitrate is placed, or rather poured, onto red hot wood embers the nitrate (oxygen) is burned of and the flame turned a pale purple or lilac in color. This indicates that the potassium is burning, but I thought that this can only be achieved by alcohol in potassium, not a nitrate salt of potassium. Any clue why this happens?
@mrericsully Yes i know that any potassium salt burns with the pink flame, but i never knew that this can be achieved by pouring it into hot embers. I guess we live and learn.
@pyrocrazyUSA I understand what you were asking now. The alcohol should not be necessary, as long as the fire is hot enough to excite the electrons you'll get color.
@mrericsully Yes i know that any potassium salt burns with the pink flame, but i never knew that this can be achieved by pouring it into hot embers. I guess we live and learn.
The "white" flame is actually a pale yellow. It is barium chloride which normally has a yellow-green flame color [and does when I test only small quantities of it alone], but large (5-10 grams at most) quantities are used with ethanol it has what I describe as a dirty yellow flame color.
I've had many people on YouTube accuse me of being wrong or having a tainted sample, but "regular" flame and other chemical tests have verified that it is barium chloride.
Can you test whether either of the green flames are hot enough to burn your hand?
In 8th grade we had a salt burning lab and I and another guy stuck out fingers into one of the flames (pretty sure it was green) and it was just lukewarm.
The temperature of the flame comes form the alcohol used and not the color of the flame, since the color here is artificial due to metal ions in the flame and not due to flame temperature.
There are plenty of other tests for specific metals. The most common ones deal with solubility and precipitation reactions. If you have something specific you know that you are trying to identify I might be able to help you.
for an assignment i was given 3 unknown metals and i must design 4 tests to indentify each metal. so far ive got a flame test and a density test. just wondering if u knew any other tests i could possibly use.
If they are the metals in their normal state (rather than metal compounds) flame tests will be more difficult to preform.
If they are the metals in the normal state other tests could be heat capacity, reactivity [react them with a less reactive metal like a copper or silver solution), color/luster, and magnetism.
If they are compounds I would look up a solubility table and an [re]activity series.
This is amazing! I am currnetly doing a project on flaming colors, but on candles. Can you please help me on how I can change the flame colors on the candle's wick as it light?
imthafunshieet 2 days ago
@imthafunshieet You could attempt to soak the wick in solutions (preferably concentrate solutions) of the salts (mostly chloride salts) and the dry the wick before dipping it in wax. Please let me know if it does work.
mrericsully 5 hours ago
Although I'm not freak student, I should admit that THIS IS INTERESTING and BEAUTIFUL ^^
caca860 3 days ago
Great video!!
chemtubeuk 6 days ago
This is my proof of color for my chemistry lab write up. Thank you sir!
ClaudiaDonovanClone 1 week ago
We used this video for our science homework
juicycouturegurl99 1 month ago
boron ftw
Kavion123 2 months ago
Wow! I need to tell my chemistry teacher about this video!
CaramelAppleFrapple 2 months ago
@CaramelAppleFrapple Please do, but also encourage him/her to do it live and to contact me if he/she needs directions.
mrericsully 2 months ago
for the flame test - does the flame colour of the element change when it forms a compound ?
MsMakeuplover28 3 months ago
@MsMakeuplover28 Except for Copper no. In this video these are not pure metals, but instead are compounds.
Copper will change its flame color when bonded to halogens versus other substances- one is green and the other is more blue-green.
mrericsully 3 months ago
Thank you very much. Your video helped me double check data from my lab.
55Evans55 4 months ago 4
Pyromaniacs fap to this.
TheFinlandnator 5 months ago 26
@TheFinlandnator LOL
mrericsully 5 months ago 2
@TheFinlandnator We do XD
TheWhiteCanvasPSN 3 months ago
@TheFinlandnator Is that so?.... lol look at my username
pyromaniac452 2 months ago
i like fire. heheh
meowselina 5 months ago
SCIENCE!! :D
BoobyBear91 6 months ago
green wins!
CatKiri 6 months ago
I am tickled to see this. I wonder, would the various liquids wick up? I think it would be cool to have old fashioned lanterns burning in different patterns/colors for a very good outdoor effect. Holloween, maybe? :)
MrToshTogo 7 months ago
@MrToshTogo They should wick up for the ones that are soluble in the alcohol itself. I'd have to check to be sure, but I'm pretty sure all of these are alcohol soluble. However, it would have to be a fairly concentrate solution or the alcohol flame would wash out all but the faintest flickers of color.
mrericsully 7 months ago
to the point! thank you! it helped out a lot!
v0lleygurl13 7 months ago
how did you connect them? in other words how did you light them at the same time?
Sara1fy 8 months ago
@Sara1fy Poured a few mLs of the alcohol between/across the watch glasses. Biggest mistake is to use too much, you end up with the alcohol color and not the metal ions' flame color.
mrericsully 8 months ago
@mrericsully OK this does actually demonstrate an interesting property of the sodium flame- if even small amounts enter another sample, the flame will become very yellow.
DactaDork 8 months ago
I think there may be lots of impurities in your lithium- I have burned reagent-grade lithium and reagent-grade lithium compounds, and they are a deep pink color.
DactaDork 8 months ago
@DactaDork I say in the video that it is not showing up properly because of impurities. The impurities in this case are not from the stock bottle, but instead because this is not the first time I used these exact samples to film it and over the course of several demonstrations and setups with it the sodium next to it ended up in the lithium. It does burn a deep pink color and I have had this bottle preform properly.
mrericsully 8 months ago
OMG thankyou very much I needed this for clarification in my presentation in chemistry class. THANKYOU
am2095 8 months ago
They should play something like this on TV at christmas, instead of the regular log fire channel.
Freeflyer91 9 months ago
sheer awesomeness. chemistry is the best :D
JackMasonDDJ 10 months ago
usually barium burns green.
Seto0019 10 months ago
thank you so much man
qrais 10 months ago
epic :D
TheAnimusik 11 months ago
Put some techno to this and this video will become a whole lot more epic(:
phatbirdy3689 11 months ago
This makes me wanna become a pyro and make all the pretty colors a whole lot bigger... -_-'
abcynthias 1 year ago
I want you to design my next Christmas lighting stup.
MsCactusWren 1 year ago
cool...
montey1017 1 year ago
i'm so happy i do chemistry! :D
i love it!
Smellyisgood 1 year ago
basic terms: molecules have electrons in differing orbitals; in the ground state the electrons are held in low energy orbitals. With a quantized amount of energy, the electrons can be promoted to high energy orbitals, and once the applied energy is removed the electrons will return to ground state, releasing the energy that it took to maintain high energy state, as light. It has been proposed that the flame being seen is the energy being released as the molecule returns to its ground state
md2wrshp 1 year ago
@Daavisonfire The gases are not compressed though.
mrericsully 1 year ago
u know that fire is just the gases givin off when they are compressed
LtKeller11250 1 year ago
@LtKeller11250 No, it is the vapors of the alcohol that are burning, but that has nothing to do with the color of the flames here and the alcohol was not and is not compressed in any way here.
mrericsully 1 year ago
@mrericsully No I mean regular fire not the fire here its just particles givin off their gases when compressed and how I know this my sisters boyfriend is a firefighter.
LtKeller11250 1 year ago
@LtKeller11250 The main theory of combustion says that the matter (in whatever form it takes) is vaporizing into a gas and it is the gases burning. But the gas/vapor need not be compressed and then uncompressed to burn (nor burn compressed); it is simply a phase change and the vapors are what is burning.
The fire here behaves in the same way as any fire- vapors ignite and are burned.
Some fires are from compressed states and then pressure is released forming a gas, but not all start compressed.
mrericsully 1 year ago
@mrericsully O ok Ill have to tell Joe that cause he said it was the gases beenin compressed. Thanks
LtKeller11250 1 year ago
What salts were used her? chloride?
And did you use a chlorine donor?
darkfang77 1 year ago
@darkfang77 I used chlorides for all of them except copper (sulfate) and boron (boric acid).
I'm not sure what you mean by your question about chlorine donor.
mrericsully 1 year ago
How do 13 people not like this? This stuff is really cool... I've yet to experience it though... Can't wait until I do.
TrAgIcSp4rks 1 year ago
At 0:50 Darth vader is in the background!
MrYumkins 1 year ago
copper for the win! :D i love that bright green color!
videoGunZ 1 year ago
chemistry is fun
killernat 1 year ago
how the hell did you get copper to burn isnt it metal
themodmancarl 1 year ago
@themodmancarl You can apply flame to the metal and get some green tongues of flame, but here I am using a copper compound/salt, Copper (II) Sulfate [CuSO4]. All of the metals that I mention in this video are compounds, most of them are chlorides except for the copper (see above) and the boron [I used boric acid]. The flame on them is from an alcohol.
mrericsully 1 year ago
magneizem or w/e is white
singuy1111 1 year ago
the copper flame is so pretty D:
danceforlife1846 1 year ago
awesome. i want to do this sometime. i didnt know u could light salt (NaCl) on fire.... i gotta do that.
ecolinkinparkgirl657 1 year ago
maziau pizdelink
arturik1982 1 year ago
and this is why my major is biology
shannonluzchris 1 year ago
amazing!
lorilamby 1 year ago
how can i get strontium, calcium, lithium, sodium, copper, and potassium
kazekage1344 1 year ago
@kazekage1344 I use chloride salts of all of them except for copper where I use the sulfate. Calcium, sodium, and potassium chloride can be purchased at the grocery store. The copper sulfate can be purchased as weed killer from a home & garden/hardware store. The others (and purer versions of those three) will come from a chemical supplier. There are only a few that provided to home chemist- one is United Nuclear.
mrericsully 1 year ago
what are those containers thats holding the fires and where did you get it from?
kazekage1344 1 year ago
@kazekage1344 They are called watch glasses and of course because of the fire they are Pyrex/Kimex. I purchased them from Flinn Scientific, but any science glassware supplier should have them, I have also use glass petri and evaporating dishes as well.
mrericsully 1 year ago
Sorry,but cant you use boric acid and methanol to do green
bibilic100 1 year ago
@bibilic100 yes, I used ethanol instead here, but methanol works. I also used copper (II) sulfate for the other green and you can get another green, usually, with barium salts.
mrericsully 1 year ago
@mrericsully where do i getcopper from
bibilic100 1 year ago
@bibilic100 I use copper (II) sulfate and I buy it from chemical supply companies but it can be bought from hardware or home & garden stores as weed killer.
mrericsully 1 year ago
It's me and my girlfriends anniversary tomorrow and I was wondering if there was any way you can teach me how to do this!
What tools do you need??
goldengate09 1 year ago
@goldengate09 I would recommend going to a Wal-Mart or the like and buying colored flame birthday candles or fireplace crystals and using them.
I don't think you'd have time to purchase the chemicals that you would need otherwise as many of them are kind of specialty (lithium chloride, strontium chloride, boric acid). I used chlorides of all of the metals I mention except for the boric acid and the copper which is copper (II) sulfate. I use a little bit of alcohol poured over lots of the salt.
mrericsully 1 year ago
Oh how I wish that we could have done something like this in my chem class!
1wickedangel 1 year ago
ur burning different types of metals to get that color rite? nice vid mate =]
bubbleyumpops 1 year ago
@bubbleyumpops I am burning compounds/salts of the metal- for example I am burning sodium chloride (table salt) instead of sodium metal.
mrericsully 1 year ago
awesome!!!!
MrDp19 1 year ago
how did you dissolve the metal salts in the alcohol?
odiexx 1 year ago
@odiexx I don't really, I just pour a few mL of the alcohol over the metal salts and then light it. However, most of them are soluble in alcohol so it would really be no different than dissolving something in water.
mrericsully 1 year ago
which one hotter!!!!
xMouseTrapDJx 1 year ago
@xMouseTrapDJx They are all about the same temperature because it is the alcohol that is burning and the metal, not temperature, that is coloring the flame.
mrericsully 1 year ago
@mrericsully Got love science lol
xMouseTrapDJx 1 year ago
dude that was badass!!!!
log7871 1 year ago
blue look cool!
sonicxlc123 1 year ago
you might have already told someone beforeme...but how woul dyou ignite something like copper?
7sevenELFeleven 1 year ago
@7sevenELFeleven You can, but that's not what I am doing here. I am burning a copper compound [copper sulfate in this case] in an alcohol. I've had other people tell me that they can get copper pipe to give green tongues of fire in a campfire and I've seen the same with copper metal in other instances, but the copper here is not in metallic form.
mrericsully 1 year ago
DYING WILL FLAMES!
LORDxCANTIDO 1 year ago
@LORDxCANTIDO
Lol you anime freak
MeisterDonDon 1 year ago
is the copper and boron as hot as the blue one cause every one know blue is the hottest in the normal color fire , and if u say the green fire is hotter than the blue which material is hotter copper or boron ?
kaleidoscopeline1 1 year ago
@kaleidoscopeline1 In this case the flame color is not related to the temperature but can almost be viewed as "artificial" coloring. The flames are all of the same alcohol and so have the same relative temperatures.
mrericsully 1 year ago
If a meteorite burns green, does it mean it consists of boron or copper?
bananian 1 year ago
@bananian Although it is possible for a meteor to burn green and some do contain copper the amount of copper is probably too low to produce a significant green flame.
Instead what green meteors are probably doing is ionizing the oxygen in the atmosphere which emits green light as it settles back down.
This is the reason for the green color of many auroras as well [ionized atmosphere from charged particles from the Sun rather than the heat from a meteor]. Look up "Nebulium" for more.
mrericsully 1 year ago 5
@mrericsully
hey, that makes sense. It's like those glow in the dark paint that emits green light when electrons collapse towards the nucleus.
bananian 1 year ago
thanks a lot for sharing !! wonderful colors !!!
domyaska 1 year ago
wonderful !! thanks a lot for sharing !!
domyaska 1 year ago
im sorry but i think u got a part wrong barium does not give a dirty yellow it give a pale or you can say an apple green coz i hv done a flame test with barium chloride and thats the colour i get and also i thought copper doesnt give a flame test if i am wrong plzz do correct me but im very sure about barium's flame test
coolbratzroc 1 year ago
@coolbratzroc You are not the first to point this out. Many have thought my barium is impure. However, if I do a flame test with nichrome wire and a Bunsen burner I get the expected apple green color. When I do it with alcohol, like in this video, I get what I describe as a "dirty yellow". The color I see is a little darker than what the camera shows here, but I have tested my sample in a variety of ways and find that it is reasonably pure yet behaves oddly under a alcohol flame test.
mrericsully 1 year ago
@mrericsully Thank you for the information .. I really appreciate it.
coolbratzroc 1 year ago
@mrericsully Im sorry if you have felt that i accused you of being wrong but i just wanted to clear out my doubt .... no offence intended
coolbratzroc 1 year ago
what color does uranium or samarium or whatever element produce? i cannot test. uranium banned in my country.
EPICGUYDUDE 1 year ago
@EPICGUYDUDE I've never tested either, but I've also never heard of either giving a significant color to its flame. I would hesitate to burn uranium because of its radioactivity.
You should be able to find an emission spectrum for each.
mrericsully 1 year ago
YES NOW I NEED TO TRY N REMEMBER THESE COLOURS N CHEMICALS FOR MY GCSE!!!!
TheDevilR1 1 year ago
@Mew7191 I used a few scoops of each. I'd estimate 5-10 grams of metal compounds were used. Most of them were chloride salts.
mrericsully 1 year ago
where do I get strontium?
ShadowBlade448 1 year ago
@ShadowBlade448 Any science/chemical supply should have strontium compounds and a few will have strontium medal. I am using strontium chloride here. Personally, I order my chemicals from Flinn Scientific, but they only sell to schools. I recommend United Nuclear to the everyday/home buyer. Edmund Scientifics has some chemicals and there are plenty of other companies out there. I don't know if Ward's, Fisher, or Frey sell to individuals but it is worth the look- you could try eBay too.
mrericsully 1 year ago
@mrericsully thank you.
ShadowBlade448 1 year ago
AWESOME!!! You can come to my bonfire anyday
MaxC17 1 year ago
What components does cream of tartar have? I tried throwing a pinch into a gas flame and it turned lilac.
John081590 1 year ago
@John081590 Another name for cream of tartar is potassium bitartrate or potassium hydrogen tartrate. Its formula is KC4H5O6. The lilac flame is certainly indicative of it being a potassium compound.
mrericsully 1 year ago
@mrericsully Oh I see that explains why. Thanks!
John081590 1 year ago
What color flame would MgSO4 produce in a flame test? Btw, awesome video!
Coolerranch1 1 year ago
@Coolerranch1 It has no significant affect on flame color when I've tested it. Mg metal of course burns bright white , but Mg compounds don't give off light in the visible spectrum.
mrericsully 1 year ago
cool
johnny007511 1 year ago
how does strontium and barium make fireworks?
2080aloha 1 year ago
@2080aloha Strontium and barium are used as colorants in fireworks. Usually it is compounds of the metals that are used rather than the pure metal [something like strontium nitrate or strontium chloride, etc.]. Strontium gives a red color and barium gives a light green to yellow-green colo
mrericsully 1 year ago
I know that you can't test for Chromium using a flame but what would it look like if I were to burn it? No change?
MW2Pl4yer 1 year ago
@MW2Pl4yer As far as I know no significant change.
mrericsully 1 year ago
cool!
spesia1 1 year ago
okay so the copper one does it have to be pure copper and if it does where can i buy it
brwneydgirl70 1 year ago
@brwneydgirl70 I use a copper compound and not copper metal. I use copper sulfate and it is sold as weed killer in home and garden stores. You can use copper metal, but it usually doesn't color the whole flame as well.
mrericsully 1 year ago
Awesome! but i have a question? will this harm me say if i burn some borax and or copper for a fire on the weekends? o.0???
XxshonenxX 1 year ago
@XxshonenxX As long as you don't ingest the chemicals you are burning it is safe [although I would avoid inhaling the smoke too much also]. However it is hard to get green flames from copper metal in my experience, it is better to have a copper compound. Copper sulfate is sold as weed killer at home & garden stores. You can also buy fireplace crystals (a mixture of compounds that produce colored flames). Keep in mind your fire will still be dominated by normal yellow-orange-red flames.
mrericsully 1 year ago
woah, thanks, this helped alot :] just a question though, when you say you are burning Barium, copper, etc... do you mean just that element or a compound which contains that element? are the colours different? tyvm, im trying to identify a cation and im stressing about whether it is calcium/sodium or something random -,- and chemistry rocks (Y)
blacktongs 1 year ago
@blacktongs I am not burning the element directly here. The element can produce the color, but I am using compounds here and it is the cation that is showing in all of them except the boric acid where the boron is part of a polyatomic anion.
Copper salts will burn differently when they are bonded to a halogen [that is halide copper compounds burn a different blue-green than non-halide copper salts].
Beyond that I've never heard of or seen anions have an effect on other flame colors.
mrericsully 1 year ago
Hello, this is a great video. The various flames are very pretty. I have a question though. You said that alcohol emits a blue flame. What kind of alcohol persay? Do you mean like rubbing alcohol? I'm in the process of writing a book and there is a scene with the flame test being conducted. If you could help with this, I would be incredibly grateful :)
futurediva222 1 year ago
@futurediva222 Rubbing alcohol is slow to burn because it usually is only 70% alcohol and the rest is water (some drug stores carry 90-91%)- it usually burns incompletely with yellow tipped blue flames because of impurities in it and a lack of oxygen. The alcohol I have here is ethanol and burns a little more blue, but too much of it and it will have a hard time getting oxygen and the flames will be more yellow.
mrericsully 1 year ago
@mrericsully Thank you for clearing some of this up for me. I have one more question. Does Methanol have the same reaction that the ethanol has? What type of alcohol emits the purest blue in fire?
futurediva222 1 year ago
@futurediva222 Methanol burns the same and combines with the oxygen in the air to form carbon dioxide and water vapor as all hydrocarbon combustions that burn completely do. The reaction equation is different for each. M: 2CH3OH+3O2->2CO2+4H2O v E: C2H5OH+3O2->2CO2+3H2O. I think that the bluest flame of commonly available alcohols (meth,eth,isopro/rubbing) is ethanol. I have not worked with a lot of alcohols so I won't guarantee that there isn't a bluer one out there.
mrericsully 1 year ago
@futurediva222 Most alcohols burn blue or faint blue (a few have such a faint flame they are impossible to see in room or daylight). If they have a lot of impurities or oxygen is lacking the flame will be yellow.
mrericsully 1 year ago
KATEKYO HITMAN REBORN!!
TheKaiupono 1 year ago
is a flame test a chemical or physical reaction. i'm not sure, because it is the shifting of electrons that cause the change in flame colour.
bhavek18966 1 year ago
@bhavek18966 The border between the two is vague. I've seen the topic taught in physical chemistry classes and textbooks. I personally would lean towards calling it a physical process because no bonds are being rearranged.
mrericsully 1 year ago
amazing :)
yee1994711 1 year ago
I used to love burning copper at school. The green is awesome XD
mikeluvva 1 year ago
niceeeeee
MegadethSpiT 1 year ago
hey this is great! i have a practical assesmment where i've to be able to recognise ions from flame test colours. bit confusied about calcium. My official user guide says it should give a "yellow-red" colour, whereas i've heard several people, including teachers, call it brick red. In the video, it doesnt appear to have much red at all. Can u help?
shan9084 1 year ago
@shan9084 I'm glad the video is helpful. I've heard brick red for Calcium before but I don't agree. Colors are of course subjective, but I've always described calcium as an orange or reddish orange. The best way to find out is to test it yourself, there are many calcium compounds you could probably obtain but I would recommend calcium chloride as non-sodium chloride driveway salt and then dissolve it in alcohol or water, soak a cotton swab or wooden splint in it and put it to a hot flame.
mrericsully 1 year ago
@shan9084 omg same =.= the calcium i burnt at school was mostly orange with random streaks of red O_O so different compared to this calcium ...
blacktongs 1 year ago
@blacktongs A lot of that is the camera here. I would describe it as orange as well.
mrericsully 1 year ago
i like the copper/green flame
SangreLife 1 year ago
Sorry but that is a sin and it is witchery! The Bible clearly warns that sorcery is real and evil and you all should not be playing God. That is evil and it is just wrong. Give your life to Christianity or burn in hell, fact.
JesusChristRulesYOU 1 year ago
@JesusChristRulesYOU I've been debating about approving your comment because I've been try to decide if you are serious or not. This will take more than 500 words so here is Part 1:
Anyway, I am sure that you are just acting like an irrational, extreme conservative, but I'm going to humor you none-the-less.
The Bible does condemn witchery, but that deals with the conjuring of spirits. As for sorcery it does deal with chemicals, but usually in the context of psychopathic drugs.
mrericsully 1 year ago
@JesusChristRulesYOU
Part 2:
I don't see how lighting a fire is playing God or how naturally colored fire is wrong especially if God created the world and set it rules (science) in order.
Committing a sin does not equal eternal damnation in hell, but rather it is, as you say, giving your life- to Jesus/God/Holy Spirit/Trinity and not to the religion. Being unrepentant can lead to hell.
I still fail to see how colored fire is any of the mentioned witchery, sin, sorcery, or proof of damnation.
mrericsully 1 year ago 2
@JesusChristRulesYOU How is fire witchery? o_O
ButterflyNM14 1 year ago
idiot -_- its just testing chemicals and learnign more about our planet
latinsensation26 1 year ago
just curious: what does the color of the flame have to do with the salt's chemical properties in terms of light and wavelengths?
gatoradeee 1 year ago
@gatoradeee The electron configuration means that electrons have specific energies and orbit at specific distances from the nucleus. When the atom is excited (as by fire) the electrons jump up to other specific orbitals. When they fall back down they release that energy in the form of light. The wavelength (color) of the light corresponds to the distance of the fall.
mrericsully 1 year ago
@mrericsully beautiful answer. i am learned.
gatoradeee 1 year ago
@yawn133337 They should be the same since it is the alcohol burning, maybe if the amount/volume of alcohol is different the flame temperature would be different.
mrericsully 1 year ago
@viajador I used chlorides for everything here except for copper (a sulfate) and boron (boric acid).
mrericsully 1 year ago
@mrericsully does the anion affect the colour of the flame?
blacktongs 1 year ago
@Naruto217 The alcohol will most likely overpower it, I use very little of the alcohol.
mrericsully 1 year ago
@Mew7191 I used metal compounds/salts, approx. 5-10 grams of each.
mrericsully 1 year ago
@divinicus1001 I used a few mL of an alcohol
mrericsully 1 year ago
@maadgyal69 You can get green flickers with a wire, but the color is more constant with a copper compound.
mrericsully 1 year ago
XD I knew that teachers did that. Do fun stuff just to torture their students. That's so awesome. Can't wait to take chem next year~!
justinbawesome2 1 year ago
@a1b2c3z44 Kind of, but I always tell my students it is not impressive to make something burn or blow something up because any idiot can do that, it takes skill and knowledge to make something burn or blow up safely and still have it be impressive.
BTW- pyromaniac
mrericsully 1 year ago
Did yu smash a bannana fo pottasium
kjsc00l 1 year ago
pretty colours ;)
MegaFootballlover 1 year ago
btw your desk is on fire :x
FreonRose 1 year ago
supposed to taste the rainbow not burn it lol
FreonRose 1 year ago
Yes, very dramatic indeed. I have found that if potassium nitrate is placed, or rather poured, onto red hot wood embers the nitrate (oxygen) is burned of and the flame turned a pale purple or lilac in color. This indicates that the potassium is burning, but I thought that this can only be achieved by alcohol in potassium, not a nitrate salt of potassium. Any clue why this happens?
pyrocrazyUSA 1 year ago
@pyrocrazyUSA Potassium itself gives the lilac color. Any salt of potassium should burn with a faint lilac flame.
mrericsully 1 year ago
@mrericsully Yes i know that any potassium salt burns with the pink flame, but i never knew that this can be achieved by pouring it into hot embers. I guess we live and learn.
pyrocrazyUSA 1 year ago
@pyrocrazyUSA I understand what you were asking now. The alcohol should not be necessary, as long as the fire is hot enough to excite the electrons you'll get color.
mrericsully 1 year ago
@mrericsully Yes i know that any potassium salt burns with the pink flame, but i never knew that this can be achieved by pouring it into hot embers. I guess we live and learn.
pyrocrazyUSA 1 year ago
What did you use to make the white flame?
jdh2006 1 year ago
The "white" flame is actually a pale yellow. It is barium chloride which normally has a yellow-green flame color [and does when I test only small quantities of it alone], but large (5-10 grams at most) quantities are used with ethanol it has what I describe as a dirty yellow flame color.
I've had many people on YouTube accuse me of being wrong or having a tainted sample, but "regular" flame and other chemical tests have verified that it is barium chloride.
mrericsully 1 year ago
che figata!
NickFiol96 1 year ago
Thanks.
mrericsully 1 year ago
Translation [Italian]: "that cool!"
mrericsully 1 year ago
Can you test whether either of the green flames are hot enough to burn your hand?
In 8th grade we had a salt burning lab and I and another guy stuck out fingers into one of the flames (pretty sure it was green) and it was just lukewarm.
FBSnow 1 year ago
The temperature of the flame comes form the alcohol used and not the color of the flame, since the color here is artificial due to metal ions in the flame and not due to flame temperature.
mrericsully 1 year ago
cool stuff
seft29 1 year ago
Don't want to blow that out :O!
pokemonpokemen 1 year ago
Can I Buy These Salts In A Pharmacy?
littleboobie21 1 year ago
first time i see flame test for Etoh D
Ahlwwy 1 year ago
5/5
Ahlwwy 1 year ago
hey i was just wondering if anyone knew any other methods to identify metals in an ionic compound.
bhavek18966 1 year ago
There are plenty of other tests for specific metals. The most common ones deal with solubility and precipitation reactions. If you have something specific you know that you are trying to identify I might be able to help you.
mrericsully 1 year ago
for an assignment i was given 3 unknown metals and i must design 4 tests to indentify each metal. so far ive got a flame test and a density test. just wondering if u knew any other tests i could possibly use.
bhavek18966 1 year ago
If they are the metals in their normal state (rather than metal compounds) flame tests will be more difficult to preform.
If they are the metals in the normal state other tests could be heat capacity, reactivity [react them with a less reactive metal like a copper or silver solution), color/luster, and magnetism.
If they are compounds I would look up a solubility table and an [re]activity series.
mrericsully 1 year ago
yeh thanks, we are given metals in both compounds and in their normal state.
so thanks, youve been a big help
bhavek18966 1 year ago