 In this experiment we are going to look at the characteristic colors given to flames by alkali metal compounds. The first flame is the red flame caused by lithium. Lithium chloride on a platinum wire gives a red flame when inserted into a Bunsen burner flame. Next, sodium chloride. Sodium chloride is placed on the platinum wire. It gives a characteristic yellow color when placed in the Bunsen flame. These colors can be used to qualitatively identify the presence of the metals. A yellow flame always indicates the presence of sodium. Finally, potassium chloride. Potassium chloride on platinum wire is placed in the flame and it gives the characteristic lilac color. All these colors arise because the alkali metal atoms are raised to excited states by the temperature of the flame and then return to the ground state emitting light of a characteristic frequency.