VisualEnergyFlameEmissionTest

Ngo,JunniferMorfin,SamuelPavon,FranciscoNovella,NatalieRuppel,Matthew
MatthewRuppels10thGradeChemistryClass,HighTechHighNorthCounty,SanMarcos,CA

ExperimentalProcedure
Inthistest,adiverseassortmentofsaltswereaddedtothecontrol(methanol)tovisually
observetheenergylevelsofthemixedsubstanceasaflame.Thisexperimentrevealedthevisual
effectsofaquantumjumpwhereatomsareexcitedenoughthroughaddedenergyinthiscase
theheatoftheflamestochangecolors.Observationsofchangesorlackthereofinflame
colorasthesaltsmixedtothecontroldifferwererecorded.
Thefirststepforthisexperimentwastoplacetwodroppersfullofmethanolawatch
glass.Amatchwasthenlitandsetthemethanolafire,recordingobservationsofthecolorofthe
flamecolor.Thesestepswerethenrepeatedwiththevarietiesofsaltsmixedintothemethanal,
individually.ThevarietiesofsaltsincludeLithiumChloride,CalciumChloride,Calcium
Carbonate,PotassiumChloride,Borax,Copper(11)Sulfate,andanunknownsalt.Intheend,an
educatedpredictionpertainingtowhattheunknownsaltwascreatedwiththeobservations
previouslyrecorded.
ObservationAndData
Startingwiththemethanol,astandardblueflamewaslitbutbecameyellowastheflame
grewsmaller.Asthegrainysaltoflithiumchloridewasadded,redflickerswereseenatthetip
ontopthebluebaseofthemethanolflame.Calciumchloridehadasimilarreactionbutthered
tipwasreplacedwithanorangetipwhichfadedtoyellowsoonbeforetheflamedied.The
calciumcarbonatemixturehadasimilarreactionasthecalciumchloridebutthetipoftheflame
wasonlyyellow.Thepotassiumchloridemixture,ontheotherhand,hadaverydifferent
reaction.Insteadofonlythetipoftheflamedifferingfromthebluebase,thismixturehad
yellowandpurplesparkswithinthebluebaseflameitself.Theboraxmixturewasalsovery
differentthantheprevioussalts.Theflamewasalightgreenwithbluesparks.Thebluesparks
soontookoverthewholeflamewhereyellowsparksappeared.Theboraxflamethendiedasa
yellowflame.Copper(II)Sulfatestartedwithastandardbluebase,turninggreenanddyingout
asanorangeflame.Theunknownsubstancewasastandardblueflamebutitcontainedgreen
andorangesparkswithinthebase.


Itseemsthatlithiumchloride,calciumchlorideandcarbonatechlorideareverysimilar
notonlywiththenamesallpertainingchlorideattheend,butalsothemixturereactions.All
threesaltmixturesaffectedthetipsoftheflames.Potassiumchloridewasdifferentthenallthe
othersaltmixtures,producingapurplesparkthatnoneoftheothermixturesproduced.The
boraxandcopper(II)sulfatemixturesbothproducedgreenflames.Theunknownmixture
producedaflamethattooksimilarcharacteristicstotheboraxandsulfate,leadingtothe
conclusionthattheunknownmixturemaybeacombinationoftheboraxandsulfate.The
unknownmixturetookonagreencolorwhichonlytheboraxandthesulfatesaltscreated.It
alsohadthesimilarreactionofcreatingflickersofdifferentcolorsbutitdoesntreactexactly
liketheothermixtures.Unliketheborax,theunknownsaltdidnotcausetheflamestofadeinto
anothercolorbutitdidtakeonflickersoftheyellow.Unlikethecopper(II)sulfate,itdidonly
haveorangeasoneofitsflickeringcolorswithinthebluebaseflame.

Conclusion
Throughobservationofthetableabove,itcanbeconcludedthattheunknownsaltcould
beamixtureofboraxandcopper(II)sulfate.Liketheotherflames,thecontrolhavethe
unknownsaltabluebase.Itdifferedfromthelithiumchloride,calciumchlorideandcarbonate
chloridemixturesastheyallproducedvariantsofcolorsinthetipoftheflamewhereasthe
unknownmixturehadsparkswithinthebaseoftheflame.Althoughverysimilartotheborax
andcopper(II)sulfate,theunknownsaltstillcreatedadifferentreaction.Boraxandthecopper
(II)sulfatemixturesbothgeneratedagreenflamesimilartotheunknownsubstance.Unlike
theborax,althoughsimilarincolor,theunknownmixturehadflickersofcolors.Theboraxdid
not.Thecopper(II)sulfateflamewasvoidofanyyellowwhichtheunknownflamehad.The
closestpredictionthatcanbemadewiththeinformationandobservationgiven,isamixtureof
boththecompounds.Togetextensiveinformationandbetterevidence,itwouldbebesttointhe
futurecomparethesetwosubstancessidebysidetoseeiftheresanymoresimilarities.Bythe
endoftheexperimentitisclearthatdifferentchemicalcompoundsproducediversecolorsof
light.Whensaltsareburnedprotonsareemittedwhichcausesafrequencythatthatishighor
low.Thisexperimenthasexploitedthetechniqueofpredictionbasedoninformationalready
known.