Lab 7: Flame Test Lab

In this lab, we wanted to determine two compounds using flame tests to compare the flame colors various compounds produced. We held wooden sticks over the flame of the Bunsen burner and the  compound on the stick changed the color of the flame. We used the flames colors of known compounds to identify the unknown compounds. 
 
Pre-Lab Questions:
1. Ground state is the most stable energy state where all the electrons are in the lowest energy levels available. This normal electron configuration differs from excited state, which involves the "jumping" of electrons to higher energy levels due to the absorption of energy from heat at high temperatures. The excited configuration is very unstable and electrons will eventually "drop" to positions of lower energy.

2. Emit means to produce or discharge. For example, the sun emits radiation which means it produces and releases radiation.

3. Atoms are getting their excess energy from the heat of the flame. The flame from the Bunsen burner is exciting the electrons of the substance.

4. Atoms of different substances release different amounts of energy while the electrons are falling back down to ground state. A specific number of electrons in an atom release a certain amount of energy which changes the color of the light produced by a compound.

5. You need to clean the wire to make sure no residue is left from the previous substance. If the cation of the last compound still remained on the wire, it could change the color produced by a mixture of compounds. The wire would not create clear and accurate data.

A picture of Unknown #1 in the flame

Unknown #1: LiCl
Unknown #2: KCl
We were able to identify the unknowns by comparing the color of the flame created by the unknowns to the color of the flames we recorded from our 8 known compounds. We found that unknown #1 created a magenta color flame, just like LiCl did and unknown #2 created a light purple flame, just like KCl did.