Inquiry: Flame Tests  Question: You are a creating a fireworks display. What metallic salts will you put in your fireworks to produce specific colors?

Inquiry: Flame Tests  Materials: Lab Notebooks Lab apron Goggles Bunsen burner Distilled water Eight 250 ml beakers Eight 100ml beakers 8 pieces of nichrome wire 8 inches long 8 metallic salts such as sodium chloridecalcium chloride potassium chloridestrontium chloride barium chloridecopper II chloride lead chloridemagnesium chloride

Inquiry: Flame Tests  Safety: Lab apron and goggles must be worn at all times! Use caution while using the burner! Tie back long hair and roll up long sleeves! Caution: lead and barium are poisonous!

Inquiry: Flame Tests  Teacher Preparation: Your teacher will prepare a station for each salt to be tested. Each station contains: 1) 2 grams of each salt to be tested in a 250 ml beaker labeled with the name of the salt. 2) 50 ml of distilled water in a 100 ml beaker. 3) A Bunsen burner. 4) A nichrome wire or large paper clip.

 Procedure: 1.)At each station you will test a metallic salt for the color it produces when placed in a flame. 2.)Dip your wire into the distilled water to wet the end and then dip the moistened wire into the salt in order to pick up a few salt crystals. 3.)Place the wire into the flame and note the color produced. 4.)Repeat the procedure several times placing the wire into different parts of the flame to see the result. 5.)Create a table to collect your data.

 Conclusion Questions: 1.)What salts would you use in your fireworks display? Why? 2.)What is spectroscopy? How does it work? 3.)Explain why characteristic colors are produced for most elements?