Flame Test?

Question

Are flame tests valuable for detecting metal ions present in a mixture of metal ions?

Also, in class we did flame tests with sodium and potassium and then used cobalt glass to see the flame also. I don't understand why? How can this help identify the two elements?

Answer 1

When you did the test for sodium, the flame flared bright yellow. When there was potassium, the flame glowed a delicate lilac color. What you did was to observe the flame of potassium through a square of cobalt glass. This screened out the intense yellow of sodium and let you see the lilac flame of potassium.

Answer 2

Flame tests are a useful "first step" in identifying ions that are present. A more sophisticated test that works on the same principle is to view the colors with a spectroscope. The subtle differences are made obvious from the color spectrum produced.

The purpose of the cobalt glass was to filter out the yellow light produced by the sodium ions, so you could see the violet color produced by the potassium ions.

Answer 3

for a start up its the metallic interior the compound generating this colour at the same time as compound is heated the electrons are promoted to a better power factor, at the same time as they drop decrease back off they emit the further power as gentle, the colour of the gentle relies upon on the version in power degrees the electrons are falling

Answer 4

the test is to compare the volatility between the two. and obviously, potassium is more volatile than sodium.