What you need:
- A lighter
- A glass of water
- Ice cream sticks
- Boric acid
- Cream of tartar
- Two small dishes
- An adult who can help you get all the things you need for this experiment, and also supervise.
What to do:
1. First scoop out some boric acid and cream of tartar in separate plates. You need just a little of each
2. Dip the tip of an ice cream stick into water.
3. Then roll the wet tip around in boric acid so that the tip is well coated.
4. Dim the lights of the room and click the lighter on. Place the powder-coated tip into the flame. Ask a friend to click a picture to analyze later.
5. Extinguish the flame by dipping the burning stick into water.
6. Take a fresh ice cream stick and repeat steps 2 to 5 for cream of tartar.
What happens?
Both substances burn with flames of different colours Boric acid burns with a slight green flame, whereas cream of tartar bums with a purplish flame. The colours may be faint but you can keep trying until you spot them
Why?
The process that you just carried out is known as flame test. It is an actual test that is used in labs to identify the components of any substance. This is possible because most substances burn with flames of different colours. For e.g. the green colour in the boric acid flame indicates the presence of the element boron which is known to burn with a green flash. Similarly, the purple in the cream of tartar flame signals the presence of potassium’.
Can you find out more such elements and their flame colours? Happy testing!
Picture Credit : Google
