Low cost flame emission demonstration apparatus

CHED 341

Richard Warren, richard_warren@ecats.gcsu.edu1, Daniel E McCall, daniel_mccall@ecats.gcsu.edu2, and Ken C. McGill, ken.mcgill@gcsu.edu1. (1) Department of Chemistry and Physics, Georgia College & State University, CBX 082, Milledgeville, GA 31061, (2) Department of Chemistry & Physics, Georgia College & State University, CBX 082, Milledgeville, GA 31061
Atomic emission spectroscopy can be traced as far back as 1860 with Robert Wilhelm Bunsen and Gustav Kirchhoff's flame source prism spectroscope. By using Bunsen's newly invented flame source as a transparent medium and a crystal prism, the produced emission lines from specific metallic salts matched earlier observed absorption lines. This experiment began modern flame emission spectroscopy and provided the basis for many demonstrations and methods of analytical analysis. In the classroom setting, flame demonstrations provide an excellent way of illustrating important topics in chemistry. One such topic is the quantization of light and elemental analysis based on these observations. By using solutions of household items containing colorful elements, a spectrometer, and a flame source with a continuous flow of the nebulized solution, elemental analysis of the solution is possible.