Regarding Flame Tests,

why do you have to subject the sample to a flame? Which part of the Bunsen Burner is hottest? Why is it necessary to hold the loop in this part of the flame? What do you think will happen if you perform the flame test on a solution with more than one metal component? Aside from the qualitative analysis of metals, state at least one other application of flame tests. Will each and every metal emit a different flame test color? WhY?

1 answer

This question has already been posted and answered, but I have a comment on the last part. The reason the spectral color lines are different for each element is that the photons produced by the dropping of electrons to lower energy levels within an atom are different for each element. This is because each element has a unique electron configuration.