Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

Hello,
I am doing a project on Rainbow Fire. I have to write what "question" I am answering, but I am not sure what I would write because my project, unlike most of the others, isn't really answering a question. What should I write? Also, in my hypothesis am I just writing what colors I think each chemical will produce? Is that all?

Thanks for your help!

Hello starships3,

Welcome to Science Buddies!

If you click on the project idea: https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science- ... _p058.shtm, provided by Science Buddies, you can access a great outline of the introduction section followed by the experimental procedure that may guide you in your project.

The link also gives you an example of a question:
How are the colors produced by a chemical when it burns related to the atomic structure of the chemical?
You can also experiment this project with a different objective, such as...
- What is the relationship between different flame colors and the representative atomic spectra?
- Does the source of the flame color indicate relationships among different chemical compounds?
- Do chemicals from the same group in the periodic table show any similarity in flame color?
- Do the flame colors show any common ion effect?

Yes, for your hypothesis you can surely write about what colors you think each chemical will produce. If you want to be more specific, you can include the rationale for your prediction. For example: if a common metal is included in the samples, then there will be a similar flame color for all samples (example: sodium chloride (NaCl) and lithium chloride (LiCl)).

You can also post this on the Physical Science forum, as this project is more related to physics.
Good luck and make sure you have adult supervision when conducting this project!

-Grace

@grace7177

I like the question about "will metals in the same group on the periodic table produce a same or similar when burned?"
If my hypothesis is "Yes, they will emit a similar color of light when burned", and the experiment I do shows that my hypothesis is correct (not saying it is correct because I haven't done this project yet), will that be a good wrap-up of my project???

Other questions in mind
- What metals would you suggest that I use to show the similarity? (It has to be metals that can be easy accessible)
- I would like my project to be colorful so that it can amaze my fellow classmates so that they're interested in this project too. Is it possible to test different metals (so that they emit different colors) while still using this same hypothesis?

Thank you and please reply as soon as possible!

Hi CheesyPandas15,

I'm not sure whether the people who made this post originally are still active on the forums. I'm in the process of responding to your questions on this thread: viewtopic.php?f=29&t=14819. So, check there in a few minutes and you will have some answers.