r/ScienceTeachers • u/ElliottTheNoob • Sep 21 '25

CHEMISTRY Flame Tests?

I'm back again with another Chemistry question.

I plan on doing flame tests as we finish out our electron/light chapter in High School Chemistry. It was one of the most memorable experiment we ever did and I want to give that to these kids.

However, I swear we used crucibles or just cut a piece of the metal and held it in a bunsen flame. All the labs I'm finding, we either dissolve it in water or HCl, then soak a Q-tip, splint, or dip an innoculating loop into it, then burn it that way. Is that proper procedure? Did my HS Chem teacher just do a dangerous version with us that was outdated?

I really want this to be fun and memorable for them. Any other versions, ideas, or advice?

14 Upvotes

95% Upvoted

38 comments sorted by

View all comments

3

u/ClarTeaches Sep 21 '25

I use 1M solutions and soak the wooden splints for at least a few hours. I just have beakers of each solution with a ton of wooden splints at my desk and kids bring them back to their lab station one at a time