Why do elements burn different colors?
1 Answer
The test carried out to detect certain elements in a compound is known as Flame Test. Consider the following explanation :-
Explanation:
When elements are burnt or in heated in a flame, the electrons in the atoms of such elements are excited to higher energy states. On de-excitation from higher to low energy level, these electrons emits photons (light) of different wavelengths in different regions of electromagnetic (visible)spectrum.
Since each wavelength corresponds to a specific color, therefore each element burns in a different color due to emitting specific wavelengths ; one example is shown in the pic below :-
The Flame test is mostly done for cations of Inorganic salts.
The way of doing flame test :-
For example, Na gives intense yellow color, Mg gives an intense white color, K gives mostly Violet/Lilac color etc as shown in the pic given below :-
