FLAME TESTS

This page describes how to do a flame test for a range of metal

ions, and briefly describes how the flame colour arises.
Flame tests are used to identify the presence of a relatively small
number of metal ions in a compound. Not all metal ions give flame
colours.
For Group 1 compounds, flame tests are usually by far the easiest
way of identifying which metal you have got. For other metals, there
are usually other easy methods which are more reliable - but the
flame test can give a useful hint as to where to look.

Carrying out a flame test

Practical details
Clean a platinum or nichrome (a nickel-chromium alloy) wire by
dipping it into concentrated hydrochloric acid and then holding it in
a hot Bunsen flame. Repeat this until the wire doesn't produce any
colour in the flame.
Note: There will, in fact, always be a trace of orange in the
flame if you use nichrome. You soon learn to ignore this.
Platinum is much better to use, but is much, much more
expensive. If you have a particularly dirty bit of nichrome wire,
you can just chop the end off. You don't do that with platinum!
Dilute hydrochloric acid can be used instead of concentrated
acid for safety reasons, but doesn't always give such intense
flame colours.

When the wire is clean, moisten it again with some of the acid and
then dip it into a small amount of the solid you are testing so that
some sticks to the wire. Place the wire back in the flame again.
If the flame colour is weak, it is often worthwhile to dip the wire
back in the acid again and put it back into the flame as if you were
cleaning it. You often get a very short but intense flash of colour by
doing that.

The colours
The colours in the table are just a guide. Almost everybody sees
and describes colours differently. I have, for example, used the
word "red" several times to describe colours which can be quite
different from each other. Other people use words like "carmine" or
"crimson" or "scarlet", but not everyone knows the differences
between these words - particularly if their first language isn't
English.

flame colour
Li

red

Na

strong persistent orange

lilac (pink)

Rb

red (reddish-violet)

Cs

blue-violet (see below)

Ca

orange-red

Sr

red

Ba

pale green

Cu

blue-green (often with white flashes)

Pb

greyish-white

What do you do if you have a red flame colour for an unknown

compound and don't know which of the various reds it is?
Get samples of known lithium, strontium (etc) compounds and
repeat the flame test, comparing the colours produced by one of
the known compounds and the unknown compound side by side
until you have a good match.
Note: There is a lot of disagreement on the web and in the
books I have looked at about the flame colour given by
caesium compounds, and I have never actually done this
myself in the lab. However, I have received a helpful email from
a student who says: "At my school we did some flame testing
experiments, and . . . caesium is actually either blue or violet,
depending on the way you look at it. I think it looks more violet
than blue, but it sort of changes each time you do it." (Kara
Gates, March 2006). If you thought chemistry was clear-cut,
you are sadly mistaken!
Since then (February 2015) I came across a video on YouTube
from the Royal Society of Chemistry showing the colour clearly.
The flame in this video was produced by burning methanol
contaminated with a caesium compound. I'm not sure why
there is some orange in some parts of the flame - curiously, it
is quite localised. Don't count that as a part of the caesium
flame colour!

Flame Test Colors

Symbol

Element

Color

As

Arsenic

Blue

Boron

Bright green

Ba

Barium

Pale/Yellowish Green

Ca

Calcium

Orange to red

Cs

Cesium

Blue

Cu(I

Copper(I)

Blue

Cu(II)

Copper(II) non-halide

Green

Cu(II)

Copper(II) halide

Blue-green

Fe

Iron

Gold

In

Indium

Blue

Potassium

Lilac to red

Li

Lithium

Magenta to carmine

Mg

Magnesium

Bright white

Mn(II)

Manganese(II)

Yellowish green

Mo

Molybdenum

Yellowish green

Na

Sodium

Intense yellow

Phosphorus

Pale bluish green

Pb

Lead

Blue

Rb

Rubidium

Red to purple-red

Sb

Antimony

Pale green

Se

Selenium

Azure blue

Sr

Strontium

Crimson

Te

Tellurium

Pale green

Tl

Thallium

Pure green

Zn

Zinc

Bluish green to whitish green