In a variation on an old favorite, Wayne State University professor Tom Kuntzleman zapped some salts to create various colors of electricity. Usually these colors are shown to students using flame ...

The table shows the flame test colours for five common metal ions. The same colours are obtained whether the test compound is in the solid state or dissolved in water.

A cleaned, moistened flame test wire is dipped into a solid sample of the compound. It is then put into the edge of a blue Bunsen flame. The flame colour produced indicates which metal ion is present ...