Flame emission spectroscopy

In a nutshell

Instrumental analysis methods, such as flame emission spectroscopy, can help to identify a mixture of metal ions present in a solution. It can also be used to determine the concentration of the metal ion(s) present.

Flame emission spectroscopy

procedure

1.	Place the sample in a flame.
2.	Ions heat up leading to excited electrons.
3.	Electrons drop back to their original energy level and energy is transferred as light.
4.	Light passes through a spectroscope.
5.	Spectroscope detects the different wavelengths of light (different colours) which produces a line spectrum.
6.	Colours seen are dependant on the ionic charge and electron configuration.
7.	No ion has the same charge and same electron configuration as another, therefore each metal ion produces a different pattern of wavelengths (colours) hence producing a different line spectrum.
8.	Concentration of a given ion can be determined by the intensity of the wavelength.

Example

A sample produces the first spectrum, below. You can then compare the spectrum to references. In this example the sample contains ion A and ion B and the wavelengths for the sample correspond to that of ions A and B.

Chemistry; Chemical analysis; KS4 Year 10; Flame emission spectroscopy

Advantages of instrumental analysis

Very fast
Highly sensitive
Super accurate