6.

EMISSION SPECTROSCOPY
JHU INTRO. CHEM. LAB II
SPRING 2019
You will have one lab period to complete this experiment. There will be Chem21labs prelab and postlab
assignments due as shown on the schedule. You will need to upload some of your spectra to Chem21labs. There is a
prelab video on Blackboard that will help you understand the experiment and the analysis of the spectra.
When an atomic or molecular species absorbs energy, the energy has different effects. Some goes into translation,
making the species move faster. Some goes into vibration, causing the distance between atoms in the molecule to
change rapidly. Some goes into rotation, causing the atoms in the molecule to rotate around bonds. Some of the energy
goes into the electrons, causing them to jump to higher energy levels. The separation between these energy levels are
different for all atoms and molecules. Excited electrons then return to lower energy levels, emitting their excess energy
as photons. Given that different molecules have distinct energy levels, the pattern of light absorption and emission can
be used to identify species. Absorption spectroscopy is the measurement of the energy (or wavelength) that is absorbed
as electrons move to higher electronic energy levels. Emission spectroscopy is the measurement of the energy released
as the electrons fall back to lower levels. In this experiment, you will measure emission spectra from atoms and
molecules that are excited to higher electronic energy levels by heat, energy released in chemical reactions, and
voltages. You will see how emission spectroscopy can be used as a tool to identify species. In the following
experiment, you will measure absorption spectroscopy and see how it can be used to not only identify species but also
to determine their concentrations.
You experience the excitement of atomic emission when you watch fireworks with their bright displays of red,
yellow, green, and blue. Each color is characteristic of a metal. Although fireworks have a much longer history, it was
only in the 19th century that metal salts were added for color effects. And it has only been in the last century that this
process has been understood. In this experiment you will determine what colors are characteristic of specific metals
in flames and use this to determine some of the cations present in sparklers. You will also analyze the atomic emission
lines from hydrogen and relate your observations to atomic structure.
The human eye cannot separate mixtures of light into their component colors. A prism or a diffraction grating is
needed to do this. You will use a spectrophotometer (see diagram below) with a diffraction grating. A
spectrophotometer is a device that measures both the wavelength and intensity of light. A fiber optic cable will be used
to bring the light from the flame and sparkler to the entrance slit of the spectrophotometer.

Light is brought to the spectrophotometer slit by a fiber optic cable. It is separated into its component colors by
the diffraction grating. This causes different colors of light to be reflected at different angles back to the linear charge-
coupled device (CCD) detector, which records the intensity of the light at the different wavelengths. Our eyes measure
only one region of the spectrum, from ~400 nm to ~700 nm (namely the visible region). The SpectroVis Plus
spectrophotometers measure a slightly greater range, from 380 - 900 nm.
You will measure atomic spectra from a hydrogen lamp, from flames, and from sparklers. You will work with
your partner and a second group to record the flame spectra. Your TA will call each group of 4 up to measure the
atomic hydrogen lines and the sparklers. You may need to do Part 3 before finishing Parts 1 and 2. You will have one
lab period to complete this experiment. Each group of 4 students will need one Vernier LabQuest2 interface, one
SpectroVis Plus spectrophotometer, one fiber optic cable, and the appropriate power cord and cables from the
stockroom. You will get applicators to be used for the flames from your TA, since they will be pre-soaked in water to
make it less likely that they will catch on fire.
Objectives
• Use a spectrophotometer to measure emission spectra of atoms and molecules.
• Predict the spectral lines for hydrogen atoms and compare them with experimental values.
• Observe the difference between atomic and molecular spectra.
• Determine what species are present in unknowns using the spectra of known atoms and molecules.

Safety First!
Fire Safety
Keep your desk area clean. Only your lab notebook and manual should be on the lab bench. Backpacks and coats
should be in the front of the room.
Keep a large beaker with water in your work area that you can use to put out applicator fires.
If you have long hair, make sure it is tied back.
Make sure your hood is set up at least 18 inches above the flame (24 inches above the top of the Bunsen burner) to
avoid melting the plastic shields on the hood.
Be sure to not look directly into any bright lights generated by the flame test and sparklers.
Chemical Safety
Barium chloride (BaCl2) is a toxic salt, and can cause skin irritation, eye damage, and respiratory irritation.
Lithium chloride (LiCl2) is harmful if swallowed, and can also cause skin, eye, and respiratory irritation.
Copper(II) chloride (CuCl2) is toxic if swallowed or in contact with skin, and can produce toxic fumes when
exposed to heat. It can also cause skin irritation and serious eye damage.
All other salts can cause skin irritation, as well as serious eye irritation. Keep experiment setup under the fume
hood.
Always wear goggles, gloves, and apron during lab.

SPECTROPHOTOMETERS
The following section describes how to set up the SpectroVis spectrophotometer, The spectrophotometer plugs
into the Vernier LabQuest2 via the USB port on the upper left side of the unit. The rectangular box at the end of the
optical fiber is inserted into the SpectroVis, with the white arrow on the optical fiber on the same side as the white
arrow on the spectrophotometer.
Set up the LabQuest2 as in previous experiments and as described in Section III at the beginning of the manual.
The default for the spectrophotometer is absorbance (Abs), which will have to be changed into emission. To do this,
from the top toolbar select “Sensors” → “Change Units” → “USB: Spectrometer” → “Intensity”. Click on “Mode” to
change the settings on the mode to 200 ms for the “Sample time” and the “Samples to Average” should be set at 1.
The remainder of the default settings are correct. Record all the settings in your notebook. To avoid needing to reset
the SpectroVis any time you click on “File” → “New”, you should store each run in the same file using the file cabinet
icon. Record the run number, species, and observations (color and wavelengths of the major peaks) in your lab
notebook based on the spectra you observe. You will find it helpful to record this in a table in your notebook.
First familiarize yourself with the operation of the spectrometer. Your first scan should be of the room lights.
Press the green start arrow. The spectrometer will start taking spectra continuously at this time, but it won’t save any
spectra until you press the red stop button when you are satisfied with the spectra you observe. This is similar to using
a camera – you move the camera around until you get the best picture, but the picture isn’t saved until you press the
shutter button.
For the room light spectrum, point the yellow fiber optic cable tip at the room lights. Move the cable around,
observing the effect on the peak intensities. As you move the fiber tip closer to the lights, you may observe peaks that
look flattened at the top because they are off-scale. You need to move the tip further from the lights so that all peaks
are on-scale and not flattened. You should observe that the relative intensities of the lines remains the same and the
width of the lines and bands remains the same. However, the absolute intensity is only a function of how close the
cable is to the light. When you are satisfied with your spectrum, hit the red stop square. (Note the quickness of the
response – it only takes 200ms for the spectrophotometer to collect the light.) You should record the wavelengths of
the major peaks in the room light spectrum in your notebook so that you will know if you are observing room lights
instead of the desired spectra in the rest of the experiment. This scan should be stored and later e-mailed to all the
members of your group because you will need to compare it to your spectra to see if any bands can be identified as
due to the room lights. You will be able to append additional spectra without needing to open a new file, although you
will need to periodically save your file as you go along. You will also be able to look at this spectrum any time during
your experiment using the file cabinet icon and choosing the correct run so you can see if room lights are a major
contaminant in your spectra.
Spectrophotometer accuracy: The LabQuest records wavelengths in the files as xxx.x or xxx.xx nm. However, the
resolution of the spectrometers we use are less than that. For the Spectrovis Plus spectrometer (used for the metal
flames and the sparkler) the wavelength resolution is wavelength dependent. It ranges from 3 to 7 nm, so, for this
experiment, you should consider the absolute accuracy of the wavelength to be approximately ± 5 nm. However, the
repeatability is higher than that, so the same instrument can be expected to measure the peak from the same molecule
to within 1 or 2 nm. For the Red Tide spectrometer (used for the hydrogen spectrum) the resolution is ± 1 nm.

PART 1: METAL FLAME EMISSION

Different atoms and molecules have unique emission spectra, allowing for unique spectral identification.
However, these spectra can be very complex. Flame spectra are generally composed of spectra of the metal, metal
ions, metal oxides, and metal hydroxides (M, M+ or M2+, MO and MOH). The atomic lines tend to be sharp and the
molecular species often form wide bands. The wavelength and shapes of these features are unique for each chemical.
The relative intensity of the features within a spectrum depends on the concentration of that species, which depends
on the temperature of the flame. Spectra taken under the same conditions will always look the same. If, for example,
they have 2 wide bands with the intensity ratio of 1:2, both bands will always be present in this intensity ratio. In
addition, they will have the same shapes (sharp or wide) and same wavelengths or wavelength regions.
For atoms, the presence of more than one electron causes the energy of the s, p, d, and f orbitals to be split, but
most still appear as sharp lines, unless two or more lines overlap. For molecules, the presence of vibrational and
rotational energy causes very small line splitting. These spectra tend to appear as wider bands rather than discrete lines
due to the resolution of the spectrophotometer.
You will measure the emission spectra of some metal salts. You will use your Bunsen burner as the excitation
source, since the salts of certain metals vaporize, react and dissociate when they are heated in a flame. Some of the
species are formed with electrons in excited states that emit light as they return to a lower state. The characteristic
color of the flame is due to whatever excited state species that are formed in the reactions in the flame and emit light
in the visible region of the spectrum. Monatomic species (atoms and metal ions) have line spectra due to electronic
transitions between quantum states. Molecular spectra are more complex, due to the internal motion of the different
nuclei. The vibrations and rotations of the nuclei cause additional transitions.
The color you see by eye is due to a mixture of all visible emissions. The spectrophotometer can resolve atomic
emissions into discrete lines and for molecules into separate bands. Depending on the spacing of the lines and the
resolution of the instrument, these spectra can appear broad and diffuse, rather than as discrete lines. The flames you
will observe come from NaCl, LiCl, KCl, SrCl2, BaCl2 and CuCl2. You will identify the color you see from the flame
produced by each of these salts and use the SpectroVis spectrophotometer to measure the emission lines and bands.
In Part 2 you will be expected to take an emission spectrum from a sparkler and identify its composition from the
spectrum.
Notes:
• For some of the salts you will see only a single line and for others you may see several lines.
• Some lines may be narrow and some will look like wider bands.
• The 589 nm lines due to the sodium atom and the 770 nm line due to the potassium atom are about 100 times
more intense than any of the other lines or bands you will observe. This causes two problems. The first is
that the line may appear flattened because it is off scale. To fix this problem, you will need to hold the probe
further from the flame so that you get a sharp peak that is on-scale. The second problem is that many of the
other salts you measure have impurities on the order of 0.01% so may contain sodium or potassium. In
addition, the cotton and wood in the applicator contain sodium and potassium impurities. If you see a sharp
 line in any of the salt flames at about the same wavelength as the strong lines you observe for NaCl and KCl,
they are most likely due to sodium or potassium impurities. Record that in your notebook. You should also
identify these lines on your spectra that you submit for grading.

PROCEDURE
There is a technique video on Blackboard on flame spectra that will help you with this procedure.
Safety Concerns for Part 1:
• Some of the salts are toxic. Wear gloves and goggles at all times. Set up the experiment under a hood.
However, the hood needs to be at least 18 inches above the flame (24 inches above the top of the Bunsen
burner) to avoid melting the plastic shields on the hood.
• To prevent fires: Keep your desk area clean. Only your lab manual and your lab notebook should be on the
lab bench. Backpacks and coats should be in the front of the room. Keep a large beaker with water in your
work area that you can use to put out applicator fires.
Note: It is important to avoid contaminating your samples. Be sure all glassware that you use is clean and labeled.
Keep unused applicators separated from the used ones. Do not reuse applicators on different salts. You will, however,
reuse the same applicator on the same salt.
• Make sure you have all of the relevant equipment on hand.
• Label the 6 small test tubes in the rack NaCl, LiCl, KCl, SrCl2, BaCl2, and CuCl2. Keep them as far apart
from each other as possible in the test tube rack to avoid cross-contamination.
• Get about 0.15 g of each compound using the labeled spatula – NOT your own – to
1-2 mm of Salt
avoid contaminating the chemicals. You only need enough to fill the bottom of the
small test tubes with 1 or 2 mm of solid. It should look as follows:
• Adjust the air intake on your Bunsen burner so that you have an inner cone as shown
in the diagram below.
Inner Cone

• The order in which you perform the experiment is as follows:

o The NaCl provides the brightest flame so you should do it first.
o Then repeat the experiment with a new applicator for KCl. This is so that you will be able to
recognize when NaCl and KCl are present as contaminants in other flames.
o Repeat the experiment for the remaining salts, using a new applicator for each different salt.
You should save the barium chloride and copper chloride salts for last since they are the most
difficult.
• Perform the experiments by following the instructions below.
Make sure you understand all the directions below because you will need to work quickly to avoid your
applicator catching on fire.
Your group needs to assign 3 specific roles. You need one person to turn the spectrophotometer scan on and off.
You need a second person to hold the applicator in the flame. You need a third person to hold the fiber optic cable,
moving it to obtain a good spectrum but making sure it stays at least 1 inch away to keep it from melting. (The probes
cost approximately $70 and students will be charged if they return a melted probe.) Rotate the roles so everyone can
participate.
The student with the spectrophotometer: Make sure the spectrophotometer is ready for the run, with the correct
mode parameter, and press the start arrow (green). Once the colored flame appears you will only have a few seconds
to take the spectrum before the applicator catches on fire. You should hit “stop” (red box) as soon as a good spectrum
appears on the screen.
The student holding the applicator: Immerse the tip and first few cm of the shaft of a clean applicator in deionized
water. Once it is thoroughly wet, place it in your NaCl test tube. Grains of NaCl will stick to the wet cotton on the tip.
Insert the applicator about 1 mm into the outer part of Fiber optic probe tip
the flame near the base of the flame as shown. should remain at least 1
If the color is not intense and/or you cannot get a strong inch from the flame to
spectrum, dip it in the salt and try again. You will find that avoid melting it. See the
the color intensifies and lasts longer if you reuse the same video on Blackboard.
applicator repeatedly. This is because of the buildup of salt
on the tip after heating. This experiment works well even Applicator dipped in salt should
when the cotton tip of your applicator is blackened. be inserted ~1mm into the
outer flame near the base of
the flame, so that the tip just
Note: the applicator tip should stay outside the inner cone
touches the inner cone.
of the flame. If you insert it all the way into the flame, the
color will be less intense and the applicator will catch on fire. If it does start to catch on fire, the person holding the
applicator should be prepared to quench the fire. If the tip catches on fire, you can quench the fire using your wash
bottle and continue to use the same applicator. But if the fire spreads to the shaft, you should dip it in the large beaker
of water to quench the fire and you will probably need a new applicator. Although you can ask your TA for additional
applicators, please try to minimize their use. Ask your TA for help if you are having trouble taking the spectra.
The student holding the optical fiber should start with it several inches from the flame and move it to capture the
best spectrum, making sure it remains at least 1 inch from the flame to avoid melting the probe. If the top of any peaks
in the spectra look flat, the emission is too intense and the probe should be moved further away from the flame so that
peaks look sharp so you can better identify their wavelengths.
• Record both the color you observe in the flame and the major line or band positions and relative
intensities you observe in the spectrum in your notebook. This will help you identify the species in your
spectra both as you do the in-lab worksheet and for the post-lab assignment. Pay particular attention to
whether any of the lines occur at the sodium or potassium wavelengths or at the wavelengths of the room
lights.
• Record the run number of the scan as well as the salt you measured so that later you will be able to
upload the correct spectra to Chem21labs.
It is easiest if you continue to tap on the file cabinet and store the spectra in the same file, just with different run
numbers. It works to save the file periodically and just return to it to store additional spectra and save it again after
additional runs. If you press “File” → “New” you will need to reset the sensor to measure intensity and you will need
to reset the mode parameters. However, if you continue to save the data into the same file, you won’t need to reset the
LabQuest2.
• Dispose of your remaining chemicals per the following section.
Chemical Disposal
Dissolve any remaining CuCl2, SrCl2, and BaCl2 in a few milliliters of water and pour into the waste drums. The
remainder of the chemicals, NaCl, KCl, and LiCl can be dissolved in water and poured into the sink. Rinse all the test
tubes thoroughly before returning them to the stockroom. You should use an applicator to remove any solids since
your test tube brush is too large.

PART 2: IDENTIFICATION OF METALS IN SPARKLERS

Sparklers are designed to deliver a shower of sparks over a sustained period of time (15 – 30 s). They are made
by depositing a mixture of fuel, oxidizer, and metal powder. Metal filings are incorporated to produce the shower of
sparks. In addition, many contain inorganic salts that are used as colorants. A binder holds all the materials to a shaft
that is either wire or wood. Typical fuels are carbon/sulfur mixtures. Typical oxidants are potassium nitrate and
potassium perchlorate. The heat from the combustion creates species in excited electronic states in the same way as
occurs with metal salts in a flame. With a spectrophotometer, you can resolve the light and identify peaks due both to
the oxidizer and the metal salts. Since some of the salts you measured in Part 1 of this experiment are used as colorants,
you will be able to identify some of the metal ions used in the oxidizer and the colorants.
Spectra from sparklers are even more complicated than the flame spectra because of the mixture of chemicals.
Strong atomic lines can be identified in all the sparkler spectra. The molecular species may look somewhat different
than in the flames because of the different chemical composition and the different temperature. This may change the
relative intensities of the lines and bands. There may be additional lines and bands in the sparklers that will not be
possible for you to identify from your flame spectra because they are due to different molecular species. The absolute
intensities of the lines will be dependent on the distance between the probe and the sparkler.
While you are in lab, you will be given some sparkler spectra and you will need to identify some of the lines and
bands that you observe. Then, as homework, you will identify some of the lines and bands on a spectrum collected
from a sparkler that you will record in lab.
Your TA will call you to one of the large hoods to measure the spectrum of a sparkler when it is your turn. You
should complete Questions 2 and 3 on the in-lab worksheet while you are waiting for your turn.
All sparklers will have an intense line near 770 nm. Although your eye does not register this color, the
spectrophotometer does. Ideally you will obtain at least 2 spectra while the sparkler is burning. The most important
one will show the 770 nm line off scale (flattened) so that you can observe peaks in the visible region. The rest of the
peaks should be on-scale (not flattened). It is desirable, but not necessary, to obtain a second spectrum with the 770
nm peak on-scale or closer to on-scale. Just as for the metal salts, you should record observations on the major peak
locations, widths, and intensities in your notebook. Spectra should be taken with the same parameters of 200 ms
duration and single scan.
At the end of Parts 1 and 2, save your data and either e-mail it or export it to a USB drive in text format. Your
TA can help you connect to Wi-Fi if your labquest is not already connected. You will need to store the data from the
hydrogen lamp in Part 3 in a new file and e-mail it separately, since you will be using a different spectrophotometer
and LabQuest.

PART 3: HYDROGEN EMISSION - BALMER SERIES

When an electrical discharge through hydrogen gas occurs, hydrogen atoms are produced. Since more energy is
available than needed to split the hydrogen molecules into hydrogen atoms, the electron in the hydrogen atom acquires
excess energy, which raises the electron to a higher electronic energy level. It returns to a lower level spontaneously
and, as it does so, light is emitted. The emitted light corresponds to the energy difference between the two levels. The
lower level is the final level, nf, and the higher level is the initial level, ni for the transition. This light can be at infrared,
visible, or ultraviolet frequencies, depending on the energy difference of the levels.
Such discharge lamps and spectroscopes that could separate light into its component wavelengths were available
by the latter half of the 19th century and scientists realized that the light emitted by the hydrogen atom was emitted as
discrete lines, always with identical wavelengths. Anders Ångstrom was the first to characterize the wavelengths in
the visible region in 1859 (and later had a unit of measurement equal to 10 -10 m named after him). In 1885, a high
school mathematics and calligraphy teacher named Johann Balmer found an empirical formula that matched the
observations. The series of visible lines in the hydrogen atom spectra are named the Balmer series. He wrote his
formula as:
𝒎2
𝜆 = 𝐵( 2 ) (1)
𝒎 − 𝒏2
where B is a constant,  is the observed wavelength, n has a value of 2 for the visible hydrogen lines, and m has values
 3.
This formula only fit the visible hydrogen lines, but it was used to predict additional lines in the series that had
not yet been identified. Five years later, Johannes Rydberg determined a more general form of the Balmer equation
that fit more spectral data. His equation, shown here, is still used today.
1 1 1
= 𝑅𝐻 ( 2 − 2 ) (2)
𝜆 𝑛𝑓 𝑛𝑖
where RH is an empirical constant determined from experimental values and nf and ni are numbers in sequence. For
the Balmer emission series, nf = 2 and ni > 2. However, at that time there was no theory that could account for this
formula.
 In 1913, Niels Bohr derived this formula using what is now known as the Bohr model of the atom. By
incorporating Max Planck's theory that energy is emitted or absorbed in small packets (quanta) rather than in a
continuous manner, he developed a model of the atom in which electrons are in stable orbitals and emit or absorb
quantized amounts of energy when they move between orbitals. The values of na and nb in Equation 2 therefore
correspond to the electronic orbital levels.
Your textbook discusses the hydrogen atom orbitals in detail in chapter 2. It explains how Schrödinger determined
the energy levels (En) of the hydrogen atom:
𝑒 4 𝑚𝑒 1
𝐸𝑛 = 2 2 ( 2 ) (3)
8𝜀𝑜 ℎ 𝑛
where e is the charge on an electron, me is the mass of an electron, o is the permittivity of vacuum, and h is Planck's
constant. n is a principle quantum number.
By subtracting the energy of the initial level from the final level, you can predict the energy of the emitted light:
𝑒 4 𝑚𝑒 1 1
𝐸 = 2 2 ( 2 − 2) (4)
8𝜀𝑜 ℎ 𝒏𝒇 𝒏𝒊
Where, again, nf is the principle quantum number characterizing the final energy level of the electron (nf = 2 for the
Balmer emission lines) and ni is the principal quantum number characterizing the initial energy level of the electron.
By entering the values of the fundamental constants in Equation 4 and solving for  using E = h, we can solve for
the frequency of the emitted light:
𝐸 𝑐 1 1
 = = = (3.28805 × 1015 𝑠 −1 ) ( 2 − 2 ) (5)
ℎ  𝑛𝑓 𝑛𝑖

where  is the frequency of the transition, which is equal to c/, where c is the speed of light and  is the wavelength
of the light. The value 3.28805 x 1015 s-1 comes from the best available values of the fundamental constants included
in Equation 3 and is the value you should use in your calculations in Chem21labs. As you can see, Equation 5 is the
same as Equation 2, with the empirical Rydberg constant replaced with a value derived from fundamental constants.
You will compare your experimental values of the frequencies to those calculated using this theoretical model. The
unit s-1 can also be called the hertz, abbreviated Hz.
n=∞ An energy level diagram showing the emission
n=6 lines for hydrogen atoms is shown left. This diagram
n=5 shows the energy levels predicted by the Bohr model
n=4 and the transitions between them. The levels are labeled
n=3
Paschen Series
with the quantum number n, which ranges from the
lowest energy level of 1 to infinity, which would be for
Balmer Series
n=2 the separated electron and proton.
Since emission lines are observed, the initial levels,
Energy →

nb in Equation 2, all represent hydrogen atoms that have

been excited to higher electronic states and the final
level, na, is a lower electronic state. Only the Balmer
series emissions to na = 2 are in the visible region of the
spectrum.
Although the Bohr model was later shown to be
Lyman Series inadequate for predicting energy levels and spectra of
n=1 many-electron systems, it still provides us with a visual
conceptual framework for the atom. In 1926, the
currently accepted theory of modern quantum mechanics was introduced. This theory is more general and provides a
basis for understanding more complex atoms and molecules. However, as your text explains, the energy levels
predicted by quantum mechanics for the hydrogen atom are the same as the ones predicted from Bohr's model.
 PROCEDURE
Answer Question 1 on the worksheet before you measure the hydrogen spectrum.
CAUTION: Do not turn on the hydrogen lamp. Only your TA may do that. The hydrogen lamp emits UV light that
can be harmful to your eyes. Your TA will turn on the light only when all students in the vicinity are wearing goggles.
The light can only be turned on for a few minutes at a time to keep it from getting too hot. Do not touch the lamp or
housing - the high voltage discharge needed to produce the excited hydrogen atoms can be dangerous.
Your TA will call you up to use the hydrogen lamp at some time during the lab period. Instead of the SpectroVis
spectrophotometer you will use a Red Tide Ocean Optics UV-VIS spectrophotometer which is better at measuring
lines at shorter wavelengths (UV) so that you will be able to observe more lines in the Balmer series. It also has a
higher resolution so that your measured wavelengths should be accurate to ± 1 nm.
You should save and either e-mail this data to your group or export it to a USB drive in text format for later
analysis as part of your homework.

ASSIGNMENT
Complete the Chem21labs assignment. You will also need to upload a total of four spectra including:
• A spectrum from two of your metal salts,
• the hydrogen lamp,
• and the sparkler.
You will be assigned specific metal salts on Chem21labs when you do the assignment. Students will randomly
be assigned one of the spectra from the sodium, lithium, or potassium salts and one of the spectra from the copper,
barium or strontium salts. Format your spectra as lines, not showing individual data points. This is an option in the
scatter plots on Excel. An example spectrum is shown on Blackboard so that you can see an example of good
formatting.
Each spectrum should be labeled with a title that contains the name of what you were measuring. You should
identify any extraneous lines due to sodium, potassium, or room lights on the spectra. You should also identify the
lines on your sparkler spectrum due to sodium, lithium, potassium, strontium, barium, and/or copper salts.
All students should make their own spectra. There will be a significant loss of points if the spectra are copied!