Fireworks and Physics: The Same Science
🎆 Fireworks and Physics: The Same Science
Every time you watch fireworks, you are watching the same chemistry as a flame test in a lab. Red fireworks contain lithium or strontium compounds, green ones contain copper compounds, yellow and orange ones contain sodium. The vivid colours come from electrons in the metal atoms absorbing heat energy and releasing it as light of a specific colour. This is one of the most visually spectacular chemical tests — and one of the most frequently examined topics at GCSE.
Chemistry glossary
- What is a flame test?
- A test used to identify metal ions by observing the characteristic flame color they produce when heated in a Bunsen burner flame
Flame tests are used to identify metal ions by observing the characteristic flame colours they produce when heated in a Bunsen burner flame. Each metal element produces a unique colour because of its specific electron energy level arrangement.
Earn the mark scheme marks
🧠 Memory Aid
Learn the first letter of each metal and its colour:
"Little Naughty Kids Catch Cats, Bright Ones!"
Li = Red | Na = Yellow | K = Lilac | Ca = Orange-red | Cu = Green | Ba = Yellow-green
Or remember it as: "LiRed, NaYellow, KLilac, CaOrange-red, CuGreen, BaYellow-green"
For the method: "Dip, Heat, Dip, Sample, Flame" — always clean before and after.
Quick Check: A flame test on an unknown compound produces an orange-yellow colour. Name the metal ion present.
Sodium ion (Na⁺). The orange-yellow colour is the characteristic flame colour for sodium.
Now try it yourself
Quiz · Question 1 of 22
Which type of wire is used to carry out a flame test?
Tap an answer to check it
This topic in real past papers
Every real exam question we've found on flame tests, with a full worked answer.