Virtual Flame Test Lab

Click a sample to compare the characteristic flame colors of eight known metal salts and one unknown.

1. Explore the known samples. Click or tap a sample bottle to place its sample in the flame. With a keyboard, focus a bottle and press Enter or Space.
2. Observe and compare. Watch how the flame color changes. Click different samples to compare them. The virtual wire loop is automatically cleaned between tests.
3. Investigate the unknown. Its identity is one of the eight known salts. Compare its flame color with the known samples. Use New investigation to start again with a randomly selected unknown.

Heating excites atoms and ions in the sample. As electrons return to lower energy levels, they emit characteristic wavelengths of light. Flame tests provide clues; similar colors may need another method to confirm an identity.

This simulation uses separate, pure samples and idealized colors. Sodium contamination can mask other colors in a real lab. Follow your teacher’s safety instructions for physical experiments.