Mindy and her lab partner conducted flame tests of several metallic salt solutions. They dipped a wire loop into each salt solution, and one by one, heated the sample in the Bunsen burner flame. Based on their results, which element produced a colored light with the lowest energy?
Flame tests of metals produce various colors. The colors produced by each of the choices are:
A. barium - pale green B. calcium - yellow red c. copper - green blue d. potassium - lilac
Using the visible light spectrum, it can be determined that the metal with the lowest energy is B. calcium. This is because the color yellow-red is near the end of the spectrum with the longest wavelength. Since wavelength is inversely proportional to energy, calcium has the lowest energy.
The color of the emitted light depends on the energy. According to the arrangement of the electromagnetic spectrum, the color red has the lowest energy, the lowest frequency, and the largest wavelength
