Students observe the colors of light emitted by 6 different metals placed in a flame, and view their bright-line emission spectra using a spectroscope. Then, they use their data to identify an unknown metal by its flame test and bright-line emission spectrum.
This activity covers concepts such as the quantum nature of light, ground and excited states of electrons, fluorescence, continuous spectra, and bright-line spectra.
Materials are sufficient for 30 students working in 6 groups.