A clear visual guide to carrying out flame tests for metal ions, designed for classroom teaching, practical preparation and revision.

The resource shows the complete flame-test procedure: cleaning a nichrome wire loop with hydrochloric acid, collecting a small sample of the test solid and placing the loop into a blue Bunsen flame.

It illustrates the characteristic flame colours for six metal ions:

Sodium, Na⁺ – yellow, with a small orange halo
Potassium, K⁺ – lilac
Calcium, Ca²⁺ – brick-red/orange
Strontium, Sr²⁺ – crimson red
Barium, Ba²⁺ – apple-green
Copper(II), Cu²⁺ – green-blue

The appearance of the solid samples is also shown, including the light-blue appearance of copper(II) chloride.

The visual sequence helps students connect the experimental procedure with the observation used to identify each metal ion, rather than simply memorising a list of flame colours.

An accompanying animated demonstration shows the experiment developing step by step and is particularly useful for introducing the practical before students carry it out or for revising qualitative analysis.

Suitable for GCSE, IGCSE and A-level Chemistry.

Part of the FranklyChemistry Chemistry Experiments collection.