Flame emission spectroscopy

• What is flame emission spectroscopy used for

  Identifying metal ions in a solution and measuring their concentration
• When performing flame emission spectroscopy, what does the intensity of a line spectrum indicate

  Concentration of a given metal ion in the solution
• Process for carrying out flame emission spectroscopy

  Solution containing metal ions is heated until they emit light

  Light is detected by spectroscope which can distinguish between the individual wavelengths of light emitted

  As each metal ion emits a unique combination of wavelengths, it will produce a unique line spectrum

  This will allow us to identify the unknown metal cation by comparing its line spectrum to those of known metal cations in a data bank
• 3 advantages of using instrumental method instead of chemical tests

  Quick

  Accurate

  Sensitive
• 3 disadvantages of using instrumental methods over chemical tests

  Expensive

  Specialist training

  Requires a known comparison