Australia's Science Forum

I don't like spray bottles because reasons stated by others, plus kids manage to extinguish the Bunsen flame. The IEC flame spectrometer is good for demos.

We do the flame test by soaking paddle pop sticks or splints in the solutions overnight, then holding the stick in the flame. Works a treat & there isn't a huge mess to clean up.

Hi Xenon
I was thinking to buy one, how easy is to use IEC spectrometer?

Has anyone tried lead pencils? Apparently this works a treat. You shave the wood off so the flame will not burn it. Then you use the lead in the same way as nichrome wire. Better than fiddling around with spray bottles and nichrome wire. Of course this does not beat platinum wire but hey, who can afford that.

For those who do the paddle pop sticks/toothpicks in a specimen jar to soak, what sizes do you use? The 120ml specimen jar is not quite big enough to seal it with the paddle pop sticks inside, but too big for the mini paddle pop sticks. The smaller jars also don't seal with the mini paddle pop sticks. I have the same problem with all the toothpicks I've tried as well. I'd rather not waste time breaking/cutting sticks!

Why do you need to seal the jar? I just soak them in a beaker.

We don't even really soak.... students dip, swirl around a bit then burn away.

Marama T wrote: ↑09 May 2023, 08:55 Why do you need to seal the jar? I just soak them in a beaker.

For leaving them overnight, mostly, but also easy transport to the labs. How long do the paddle pop sticks need to be immersed for so they don't burn too soon?

Anna Z wrote: ↑09 May 2023, 09:32 We don't even really soak.... students dip, swirl around a bit then burn away.

Perfect! I'll plan on that for next time!