transition metals

hmhm okay this lesson was not too bad. we got to play with fire, finally!

i mean, after all the fireless bio and physics lessons, it's great to turn on a bunsen burner again, right?

chinqi was away on a bowling competition so i had jiaen sit with me. on a side note, i really hope for an insane lab partner next year. it'll just make things that much easier.

anyways, the following are videos of caroline, huikai, jiaen and i burning some transition metals! have fun turning your neck and don't you dare laugh at my singlish pixie-sounding voice (remember... i'm watching you). additionally, you can try following caroline and i's argument over whose fire-bending is better.

sodium nitrate:

barium nitrate:

lead (ii) nitrate:

calcium chloride:

potassium nitrate:

copper nitrate:

okies. all our colors turned out the way they should be except for barium, which is supposed to be apple green but instead did a gold-blue-orange on us.

okay, the technical aspect of this delves into the atomic theory, which i suck at. when energized electrons (the metal's in a freaking flame how can they not be energized come on) in a metal ion fall back to a lower orbital they emit the light that we see in the flames. ta-dah. that's all you need to know, really.