Q: What's the Difference Between Red and Blue Flames?
A: the make up of the material being burned and its temperature. For example, the colors of flames in a wood fire are due to different substances in the flames. The bright orange of most wood flames is due to the presence of sodium, which, when heated, emits light strongly in the orange. The blue in wood flames comes from carbon and hydrogen, which emit in the blue and violet. This is depicted by our experiment--since we burned fabrics which had been soaked in liquids containing carbon and hydrogen, these were emitted by the flame.
Differences are also caused by the excitation and ionization energy of atoms in the flame, likely fuel atoms, such as propane, and atmospheric atoms, such as oxygen, argon, hydrogen, nitrogen, etc.
In the blue flame, the energy released by the atoms in the flame is more energetic. This is because blue light is of higher energy than red light. Blue light is lower wavelength, higher frequency, and higher energy than red light.
Differences are also caused by the excitation and ionization energy of atoms in the flame, likely fuel atoms, such as propane, and atmospheric atoms, such as oxygen, argon, hydrogen, nitrogen, etc.
In the blue flame, the energy released by the atoms in the flame is more energetic. This is because blue light is of higher energy than red light. Blue light is lower wavelength, higher frequency, and higher energy than red light.