Identifying Unknown Substances at St Joseph’s High School

Experiment 1: Identifying metal ions using flame tests.

Around the lab, there were stations with different solutions in beakers. In each beaker there were wooden splints soaking up the solution. Their job was to find out which solution made a particular colour when inserted into a Bunsen burner flame.

The children understood all of the safety rules put in place; wearing safety glasses to protect their eyes, using tongs to lift the wooden splints and to make sure the safety flame was left on once they had used the Bunsen burner.

---

Experiment 2: Testing for metal ions using Sodium Hydroxide

Around the lab, there were stations with different metal compound solutions in bottles. With them, were bottles of sodium hydroxide. Their job was to find out which solutions made a particular colour when they added pipettes filled with sodium hydroxide to the metal compound solutions.

Again to do this, the children understood they needed to wear safety glasses in order to protect their eyes from the different chemicals.