Flames of Salt

Zachary Farnham
Boston Latin Academy
January 6, 2013

What types of salts have the most energy?
I want to know if salts have energy. I got the idea from when we burned a cheese ball to find the energy in it was calories. Therefore I was curious to know if salt has its own energy. I then went to my neighbor and he told me that they do have energy. He also said that if you were to burn the salt then you see the energy not measure it. I was confused as to why I could see it because in class we measured to temperature of the water to find calories in a cheese ball. To find calories you measure change in water temperature by the time it burns but I was told that if I were to burn different salts the flame coming off would be an irregular color. To calculate the energy you match it with a color on the spectrum. On the spectrum lowest to highest energy goes red, red-orange, orange, yellow-orange, yellow, yellow-green, green, blue-green, blue, blue-violet, and finally violet. Next was my research and materials. I needed salt for good testing. I found some on www.sciencecompany.com. It included ten grams of each sodium carbonate, strontium chloride, potassium chloride, cupric chloride, and copper sulfate. Next I found cardboard cotton swabs at ocean state job lot along with a small candle.
My question that I am testing is: what salts have more energy?
My materials are
 Cardboard cotton swabs
 Flame test kit from www.sciencecompany.com. Including sodium carbonate, strontium chloride, potassium chloride, cupric chloride, and copper sulfate.
 A long lasting candle
 Lighter
 Spoon
 Napkin
 2 black cookie sheets
 Rubbing alcohol
 Small glass cup
In order to start my science experiment I put a cookie sheet down to work on so I didn’t burn anything. I also put a cookie sheet in the background so I could get a better picture of the flame color. Next I put alcohol in the small glass cup. After that I placed a napkin on the cookie sheet and made a small...