We bought a Vernier SpectroVis and I've been using it with some success. It is really easy to identify mercury light sources. However, I did a really dumb thing today. We collected flame test data with the room lights on and as we were identifying the peaks from the sprectrums, they were all the same! Yesterday, I noted that collecting data with the lights on gave clearer data - of course it did - I was just reproducing the spectrum for the fluorescent lights in the room:
Data collected with room lights on showing classic mercury spectra
Duh! I even convinced myself that I had found a match with some published Ca(OH)2 data!
Well, looking at the results of the other tests, I can only say strontium nitrate and magnesium gave clear results. Here is the strotium nitrate result:
SrNO3 data collected in the dark
If you comparethe observed peaks this to this spectrum:
I think a case can be made for a match. Also, the red flame observed is clearly evident in the actual spectrum recorded. This was not the case for many of the other samples I tested!
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