When you see a flame change color, it’s not magic—it’s science! When certain metals are heated, their tiny particles called electrons get excited. As they calm back down, they release energy as light, and that light shows up as different colors in the flame.
Each metal always makes the same flame color—almost like a fingerprint. Sodium makes bright yellow, copper makes green, and strontium makes red. Because of this, scientists can actually identify what a material is just by looking at the color of the flame.
This is the same science used in fireworks—those bright reds, greens, and yellows in the sky come from different metals burning. Scientists also use flame colors to test for metals in labs and even in environmental testing. And it’s not just flames—this same idea explains why stars are different colors! Stars are giant balls of hot gases, and the chemicals inside them glow in different colors. Blue stars are hotter, red stars are cooler, and scientists can tell what stars are made of just by studying their light—no spaceship required.
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