Question

Your two Barium samples, BaCl2 and BaSO4 gave the same flame color. Would you say the color is due to Ba or the anions, Cl and SO4? Explain your answer.

Answer 1

Predominantly ,the color is due to cation Ba2+.

Step-by-step explanation:

Flame Test : The flame due barium cation is Green in color.

Anions such as Cl- and SO42- slightly (very little) affects the color . Hence ,

BaCl2 and BaSO4 gives Yellow -green flame not pure green

Ba 2+ cation gives green colour because:

It has loosely bounded outermost electron (low ionisation)

It absorb energy from the flame , get excited to higher energy state. When the excited electron comes back to ground state , it emits colour of particular frequency.