The Effect of the Concentration of Strontium Nitrate in a Black Powder Base on the Intensity of the 600 Nanometer Wavelength of the Emission Spectrum
School Name
Heathwood Hall Episcopal School
Grade Level
9th Grade
Presentation Topic
Chemistry
Presentation Type
Non-Mentored
Abstract
The purpose of this project was to determine whether or not the amount of strontium nitrate in a chemical mixture (with potassium chlorate, charcoal, and sulfur) affected the intensity of the color of the flame when it was ignited. The independent variable of the project was the percentage of strontium nitrate and the dependent variable was the intensity of the 600 nanometer emission line produced by the flame. In order to determine this, a device (with software included) called RSpec Explorer was used that had a special camera to collect the wavelength intensity and the flame intensity. After burning mixtures with different variations of strontium nitrate, and using the RSpec Explorer camera and software, the intensity of the 600 nanometer emission line was compared to the intensity of the overall spectrumto collect the data.For each trial, those two intensities were divided to get a percentage for accuracy. After comparing the intensity percentages, it was determined that the null hypothesis could not be rejected at the 0.05 level because there was no clear variation in the intensity compared to the different mixtures.
Recommended Citation
Bunch, Caroline V. and Mullins, Emmye E., "The Effect of the Concentration of Strontium Nitrate in a Black Powder Base on the Intensity of the 600 Nanometer Wavelength of the Emission Spectrum" (2015). South Carolina Junior Academy of Science. 257.
https://scholarexchange.furman.edu/scjas/2015/all/257
Start Date
4-11-2015 1:30 PM
End Date
4-11-2015 1:45 PM
The Effect of the Concentration of Strontium Nitrate in a Black Powder Base on the Intensity of the 600 Nanometer Wavelength of the Emission Spectrum
The purpose of this project was to determine whether or not the amount of strontium nitrate in a chemical mixture (with potassium chlorate, charcoal, and sulfur) affected the intensity of the color of the flame when it was ignited. The independent variable of the project was the percentage of strontium nitrate and the dependent variable was the intensity of the 600 nanometer emission line produced by the flame. In order to determine this, a device (with software included) called RSpec Explorer was used that had a special camera to collect the wavelength intensity and the flame intensity. After burning mixtures with different variations of strontium nitrate, and using the RSpec Explorer camera and software, the intensity of the 600 nanometer emission line was compared to the intensity of the overall spectrumto collect the data.For each trial, those two intensities were divided to get a percentage for accuracy. After comparing the intensity percentages, it was determined that the null hypothesis could not be rejected at the 0.05 level because there was no clear variation in the intensity compared to the different mixtures.
