Lighting The Fire In The Name of Science

Every day thousands of chemistry teachers across the world take the leap of faith and introduce their students to the Bunsen burner.

This year was no exception for our Year 9 Science students who have been studying chemistry this term.  They had the opportunity to test how different elements react when applied to the flame of a Bunsen Burner. Students experimented with barium (Ba), sodium (Na), copper (Cu), potassium (K) and calcium (Ca), recording the changes that occurred. Students were most impressed with the colour change of copper, as it created an amazing green illumination.

And now for the science fun fact of the day:

The Bunsen burner is still “one of the most valuable inventions ever made” as claimed by an obituary of its inventor, Robert Bunsen, in 1899. Modern gas stovetops and barbecues operate on the same general principle as Bunsen’s 19th-century burner: a flammable gas is mixed with variable amounts of air to produce a controllable flame for heating.