Description
The Cauldron of Fire is merely a glorified flame test with some added sparks at the end. When performing it, I can always rely upon a gasp from the audience as the flames turns decidedly green. In a chemical classroom, it offers an unparalleled chance to illustrate and talk about the quantized nature of electron energy levels. Even seasoned college chemistry faculty will appreciate an explanation of where the notational scheme for the orbitals came from – s, p, d, f. The energy level diagrams make relaxation of an atom back to its ground state visually easy to grasp.
Publication Date
9-2025
Document Type
Book Chapter
Rights
© 2025 Garon C. Smith
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
Recommended Citation
Smith, Garon C., "Chapter 2: The Cauldron of Fire" (2025). G. Wiz’s Book of Spells. 4.
https://scholarworks.umt.edu/gwizchemistrymagic/4