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Spectral analysis of a campfire flame. What makes the fire yellow - carbon nanoparticles or sodium salts?

Evening bonfire on the shores of Lake Kucherlinskoye in Altai
Evening bonfire on the shores of Lake Kucherlinskoye in Altai

Publications on the Internet explain in different ways how the color of the flame appears around the fire.

There are two fundamentally different versions. One says that they emit incandescent carbon particles with a size of about 100 nm, the second says that the yellow color arises from the radiation of sodium salts found in wood.





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Researched fire flame in the fireplace
I lit a fire in the fireplace and conducted research, recording the spectrum of the flame
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Spectra of the calibration lamp, fire in the fireplace, salt and ash from the fireplace
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Close-up of spectral lines of sodium in a fire and lines of sodium in ash burning in alcohol.
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  1. IA Leenson "Chemistry and Life" №2, 2011 Chemistry of Flame. The article describes, among other things, how glowing carbon nanoparticles arise in a flame.





  2. Information system "Electronic structure of atoms". A very convenient Russian-language resource for spectral data of atoms and ions. The link is for sodium .





  3. Maxim Bondarenko, How we perceive color. It has been written about the complex in an accessible and interesting way.







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