Apologia Chemistry: Heat Sources

One tool common to science labs is the Bunsen burner.  Home-school and Co-op setting frequently use alcohol burners.  When I taught in public school there were students who just acted like nimrods in class.  I got in the habit of using electric burners whenever possible because they were so much safer.  Last week, we used tea candles and Sterno to heat Hydrates for Lab.  Stern has dyes added to make the flame more visible; it isn’t suitable for flame tests—we’ll have to use alcohol burners for that lab.  We tested adding small amounts of the salts to tea candles with mixed results.  These color flame candles are a good alternative for flame tests.  Whenever possible, we’ll be using electric burners in lab.