Who doesn't love setting things on fire?

This unit we are studying atomic structure - and discovering that most people's ideas about what an atom looks like are stuck at about a 1950's understanding:

To understand modern atomic theory, we have been traveling down the rabbit-hole that is quantum mechanics. And a large part of that is understanding the behavior of light as well as the behavior of electrons. The most fun way to do that is by setting things on fire!

Flame tests show us what happens when we add extra energy to electrons. They absorb that energy, putting them in an excited state. This causes them to jump up to higher energy levels - moving further from the nucleus. This is not particularly stable, so they fall back down to their ground state (original energy level), and give off that excess energy in the form of light. Since each element has a unique arrangement of electrons, each element has a different set of energies those electrons can give off. This translates to each element giving off a unique color of light. TL:DR... PRETTY COLORS!! 

Next up - back to the nucleus to look at mass, isotopes, and radioactivity!