The Bunsen Burner

Outcomes

Demonstrate the correct methods of lighting and using a Bunsen burner.
Know the differences between a yellow and blue flame.
Know which part of the flame is the hottest .

Obtaining your Bunsen burner license

Draw a diagram labeling the correct parts of the Bunsen Burner. (A – barrel or chimney, B – rubber tube, C – collar,, D – air hole, E – base)

Lighting the Bunsen burner

Make sure the gas is off and the collar is closed
Plug the rubber hose into the gas outlet
Light the match
Hold the lit match above the barrel
Turn on the gas
Once alight, the flame should be orange
Turn the collar to blue flame when heating and back to orange when you finish

Check your knowledge

Which comes first, lighting the match or turning on the gas? Why?
When you light the Bunsen burner, should the flame be orange or blue?
Why is the orange flame also called the safety flame?
Why should you use the blue flame for heating, rather than the safety flame?
What should you do when you are finished heating with the Bunsen burner?

Bunsen burner license

To be awarded your Bunsen burner license, you need to demonstrate your ability to:

Correctly light a Bunsen burner on the safety flame
Change the flame to a blue flame for maximum heating
Describe when you would use the safety flame and why
Describe when you would use the main heating flame and why

2. Bunsen Burner (Education Perfect)

Activities:

Using the worksheet provided in class explain the correct method for lighting a Bunsen Burner.
Obtain your Bunsen Burner licence

PRAC: Investigating the Bunsen burner

You are going to explore the two different flames which you can achieve with the Bunsen burner by rotating the collar and changing the amount of air reaching the air hole. Set up your Bunsen burner and light it as you did for your license test, then carry out the following activities.

Examine the flame you see when the air hole is closed. Write down as many observations as possible. Draw a labelled diagram of this flame.
Open the air hole and write down as many observations of this flame as you can. Draw a diagram of this flame too.
Write a list of differences between the two flames.
Using tongs, hold a piece of wire gauze horizontally across the ‘closed’ flame at different places. Draw diagrams in your science book of what you observe when you look down on the gauze in each position.
Repeat this with an ‘open’ flame.
Hold a piece of porcelain in metal tongs and place it just above the ‘closed’ flame for a short while. Record any observations in your book.
Repeat with the ‘open’ flame.
Stick a pin through an unlit match just below the head (your teacher may already have these available for you), and lodge it across the barrel of the Bunsen burner. Light the Bunsen burner with the air hole open and record what you see happening.
Repeat with the air hole ‘closed’.
Hold a piece of glass tubing in metal tongs and put one end into the blue inner cone of the ‘open’ flame. Put a lighted match to the other end of the tube. Record what you see happening.

Observations are important to Scientists. We need to make sure we know the difference between observations (things we detect with our senses) and inferences (conclusions we make based on our observations).

How many of your senses did you use when recording your observations?
Now you know a little more about the Bunsen burner, what additional safety precautions do you think we need to know about using a Bunsen burner safely?

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