Editing Candy Conflagration (section)

====Chemistry====

We are looking at a classic combustion reaction: By using a heat source, a fuel and an Oxygen source, we are able to generate a flame. The Oxygen source we use, however, will determine the color of the flame during the reaction.

{| class="wikitable" style="color:black; background-color:#ddd; text-align: center; margin: auto"
|'''Sodim Chlorate''': 
| 2 '''NaClO<sub>3</sub>''' + Heat → 2 '''NaCl''' (Orange) + 3 '''O<sub>2</sub>'''
|-
|'''Potassium PerChlorate''':
| 1 '''KClO<sub>4</sub>''' + Heat → 1 '''KCl''' (Purple) + 2 '''O<sub>2</sub>'''
|}

At the start of the demonstration, we heat the Oxygen source in order to get it to break down and release the Oxygen contained within it. Since the sources we used were (Per)Chlorate salts, they contained a lot of it, and so the decomposition of the salts will generate a large amount of Oxygen. It is important that, during this step, we make sure to not heat the salt too long. If we do, then they will completely separate before we drop the candy in, and by that point much of the Oxygen will be gone from our test tube, resulting in a failed demonstration.

When the reaction itself takes place, we see a classic combustion reaction between the sugar (Glucose) in the candy and the Oxygen:

{| class="wikitable" style="color:black; background-color:#ddd; text-align: center; margin: auto"
|'''Candy Conflagration:'''
| '''C<sub>6</sub>H<sub>12</sub>O<sub>6</sub>''' + 2 '''O<sub>2</sub>''' → 4 '''C''' + 2 '''CO<sub>2</sub>''' + 6 '''H<sub>2</sub>O''' + Heat
|}

We get four products from this reaction, of which we only see two of them: the Carbon and the heat released. The Carbon we see left behind in the test tube, and we also see part of it in the smoke that comes out of the reaction. The heat we very clearly see coming out of the test tube as a flame, which is colored based on the salt that we added at the beginning. Elements have different wavelengths of light that they give off when heated. Metal, including the alkali metals, give very distinct colors when they are heated, which makes it easy to identify what metal is being burned. This method of identifying elements is known as ''Wave Chromatography''.

It is worth noting that this reaction is not what we would call a "clean" combustion reaction. A ''Clean'' combustion is when you have a reaction that only has three products: CO<sub>2</sub>, H<sub>2</sub>O and Heat. Although this reaction could have the necessary things to be clean, There is a limiting factor: How much free Oxygen there is to bond with. Since we have it within a test tube, there is only a small amount of space for the reaction to take place. Because of this, the Oxygen released from the salt as it is being heated is, for the most part, escaping from the tube. This loss of available Oxygen means that, by the time we drop the candy in, there isn't as much Oxygen left for it to react with, and therefore some of the carbon has to be left behind as a product, Which we see inside the test tube and released as smoke.