<story><title>How to make colored fire at home (2020)</title><url>https://sciencenotes.org/how-to-make-colored-fire/</url></story><parent_chain></parent_chain><comment><author>philipkglass</author><text>The colors will be purer if you use ethanol (denatured alcohol, 190 proof Everclear or equivalent) as fuel. High concentration isopropyl alcohol has a yellow tinge to the flame from soot formation. Methanol (sold to the public in the US in convenient small bottles as Heet Gas-Line Antifreeze) is also very good and may be easier to obtain in some areas than pure high-proof ethanol.&lt;p&gt;Sodium chloride, lithium chloride, copper chloride, and boric acid give the most intense colors. But sodium chloride&amp;#x27;s orange-yellow color is a bit boring compared to the others.&lt;p&gt;A few milliliters of the alcohol mixture can be ignited in a shallow stainless steel dish with relative safety and there will be no color interference from carbonaceous fuels yellowing the flame via soot.&lt;p&gt;If I had to pick just one to try, I&amp;#x27;d suggest boric acid. The green flames it produces are unlike any &amp;quot;ordinary&amp;quot; fire and boric acid is easy to find. Here&amp;#x27;s a short video with a good view of how the flames look: &lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.youtube.com&amp;#x2F;watch?v=g1jHVk6oqjU&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.youtube.com&amp;#x2F;watch?v=g1jHVk6oqjU&lt;/a&gt;&lt;p&gt;The first night that my now-wife met me in person, I showed her colored fire like this in the fire pit at my apartment complex. She originally meant to visit for just a few days but we&amp;#x27;ve now spent 21 years together. I&amp;#x27;d say that the demonstration was a success.</text></comment>
<story><title>How to make colored fire at home (2020)</title><url>https://sciencenotes.org/how-to-make-colored-fire/</url></story><parent_chain></parent_chain><comment><author>dr_dshiv</author><text>Don’t miss the black flame! &lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;sciencenotes.org&amp;#x2F;how-to-make-black-fire&amp;#x2F;&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;sciencenotes.org&amp;#x2F;how-to-make-black-fire&amp;#x2F;&lt;/a&gt;</text></comment>