Burning to Learn: An Introduction to Flame Retardants

In this Activity, students test common household substances to see how they change the way paper burns. Strips of filter paper are soaked in saturated solutions, dried, and briefly held in a flame. The Activity demonstrates the effectiveness of flame retardants. It could be used when discussing combustion reactions or during a unit on practical or everyday chemistry. It could also be used in a safety unit. If boric acid is used, the greenish flame produced may lead to a discussion of electron quantization and atomic emission.