How to Make Green Fire at Home

Learn how to make green fire safely with boric acid in the comfort of your own home. Your kids will be amazed by the bright and stunning green fire display!

Green Fire with Boric Acid

When you light a candle or flick on a lighter, you typically see red, orange, blue, or yellow flames. But did you know that fire can be other colors too?

My kids encountered green flames when we read Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. Floo Powder was a magical powder that allowed witches and wizards to travel through fireplaces. When a person throws Floo Powder into a lit fireplace and steps into the green flames, they are transported to another fireplace connected to the Floo Network.

Naturally, we just had to recreate the green fire at home! I found this experiment in The Wizard’s Workshop: A Science Activity Book as a way to attract zombies by creating Zombie Fire. Luckily, it’s pretty easy to do with the right chemicals and materials.

As with any fire science experiments, make sure you take the proper safety precautions!

How to Make Green Fire

Materials:

Green Fire Experiment Materials

Instructions:

1. Pick a safe location to conduct the green fire science experiment. It’s best done in a dark area so you can see the flame better. That said, I recommend doing the experiment outside where you won’t risk anything catching fire. You also want to make sure that you avoid doing this experiment on a windy day in case the fire blows toward your house or your clothes.

2. Pour 2 tablespoons of HEET Gas-Line Antifreeze and Water Remover into a jar or plastic cup.

3. Put 1 teaspoon of boric acid powder into the liquid in the jar or cup. Stir to dissolve the powder. We found that not all the powder dissolved but don’t worry, the solution will still work to produce the green fire.

Green Fire Experiment Mix HEET and Boric Acid

4. Set the baking pan on the floor or a heat-safe surface.

5. Pour half of the solution into the baking tray.

Green Fire Experiment Solution on Baking Pan

6. Set the solution on fire with the lighter. Your kids will be amazed at the vivid green flame!

Green Fire with Boric Acid

7. After the green fire completely burned out, pour the rest of the solution into the baking tray. Use the lighter to set it on fire again. You will see the leftover white boric acid powder on the baking sheet but it’s okay to pour the liquid over it.

Green Fire with Boric Acid

You can repeat the above directions if you want more colored fire, but just make sure that all the alcohol has been burned off before adding more liquid fuel. DO NOT ever attempt to pour the solution on a fire that is still burning.

If you look closely, you can see that the flame turned orange where there is no or not enough boric acid powder.

Green and Orange Flames

The Science Behind Green Fire

Boric acid, a white crystalline compound, produces a bright green flame when it is heated. This green color of the flame is caused by the presence of boron atoms in the boric acid molecules.

When the boric acid is exposed to heat or flame, the electrons in its boron atoms become excited and move from their ground state to an excited state. As they return to their original state, they emit energy in the form of light. The specific wavelength of this emitted light falls within the green portion of the electromagnetic spectrum, which gives the flame its distinctive hue.

The intensity and shade of green can vary depending on factors such as temperature and concentration. This property makes boric acid useful in various applications like pyrotechnics displays and as an insecticide as well. However, it’s important to note that boric acid can be toxic if ingested or inhaled in large quantities, so proper safety precautions should always be taken when handling it.


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