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I took this photo of a burning match just after striking. There are clear emission lines rippling throughout the spectrum and a huge peak in the orange. Nowhere online could I find a lit match spectrum to help decipher this. I don't have a wavelength scale for this image, so I've had some doubts in identifying the lines. I think it might be oxygen, which has similar lines in the orange, green, and blue, but I can't understand why the one peak is so much brighter. The other molecules present would be phosphorous, sulfides, and even cellulose from the wood. Any thoughts?

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  • $\begingroup$ Always blame sodium if possible. It's just really bright even in trace amounts. $\endgroup$
    – BowlOfRed
    Commented Apr 4 at 19:50

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The intense orange line is probably from a mix of phosphorus and sodium.

You can calibrate your spectrophotometer by looking at a compact fluorescent bulb with it; you'll see a prominent characteristic pair of lines in blue & green which come from mercury.

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  • $\begingroup$ @BowlOfRed mentioned sodium too. Where would sodium be coming from? Sodium does not seem to be an ingredient in matches from what I've been reading. $\endgroup$
    – jmadden
    Commented Apr 4 at 20:11
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    $\begingroup$ @jmadden The sodium line is quite bright. It can be visible even if sodium is present as a contaminant. Without calibration, it's hard to say if that's what your line is. But it would be good to rule it out as a first step because it's just so common. $\endgroup$
    – BowlOfRed
    Commented Apr 4 at 22:06
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    $\begingroup$ @jmadden, there's sodium contamination everywhere. flame spectroscopy requires it be removed carefully so it doesn't get in the way of your measurements. $\endgroup$
    – niels nielsen
    Commented Apr 5 at 3:08

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