In qualitative chemical analysis, a flame test is a test for the presence of metallic elements whose main spectral emission lines give characteristic colors in a Bunsen burner flame. A small amount of a salt of the metal is introduced into the flame by means of platinum wire first dipped in hydrochloric acid. Some metals and their colors are: lithium, red; sodium, yellow; potassium, lilac; strontium, crimson; barium, apple-green; copper, blue-green; lead and arsenic, blue.

See spectrophotometry.