Q&A for How to Light a Bunsen Burner

You can technically use a match to light a Bunsen burner, but it is not advised. A striker or utility lighter gives you some distance between your hand and the gas so that when the flame is ignited it is less likely that you will get burned. Since a match is much shorter, your hand is closer to the flame when it ignites, increasing the possibility of getting burned.

Lessen the amount of air and gas being produced to create a safety/yellow flame. Turn the air and gas up to create a large blue flame.

The gases will be released into the room. You should not use a Bunsen burner with a crack in the tube.

When it's set to the highest temperature, the hottest part of the flame can reach 1500 degrees Celsius, or about 2700 degrees Fahrenheit.

You should only be able to see the roaring flame very faintly, and it should be a sort of see-through blue.

You will get burned by the flame unless it is not getting supplied oxygen. This is described as the safety flame.

It is often referred as the "burner tube," but some might refer it as the "barrel."

When you close the air hole it deprives the flame of oxygen and lessens the heat. This makes the flame safe to put your hand in. When you walk away from the Bunsen burner it should be left like this because if someone accidentally puts their hand in the flame, they will be less likely to get burnt.

Yes, but it would be very hard to do so. The flame is too small to cook properly, so it would take a long time and wouldn't evenly distribute heat on the cooking surface.

Safety flame, when it is deprived of oxygen from the air lock, is a yellow-orange color. When roaring, you should have a see-through flame with the odd flicker of orange or blue.

So that nothing happens to it and if you are able to see it, you are able to avoid it.

No, you could get third degree burns from this. It's still a flame.

There are two different flames produced by a Bunsen burner: a roaring flame and a safe flame. A roaring flame is the one that appears blue and is used to heat substances, whereas a safe flame is orange and is used when you are not heating anything. Keep anything that dangles away from the flame, such as hair, clothing and jewelry.

There will be no fire on the Bunsen burner, as in it would be turned off. Make sure everything is turned off as well when closing.

You might be talking about the different types. The one in the image is called a Tirril burner (Tie rill) it is much more precise in gas and air adjustments. A normal Bunsen is just a metal block with a nozzle, and the burner tube or barrel is screwed on. The normal Bunsen has a metal ring with holes that you can rotate to change the airflow. The Tirril has a nut like metal ring that you rotate which has finer adjustment. Basically there are 2 main types, Tirril which is more precise and burns hotter, and the normal Bunsen, which is less precise, but more common. Tirrils are usually used in school labs.

For a test tube, you would either use a test tube holder that you hold, or a test tube mounted in a utility clamp on a ringstand, tilted 45 degrees usually. For evaporation dish, conical (erlemyer) flask or beaker, you would use a ring with usually wire gauze and place the evaporating dish/beaker/conical flask on the wire mesh which is placed on the ring which is mounted on a stand. For crucibles, you would use a ring, clay triangle, and crucible, clay triangle placed on the ring, which is mounted to a stand, and the crucible is placed on the clay triangle.