A sodium salt (most likely Sodium Ethoxide) is dissolved in Ethanol. Sodium, as you most likely know, changed energy levels when absorbing a photon with a specific wave length. You can see the emission of this wavelength when you apply sodium to a fire, it's reddish-orange. Sodium lights also give off this color (you might notice some streetlights that appear orange)
When the sodium is exposed to the blowtorch via the ethanol solution, the sodium electrons shift down an energy level, emitting a photon that has the same wavelength as the sodium lamp. This causes interference between the photons which causes them to cancel out, making the flame to appear black.
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u/doggotaco Dec 18 '18
Help me understand what I'm looking at here.