Reminded by Google's search page, Today is the 200th birthday of Robert Bunsen. Known to high school students for his invention of the eponymous gas burner, Bunsen did a lot more. His burner invention was a means to an end. To study the emission spectra of heated elements, one needs a source of clean and transparent heat - either a hot, clean flame (no soot , just hot gas), a source of hot inert gas heated by other means, or a source of directed light (e.g. UV) that energizes the sample without damaging it. The simplest method is to use a flame containing only hot water and CO2.
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| Google's doodle for today looks like this |
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