Flame test of alcohols

[Yummyrum]

I was setting up some spirit lamps at work today and I thought I'd take some pics as recently there was a mention of checking for methanol by the colour of burning it .

I had to set up 4 x lamps with Methanol , Ethanol , Butan-1ol or 1-Butanol and propan-1ol or 1-Propanol .

Spirit lamps.jpg

Here's a close up of each .

Methanol.jpg

Ethanol.jpg

1-Butanol.jpg

1-Propanol.jpg

Then I thought , OK does it look the same if you burn them on a spoon .So I set a few drops in a well plate .
The results are completely different to the spirit lamp test .The Very yellow looking Methanol flame on the burner is a very blue flame with no sign of yellow at all . If you look at the tip of the Ethanol flame you can see a slight yellow tinge .

On their own.jpg

And remember that these are pure alcohols . I don't recon anyone could guess what was in their spoon off the still