Question #6e87e

1 Answer
Aug 21, 2016

The best way is the distinctive yellow color produced by sodium when it is heated in a flame.

Explanation:

This is an example of a flame test. Flame tests are especially useful for alkali metals, whose salts are almost all soluble so they can't easily be detected by forming precipitates.

See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flame_test.