[Moppy300300]

Hello, and a good day to you all.

I just did an experiment to identify the metal in a metal nitrate solution via flame test and mixing/reacting it with sodium hydroxide. According to the directions, the metal could either be Copper or Iron.

However, when I did the flame test, the solution burned green, indicating copper, but the solution produced a brown precipitate when I mixed it with the sodium hydroxide, indicating that the precipitate produced was iron hydroxide.

According to Wikipedia (bad source, I know, but the only one I could find on this) says that iron can possibly burn green into brown if it's burned hot enough, but I only used a regular Bunsen Burner with the standard blue flame.

What conclusion can I draw from this?

[Arkcon]

Obviously, you have conflicting observations.  There's nothing we can do online that can fix that.  Here's what you do:  Prepare a matrix of the results you'd get for the two tests and the two options.  In this way, you'll highlight what you should have gotten for flame test of iron, and precipitation test of copper.  Then you'll have done your work, and you can submit it.  Can you find some obscure fact online that copper can precip brown?  Maybe.  Can you find someone who'll claim that iron gives a green flame?  Sure, they'd be liars, but what's stopping them.  Did you mix up samples?  Possibly.  But there's really no way to write up an experiment except to write it up.

[Arkcon]

But there's really no way to write up an experiment except to write it up.

Boy, that sure sounds stupid.  Sorry.  I was typing in a hurry.  However, all you have is your results.  Even if they don't correspond to what your lab guide says theoretically can happen, you have to go with it.