Fireworks that contain metallic salts such as sodium, strontium, and barium can generate bright colors. a technician investigates what colors are produced by the metallic salts by performing flame tests. during a flame test, a metallic salt is heated in the flame of a gas burner. each metallic salt emits a characteristic colored light in the flame. 72 explain why the electron configuration of 2-7-1-1 represents a sodium atom in an excited state. [1]