Arsenic produces a blue flame when heated. Calcium produces an orange-red flame. Which of these best explains why this difference occurs?

Flame colors are produced from the movement of the electrons in the metal ions present in the compounds. When you heat it, the electrons gain energy and can jump into any of the empty orbitals at higher levels Each of these jumps involves a specific amount of energy being released as light energy, and each corresponds to a particular color. As a result of all these jumps, a spectrum of colored lines will be produced. The color you see will be a combination of all these individual colors.