Assertion A is incorrect. Alkali metals and their salts typically impart distinct colors to an oxidizing flame, not a reducing flame. When alkali metal salts are heated in a flame, they excite the metal ions, which then emit characteristic colors as they return to their ground state. These colors are observed in an oxidizing flame (such as that produced by a Bunsen burner with sufficient oxygen), not in a reducing flame, which lacks the necessary oxidizing conditions for such reactions to occur.
Reason R is correct. Flame tests are indeed a common and reliable method for identifying alkali metals and other metal ions based on the characteristic colors they emit when heated. For example, lithium produces a red flame, sodium a bright yellow flame, and potassium a lilac flame. This principle is widely used in qualitative analysis.
Method used for separation of mixture of products (B and C) obtained in the following reaction is: 
The equivalent resistance between the points \(A\) and \(B\) in the given circuit is \[ \frac{x}{5}\,\Omega. \] Find the value of \(x\). 
In the following \(p\text{–}V\) diagram, the equation of state along the curved path is given by \[ (V-2)^2 = 4ap, \] where \(a\) is a constant. The total work done in the closed path is: 
Let \( ABC \) be a triangle. Consider four points \( p_1, p_2, p_3, p_4 \) on the side \( AB \), five points \( p_5, p_6, p_7, p_8, p_9 \) on the side \( BC \), and four points \( p_{10}, p_{11}, p_{12}, p_{13} \) on the side \( AC \). None of these points is a vertex of the triangle \( ABC \). Then the total number of pentagons that can be formed by taking all the vertices from the points \( p_1, p_2, \ldots, p_{13} \) is ___________.