FIREWORK DISPLAYS

Fireworks have a history going back thousands of years. It is generally believed that they were accidentally discovered by a cook in China using commonly available kitchen ingredients. The ingredients that went into the first fireworks were charcoal, potassium nitrate and sulphur. Fireworks how they work. Fireworks have a history going back thousands of years. It is generally believed that they were accidentally discovered by a cook in China using commonly available kitchen ingredients. The ingredients that went into the first fireworks were charcoal, potassium nitrate and sulphur.

These ingredients along with some additions are used in fireworks, firecrackers and sparklers to this day. What goes into fireworks. A firecracker is made by adding these ingredients into a tight paper tube, along with a fuse that is inserted into the tube to help ignite the mixture. A firecracker may also contain aluminium to add brightness to the explosion. A sparkler burns for a longer time giving out bright colours and a shower of sparks that can be varied by changing the composition. A sparkler contains the same basic ingredients – charcoal, potassium nitrate and sulphur – but they are mixed in a different proportion than that used in a firecracker so that they burn more slowly.

In addition, a binder such as starch or sugar is added to form a slurry that is poured into a tube or coated on a wire. Once this dries, the sparkler is ready to burn. To create bright sparks, aluminium, zinc, magnesium or steel dust is added. These materials heat up easily to become incandescent adding to the brightness. The sparklers get their variety of colours from chemicals added for this purpose. As you can see, fireworks can be made to burn and give off a variety of sparks and colours by burning slowly, or to explode suddenly, through the manipulation of the mixture and the addition of appropriate ingredients.