4th of July Fireworks: How Fireworks are Made

How 4th of July Fireworks Work | Tomorrow, just shortly after dusk, the skies will be ablaze in celebration of America’s independence.  Want to impress your fellow firework watchers with some handy trivia?  Here’s a friendly bit of background information on the science behind fireworks– from creation to launch to explosion.

The colorful goodness you see in fireworks are created from pyrotechnic stars, or just stars for short. These are comprised of color-producing chemicals, a chlorine donor to strengthen the color, fuel, an oxidizer to help ignite the fuel and a binder to hold everything together. One firework can contain many of these stars, which on their own look like pebble-sized pellets. Intersperse these stars among some black powder, pour everything into a paper tube and stick the bursting charge — essentially a stick of dynamite — inside, and you’ve got the basics of an aerial firework. This entire package is called the “shell.”

Of course, a shell’s no good if you can’t launch it in the air. This is as simple as packing a mortar with black powder, inserting the shell and lighting a fuse. The explosion not only sends the shell into the sky, but it lights the bursting charge that will soon ignite the firework itself. When the bursting charge explodes, it scatters the stars in all directions while setting them ablaze and creating the spectacle that wows children and adults alike.

Oh yes, now that you’re armed with this knowledge, we’d be remiss if we didn’t tell you not to try this at home. Have a great holiday weekend. [via Wikipedia and HowStuffWorks]