Fireworks were created by the Chinese long ago. But what have they evolved into throughout the centuries?
The differences between black powder and gunpowder.
Black powder emits smoke when lit whereas gunpowder is practically smokeless. If you were to light them side by side, black powder would burn faster. However, gunpowder burns faster when enclosed. Gunpowder isn’t used in fireworks today, but black powder is.
A fun fact about black powder!
The three ingredients of black powder are potassium nitrate, charcoal, and sulfur. Potassium nitrate is the main ingredient found in bird and bat waste.
Now that we’ve covered the main ingredient of fireworks. I want to touch on the basics of firework shells.
Have you ever seen a firework explode in the sky? All those points of light are actually pyrotechnic stars. Pyrotechnic stars are little balls that are made up of flammable powder. This powder is engineered with certain metallic powders or other things that make it burn a certain color or have a certain effect.
The main shell of a firework can either be a canister shell or a ball shell. We’re going to focus on the ball shell. It is basically a hollow cardboard ball. Inside the ball, pyrotechnic stars are placed in such a way that the burst charge inside blows it apart, ignites the stars, and throws them into the air.
A lift charge is used to shoot the ball into the air. A timing fuse is also used to ignite the burst charge inside when the ball is high enough. All in all, fireworks have come a long way since the Chinese.