A long time ago, in a land faraway (actually it is not that far from Singapore...) the villages in China were always terrorized by a big, fat and ugly monster called "Nian". "Nian" always seemed to attack on the first day of the first month of the lunar calendar. One day, an ancient Chinese alchemist found out the magic (as it would seem at that time) of fire and realized its potential to ward off "Nian". So that nest Lunar New Year, they all waited in their houses with firecrackers put out. And when "Nian" finally came, he was warded off quickly by the noise of the firecrackers and the villagers lived in peace ever since.
Fireworks are a class of explosive pyrotechnic devices that are designed to burn with coloured flames or sparks. They take many forms to produce four primary effects- sound, light, smoke and floating materials. Fireworks are made out of 5 main components
-Fuel (To allow the firework to burn)
-Oxidizer (To feed oxygen for combustion)
-Mixtures of compounds or elements (For colouration)
-Chlorine (To strengthen the colour of the firework)
-Binder ( To hold the firework together)\
Fireworks come in many different colours based on the mixture and percentage of the compounds and elements
| Red | Strontium (intense red)
Lithium (medium red)
| SrCO3 (strontium carbonate)
Li2CO3 (lithium carbonate) LiCl (lithium chloride)
|
| Orange | Calcium | CaCl2 (calcium chloride) |
| Yellow | Sodium | NaNO3 (sodium nitrate) |
| Green | Barium | BaCl2 (barium chloride) |
| Blue | Copper | CuCl2 (copper chloride), at low temperature |
| Indigo | Cesium | CsNO3 (cesium nitrate) |
| Violet | Potassium
Rubidium (violet-red)
| KNO3 (potassium nitrate)
RbNO3 (rubidium nitrate)
|
| Gold | Charcoal, iron, or lampblack | |
| White | Titanium, aluminium, beryllium, or magnesium powders | |
Here is a stellar fireworks display:
Fireworks at Singapore Flyer Opening
Burj Dubai Opening
May not explain much science, but at least it looks pretty :)
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