How Fireworks Work

There are a wide variety of fireworks available in the market. Each produces a different effect depending on how they were set up and the materials used in making them.

In spite of their variety, they operate on basic principles which apply to each and every firework. This article will give you a glimpse of how firecrackers work.

It begins with learning about the three basic types of fireworks: the firecracker, sparklers and the aerial fireworks.

Firecrackers are the oldest and the most basic of all three. The Chinese first created them by stuffing gunpowder in hollow bamboo tubes.

Typical firecrackers consist of gunpowder or flash powder which is then tightly packed into a tube. A fuse serves to light the powder inside. Sometimes, manufacturers add materials such as aluminum to make the explosion bright.

Meanwhile sparklers simply emit bright flashes of light. They are designed to burn brightly for a long time unlike firecrackers which usually just blow up in a fraction of a second.

Finally, there are the aerial fireworks. They are probably the most common form of fireworks since they are the ones used during celebrations such as the New Year and, in the United States, the Fourth of July.

Among the three, aerial fireworks are the most complex. They are usually composed of a container, a bursting charge at the center which ignites the stars located on its side, and the fuse which determines how high the fireworks can fly. Different compounds are used in the stars to create different colors. Read more...