Fireworks 101: How Fireworks Get Their Colors1.
Fireworks 101: How Fireworks Get Their Colors
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The fireworks lighting up the night skies with flamboyance never fail to spark excitement from
merrymakers. If you understand the science behind fireworks, there is really nothing magical about
the enchanting bursting of colors. The brilliant colors that add festive ambiance to a celebration are
but a product of basic chemistry. For a spectacular display of lights and colors, however, artistry
plays an important role, something that you can only expect from experts, such as Sky King
Fireworks.
What’s a firework made of?
Fireworks consist of an aerial shell that is filled with black powder and tiny packets of chemicals
called pyrotechnic stars. The black powder works as the “bursting charge” that launches the shell
into the sky. The pyrotechnic stars consist of electrically neutral metal salts (with an equal number of
positive and negative ions) as well as an oxidizer, a fuel and a binder to keep the components
together.
Incandescence vs. Luminescence
The colors that make fireworks spectacular may be produced in two ways by incandescence and
by luminescence. An incandescent color is produced when the metal, such as a silver or gold
firework, gets so hot that they glow. Heating can make metals glow, casting red to orange colors at
the start and yellow to white colors as they get hotter. By controlling the temperature, the color of the
glow can be manipulated. The colors in flamboyant fireworks, however, are generally produced by
luminescence.
Chemistry Behind Luminescence