Tyra Harper

Chemistry

FLAMING FIREWORKS
What’s That Stuff in Fireworks?
 The Chemistry Of Firework Color

 There are two main mechanisms of color production in fireworks,

incandescence and luminescence.
 Incandescence
 Incandescence is light produced from heat. Heat causes a substance
to become hot and glow, initially emitting infrared, then red, orange,
yellow, and white light as it becomes increasingly hotter.
 Luminescence
 Luminescence is light produced using energy sources other than heat.
Sometimes luminescence is called 'cold light', because it can occur at
room temperature and cooler temperatures. To produce
luminescence, energy is absorbed by an electron of an atom or
molecule, causing it to become excited, but unstable. When the
electron returns to a lower energy state the energy is released in the
form of a photon (light). The energy of the photon determines its
wavelength or color.
Invention of Fireworks

 Many people associate fireworks with

Independence Day, but their original use was in
New Year's celebrations. Do you know how
fireworks were invented? Legend tells of a
Chinese cook who accidentally spilled saltpeter
into a cooking fire, producing an interesting
flame. Saltpeter, an ingredient in gunpowder,
was used as a flavoring salt sometimes.
 The other gunpowder ingredients, charcoal and
sulfur, also were common in early fires. Though
the mixture burned with a pretty flame in a fire,
it exploded if it was enclosed in a bamboo tube.
 Fast Facts

 Fireworks are used mostly for celebrations or

major events.
 Fireworks were originally invented in ancient
China in the 12th century to scare away evil
spirits, as a natural extension of the Chinese
invention of gunpowder. Such important events
and festivities as Chinese New Year and the Mid-
Autumn Moon Festival were and still are times
when fireworks are guaranteed sights.
 China is the largest manufacturer and exporter
of fireworks in the world.
 The fireworks Periodic Table
 Fireworks rely on the chemical characteristics of the elements that are used to
make them. This special periodic table highlights the elements that have
significance to fireworks.
2
He

3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Li Be B C N O F Ne

11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18
Na Mg Al Si P S Cl Ar

23
19 20 21 22 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36
V
K Ca Sc Ti Cr Mn Fe Co Ni Cu Zn Ga Ge As Se Br Kr

37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54
Rb Sr Y Zr Nb Mo Tc Ru Rh Pd Ag Cd In Sn Sb Te I Xe

55 56 57 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86
Cs Ba La Hf Ta W Re Os Ir Pt Au Hg Tl Pb Bi Po At Rn

87 88 89 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112

Fr Ra Ac Rf Db Sg Bh Hs Mt 110 111 112
 In addition to exploding gunpowder for firecrackers, the Chinese
used gunpowder combustion for propulsion. Hand carved wooden
rockets, shaped like dragons, shot rocket-powered arrows at the
Mongol invaders in 1279.
 Explorers took knowledge of gunpowder, fireworks, and rockets
back with them when they returned home. Arabians in the 7th
century referred to rockets as Chinese arrows. Marco Polo is
credited with bringing gunpowder to Europe in the 13th century.
The crusaders also brought the information with them.
F
I
R R
E O
C C
R K
A E
C T
K S
E
r
The Chemistry in Fireworks
 Fireworks generate three very noticeable forms of energy: a tremendous release
of sound, bright light, and heat. The tremendous booms heard at ground level are
the result of the rapid release of energy into the air, causing the air to expand
faster than the speed of sound. This produces a shock wave, a sonic boom.
 The colors are produced by heating metal salts, such as calcium chloride or
sodium nitrate, that emit characteristic colors. The atoms of each element absorb
energy and release it as light of specific colors. The energy absorbed by an atom
rearranges its electrons from their lowest-energy state, called the ground state,
up to a higher-energy state, called an excited state. The excess energy of the
excited state is emitted as light, as the electrons descend to lower-energy states,
and ultimately, the ground state.
 The amount of energy emitted is characteristic of the element, and the
amount of energy determines the color of the light emitted. For example, when
sodium nitrate is heated, the electrons of the sodium atoms absorb heat energy
and become excited. This high-energy excited state does not last for long, and the
excited electrons of the sodium atom quickly release their energy, about 200
kJ/mol, which is the energy of yellow light.
Ancient Rockets Urban Rockets
Resources and Sites

 www.google.com
 www.answers.com
 www.wikipedia.com
The End