Fireworks are a personal favourite of mine, with firework science being particularly popular amongst my pupils. The different colours are created using different chemicals, and one of two different chemical reactions: incandescence (light created through heat) and luminescence (light without heat).
Fast Fact: The largest single firework to be set off was in Japan in 1988. The burst was over 1 kilometre across.
Colour | Chemical |
---|---|
Orange | Calcium |
Red | Strongtium and Lithium |
Gold | Iron |
Yellow | Sodium |
White | Magnesium or Aluminium |
Green | Barium plus a Chlorine producer |
Blue | Copper plus a Chlorine producer |
Purple | Strontium plus Copper |
Silver | Aluminium or Magnesium powder |