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Friday, November 12, 2010

The Chemistry of Fireworks

Questions:
1.How are fireworks capsules designed?
2What safety procedures do they include in the design?
3.What are the various compounds mentioned in this video? *What are their chemical formulas?
4.Which element is extremely important for fireworks to work properly? What is the fire triangle?
5.What two components do fireworks need in order to produce heat at a certain burning rate?
6.What type of reaction takes place in fireworks?
Answers:
1. They are designed by making a rain drop shaped shape out of cardboard. On the bottom there is a casing which is filled with black powder propellant. A fuse goes inside which triggers the explosion. On the top of the casing there is a section which also contains black powder but it has the bursting charge. Around that there is pea size chemical pellets which will produce different visual effects.
2. The design includes a trigger which is then lit and the firework is sent up in the sky from a distance. Also the design has many layers so that the content inside can be safe.
3. The compounds are potassium nitrate -KNO3-, potassium perchlorate -KClO4-, strontium chloride -SrCl2-potassium perchlorate -KClO4-, strontium nitrate -SrNO3- and a few others. 
4.+5. Oxygen because it makes the burning occur. Oxidizers and fuels are needed to make a firework which need to heat up. The oxidizers are strontium nitrate, potassium nitrate and potassium perchlorate. The fuels are aluminum powder, magnesium powder, sulfur and charcoal. To get a specific burning rate and heat temperature you need to change the fuels like an equation until it is balanced or the way you want it to be.
6. A chemical reaction takes place in a firework because if you want to make colour you need to have a burning mixture( which is provided by the oxidizer and fuel) and then you can add the different compounds to make the colour you desire. 

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