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![XwukF0s.png](https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmVLZz4n8S9f27mBrircEhsYdDhzP6xQdgLEEN1wCgxxim/XwukF0s.png)


In honor of America's birthday, I decided to do a holiday relevant post on flying gay dynamite

 I'm sure most of you already know that fireworks are explosives with chemicals in them that create colorful sparks when ignited, but what ARE these chemicals? What color is each one responsible for? And where did fireworks come from, anyway? 

Just sit back, relax, and drink until a bottle rocket war sounds like a good idea as we take a look at how fireworks are made and how they came to be the iconic symbol of celebration they are today. You ready to Get Bearnt?

![mTYvBjm.jpg](https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmbN112RTTt2Ld3yw222U1dQnBr7ou4LbnFCHj13EdBR1V/mTYvBjm.jpg)

Originating in China during the Tang Dynasty in the 9th Century, fireworks were originally believed to bring good luck and abolish evil spirits. Gunpowder was already known to the Chinese, being one of the four greatest ancient Chinese inventions, and they knew it created sparks as it burned. So it was only a matter of time before some dick stuffed bamboo full of the shit and hurled it into a fire.

The first fireworks were bamboo casings packed with gunpowder. Like a rocket, the wick on the base of the explosive was lit and, as it came in contact with the tightly packed gunpowder, ignited and burned progressively. This, along with an aerodynamic shape, allowed the rocket to be propelled through the air.

And it wasn't long before they stuck it on a pole and basically fired rocket-propelled javelins. This coined them the ancient Chinese nickname of "fire arrows" and led to it's applications in war. 

Personally, I think Genghis Kahn's plague bats were better.

But it wasn't until about a millennia after their creation, in 1830's Europe, that color found its way into fireworks displays, forever changing the way we experienced them.

https://i.imgur.com/Mj6uzE6.gif 

So what gives fireworks their colors? 

As you can see, there are a few elements that display unique flame colors as they burn. So when some are added to gunpowder, the explosion is a vibrant color. The elements used and their corresponding color goes as followed:

*  Red - Strontium salts, lithium salts

* Orange - Calcium salts

* Gold - Incandescence of iron (with carbon), charcoal, or lampblack

* Yellow - Sodium compounds

* Green - Barium compounds + chlorine producer 

* Blue - Copper compounds + chlorine producer 

* Purple - A mixture of strontium (red) and copper (blue) compounds

* Silver - Burning aluminum, titanium, or magnesium powder or flakes

* White - White-hot metal, such as magnesium or aluminum

But don't be fooled, creating amazing fireworks isn't as simple as packing a bunch of elements into a tube with gunpowder and lighting it on fire. The modern "skyrocket" firework wasn't developed until the 20th Century and for good reason, too.

![jSfVx62.png](https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmULwE932cVUF4EDbpkuwNVTStbTD85sCKeELHn3YQ9nKU/jSfVx62.png)


Have you ever cut open a firework because you wanted to know what was inside, and all you found was black shit and BB's? 

Well the anatomy of a firework is much more than a cardboard tube packed with boom dirt and bird shot. 

Inside of a firework is an aerial shell, a tube that contains gunpowder, and a few dozen small objects called stars. These hold fuel, an oxidizing agent, a binder, and metal salts or oxides (the source of the firework's colors). A time-delay fuse ignites the gunpowder and bursts the aerial shell once the firework is midair, causing the stars to scatter and explode high in the air, producing light and color. Once exposed to fire, the stars' fuel and oxidizing agents generate intense heat very rapidly, activating the metal-containing colorants.

 Of course, this is only one of the many methods used to create fireworks today. Basic ones can be much simpler in design while the giant, extraordinary displays are MUCH more intricate. 



![K0dg4xJ.gif](https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmQqFkHFVSFijj8S9pqUxzjqhjHvrTSvNVR5ihQeH32Gyt/K0dg4xJ.gif)

HAPPY 4TH OF JULY!


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