How are those amazing fireworks patterns produced?
Kids ASK! about Anything & Everything
Besides New Year’s Eve, August is the eagerly anticipated month when we get the opportunity to crane our necks, looking up in the night sky as a myriad of patterns and colours explode before our eyes. With the National Day Parade and the Singapore Fireworks Celebration, we have more than enough opportunity to feast our senses on this age-old practise that still gives people goose bumps.
Before they go up in smoke, pyrotechnicians prepare the fireworks which consist of different parts. Simply put, one of the parts is a tube containing gunpowder, a fuse and the firework. The other part is the firework which consists of chemicals, more gunpowder and another fuse. When the first fuse is lit, it ignites the gunpowder, which blasts the firework up into the sky. This explosion lights the second fuse which burns slowly as the firework flies up, which then sets off the gunpowder, causing the firework to explode. When this happens, it mixes the chemicals and depending on which chemicals are used, different colours and effects are produced. If the fireworks display is complicated, the firework might contain different elements like star pellets or smaller shells which make smaller bursts, to add more variety (such as spark or light patterns) to the display.
References:
- Thomas, Isabel. (2007). Fireworks!. Oxford : Raintree.
- Brain, Marshall. How Fireworks Work. Retrieved August 13, 2008, from HowStuffWorks Web site: http://people.howstuffworks.com/fireworks2.htm
Want to read more about fireworks? Here are some recommended books:

Fireworks! by Isabel Thomas
Publisher : Oxford : Raintree, 2007.
Call No. : J 662 THO

Pyrotechnician, by Mary Firestone
Publisher : Philadelphia, Pa. : Chelsea House Publishers, c2006.
Call No. : J 662 FIR

Gunpowder, by Trudi Strain Trueit
Publisher : New York, N.Y. : Franklin Watts, c2005.
Call No. : J 662 TRU

Fireworks, by Vicki Cobb
Publisher : Minneapolis, Minn. : Millbrook Press, c2006.
Call No. : J 662 COB

From rock to fireworks : a photo essay, by Gary W. Davis
Publisher : New York : Children’s Press, c1997.
Call No. : JP 662 DAV
For the availability of the above book titles, please check the library catalogue.
All websites were last accessed on 12 August 2008. Please check the websites’ homepages for the terms and conditions of use.Book covers were extracted from www.amazon.com and www.bn.com
Posted by Galvin SohLibrarianChildren’s Services
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