Happy 4th of July and happy Independence Day for those living in the United States! This holiday is celebrated with lots of parades, barbecues, and fireworks! Aerial fireworks are the fireworks that you see launched into the sky! They are usually fired using rockets and mortars. These fireworks create a dazzling light show above us! They all start with a paper tube. That tube is filled with small bits of metal, like iron or steel, colorants (made using gases/elements such as Oxygen or Potassium) and gunpowder, an explosive powder. The firework is driven into the air using the bits of steel or iron. This happens when you light the fuse using a fire or electric sparks. Then, the fuse burns down. This causes the gunpowder inside of the firework to catch fire when it is at it’s blast height. Then, because of the gunpowder, the paper tube explodes, scattering the colorants in the air! That is what we see as a firework exploding! Did you know that the “boom” sound from a firework is actually the sound of the paper shell bursting? It is! That sound makes the firework show even more fun!
Many cities are also switching to drone shows and light displays this year! It is very interesting to see the enw developments all around us.
