Basic Chemistry of Fireworks

[NightHawkInLight]

Here is some need to know information for those wanting to build fireworks about the basics of pyro chemistry:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_h41aWI9pzw

[Pyro Nation]

Nice video.. Thanks for posting

[tgis81]

Thanks NH. I think I already told you how much I like to see basic informational videos like this. They are very helpful in understanding.

[Ralph]

Just a few things worth noting

Sulfur is usually refereed to as a sensitisers
Potassium perchlorate will under nearly all circumstances almost completely decompose to KCl with out sulfur or a few particular catalysts present
Aluminium is most certainly not the most common metallic fuel in colored stars traditionally it was magnesium and today it is MgAl

[californiapyro]

Just a few things worth noting

Sulfur is usually refereed to as a sensitisers
Potassium perchlorate will under nearly all circumstances almost completely decompose to KCl with out sulfur or a few particular catalysts present
Aluminium is most certainly not the most common metallic fuel in colored stars traditionally it was magnesium and today it is MgAl

It's a beginner's video, meant to give some basic direction to people just starting out. If it's not completely accurate, that doesn't much matter to beginners. It's just a place to start.

[NightHawkInLight]

Sensitizer is a misleading label to give sulfur in many circumstances, whereas modifier is always accurate to whatever its function may be. In nitrate based compositions for example, If you were to label sulfur as a sensitizer in black powder you could make a case that it does sensitize it, but only in a way noticeable by the increased burn rate. It is also a limiting term in that it only explains one aspect of what sulfur does to a composition.

As far as what metal is used more often in pyro, who cares. I note the one that is the safest to work with and the easiest to obtain. Both Al and MgAl are very commonly used.