COLOR COMpOUND

Page 1. WHAT'S INSIDE A FIREWORK? COLOR COMpOUND RED strontium salts, lithium salts, lithium carbonate, Li2CO3 ...
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WHAT’S INSIDE A FIREWORK? The source of most fireworks is a small tube called an aerial shell that contains explosive chemicals. An aerial shell is made of gunpowder, which is a well-known explosive, and small globs of explosive materials called stars.

The stars give fireworks their color when they explode. The beautiful colors come from the explosion of stars, which form spheres, cubes or cylinders that are usually 3-4 centimeters (1-1.5 inch) in diameter.

Color

Compound

red

strontium salts, lithium salts, lithium carbonate, Li2CO3 = red strontium carbonate, SrCO3 = bright red

orange

calcium salts calcium chloride, CaCl2

yellow

sodium salts sodium chloride, NaCl

green

Barium chloride, BaCl2 (formed from the barium compounds and chlorine)

blue

Copper(I) chloride, CuCl (formed from the copper compounds and chlorine)

purple

mixture of strontium (red) and copper (blue) compounds

Reference: De Antonis, K. Fireworks! ChemMatters, October 2010, pp. 8–10.