1. THE CHEMISTRY OF
FIREWORKS
By: Alex Hollis

2. BRIEF HISTORY
• The first fireworks were invented by the Chinese.
• Around 2000 years ago a Chinese monk created
gunpowder, the main ingredient in fireworks.
• The first fireworks were pieces of bamboo filled with
gunpowder.(Helmstine 1)

3. STEPS OF A FIREWORK
• There are three different steps to the explosion of a
firework.
• The first of these steps is combustion.
• This part of the reaction can reach temperatures of
over 1800 degrees Fahrenheit.(Antonis 9)

5. COMBUSTION
• Inside of the firework is sulfur, charcoal, and
potassium nitrate.
• Once you light the fuse it ignites black powder,
which ignites everything causing them to react.
• This part is what propels that firework up in the
air.(Wallulis 1)

6. STEP 2
• The second stage of the firework occurs once it has
reached it's highest point in the air.
• After igniting the black powder on step one, the fuse
then reaches an oxidation agent within the firework.
• The oxidation agent is normally nitrate, chlorate, or
perchlorate.

7. STEP 2 (CONTINUED)
• The heat and gas that was produced from the
reaction in step one then reacts with the oxidation
agent.
• This reaction produces a lot of oxygen.
• This is the beginning stage of the explosion of the
firework.

8. STEP 3
• Inside the firework are little balls, called stars, filled
with normally carbon or nitrogen.
• Then the oxygen in step two reacts with the carbon
or nitrogen in the stars to make a rapidly expanding
gas.
• The energy produced in this reaction is absorbed by
atoms in the gas.

9. STEP 3 (CONTINUED)
• This causes their electron to leave their normal ground
state and move to an excited energy state.
• After, they will return back to their ground state
producing a lot of energy.
• This energy is release in the form of light.
• Other colors can be created by adding different metals to
the stars.