WEBVTT - Rerun: TechStuff Lights Some Fireworks 0:00:04.400 --> 0:00:07.800 Welcome to tech Stuff, a production from I Heart Radio. 0:00:12.039 --> 0:00:14.360 Hey there, and welcome to tech Stuff. I'm your host, 0:00:14.480 --> 0:00:17.520 Jonathan Strickland. I'm an executive producer with I Heart Radio, 0:00:17.560 --> 0:00:19.599 and how the tech are you? You know, here in 0:00:19.640 --> 0:00:23.160 the United States, it's the fourth of July. Technically it's 0:00:23.200 --> 0:00:26.079 it's fourth of July other places too, but here in 0:00:26.079 --> 0:00:29.800 the United States that date has historical significance and as such, 0:00:30.000 --> 0:00:32.760 we observe it as a holiday, which means I am 0:00:32.760 --> 0:00:35.120 not at work today, and Tari is not at work today, 0:00:35.800 --> 0:00:38.600 and I don't believe in making people work on holidays, 0:00:38.920 --> 0:00:42.120 and so we are going to listen to a classic 0:00:42.280 --> 0:00:46.199 episode of text Stuff. This is a part one of 0:00:46.240 --> 0:00:48.360 a two partern so tomorrow we'll listen to part two. 0:00:48.800 --> 0:00:52.239 Because there's just something in me where I can't just 0:00:52.320 --> 0:00:54.560 let it go, where I just play part one and 0:00:54.720 --> 0:00:58.520 never play part two. Here we go. This episode originally 0:00:58.520 --> 0:01:02.520 published on July twenty third, two thousand and fourteen, and 0:01:02.560 --> 0:01:09.040 it is called tech Stuff. Lights Some Fireworks Enjoy. Here's 0:01:09.080 --> 0:01:11.760 something I wondered as we were watching the traditional Independence 0:01:11.800 --> 0:01:15.039 Day festivities. What kind of tech goes into a professional 0:01:15.120 --> 0:01:17.959 fireworks display? What do they use to sink up the 0:01:17.959 --> 0:01:20.839 fireworks with music is their fancy tech that goes into 0:01:20.840 --> 0:01:23.880 the creation of fireworks. Most of the ones I saw 0:01:23.880 --> 0:01:26.960 tonight were the standard fare starbursts that could change their colors. 0:01:27.000 --> 0:01:29.720 They burned, uh, though some twinkled like little Christmas lights, 0:01:29.760 --> 0:01:31.520 flashing on and off in a way I wouldn't expect 0:01:31.560 --> 0:01:34.080 from just a chemical burn. I also remember years ago 0:01:34.160 --> 0:01:36.520 seeing some explode into a smiley face, though I haven't 0:01:36.520 --> 0:01:40.160 seen as many of those recently. I also wondered if 0:01:40.200 --> 0:01:42.800 there's anything that makes them safer, though I'm not sure 0:01:42.840 --> 0:01:45.480 how safe you could ever make something that's designed to 0:01:45.600 --> 0:01:48.640 explode if it hasn't been done already. It might be 0:01:48.680 --> 0:01:52.160 cool to hear about how fireworks work. And Cyber Knight, 0:01:52.280 --> 0:01:56.760 we are totally going to meet your expectations. We are 0:01:56.760 --> 0:02:01.040 going to exceed them actually, because they at there's a 0:02:01.080 --> 0:02:04.400 lot of science. There is. There's much, many much sciences. 0:02:04.440 --> 0:02:06.680 In fact, I would say more science than tech when 0:02:06.680 --> 0:02:10.519 you get down to it. However, it's a technology of chemistry. Yeah, 0:02:10.639 --> 0:02:14.560 it is applied chemistry, so there is. And we have 0:02:15.240 --> 0:02:18.840 demonstrated on the show previously that we like fire Yeah. 0:02:19.360 --> 0:02:22.040 We did a full episode. By the way, sorry, we 0:02:22.040 --> 0:02:25.680 didn't talk about compression fire starters. I had it in 0:02:25.720 --> 0:02:28.560 my notes, did not fill it out, and then we 0:02:28.560 --> 0:02:31.600 were taken to task for it. Rightfully, So I would say, 0:02:31.680 --> 0:02:34.160 but we're gonna we're gonna be very thorough as it 0:02:34.160 --> 0:02:36.880 turns out with fireworks, because while I was thinking about it, 0:02:36.960 --> 0:02:39.320 you know, just covering the basics, the more I got 0:02:39.320 --> 0:02:41.520 into the chemistry, the more exciting it was, the more 0:02:41.560 --> 0:02:43.079 interesting it was, and the more I was like, well, 0:02:43.120 --> 0:02:45.040 I'm in for opinion for a pound. If the government's 0:02:45.040 --> 0:02:46.680 going to see how I'm looking about, you know, how 0:02:46.680 --> 0:02:49.560 to make gunpowder, might as well go all in. So 0:02:49.680 --> 0:02:51.600 we're going to talk all about it. Definitely one of 0:02:51.639 --> 0:02:54.440 those that were like, okay, what interesting watch lists are 0:02:54.480 --> 0:02:57.959 we on? At least three or four more? So we 0:02:57.960 --> 0:03:01.280 should probably define what a firework is is for just 0:03:01.280 --> 0:03:04.480 just the purposes of framing the discussion, right, sure, Well, 0:03:04.760 --> 0:03:07.000 you know, at its base, I suppose it's something that 0:03:07.120 --> 0:03:11.040 explodes for fun. Yes, that's pretty much it. A firework 0:03:11.120 --> 0:03:14.840 is something that is explosive or combustible, and it's meant 0:03:15.040 --> 0:03:18.639 for display purposes, to to create an impressive light display 0:03:18.960 --> 0:03:23.919 or exactly. Yeah, you could get a firecracker, which is 0:03:23.960 --> 0:03:26.440 really meant to make a lot of noise, or your 0:03:26.520 --> 0:03:28.639 you might get a Roman candle, which doesn't make a 0:03:28.680 --> 0:03:31.760 lot of noise, but it is very impressive light show. Uh. 0:03:31.800 --> 0:03:34.640 And of course then there's all the stuff that also 0:03:34.680 --> 0:03:37.640 falls into the fireworks category, things like sparklers, that kind 0:03:37.640 --> 0:03:41.840 of stuff. We're mostly gonna be focusing on your traditional fireworks, 0:03:41.840 --> 0:03:43.440 the stuff that you would go and look up into 0:03:43.480 --> 0:03:46.840 the sky and see that plays that are launched from 0:03:46.920 --> 0:03:52.480 something into the air exactly, So your your common basic 0:03:52.640 --> 0:03:56.840 ingredients and fireworks are well. It's black powder, also known 0:03:56.880 --> 0:04:03.760 as gunpowder. You know, pretty pretty simple, relatively simple. Uh. 0:04:03.800 --> 0:04:08.480 It's traditionally made from sulfur, charcoal, and potassium nitrate, which 0:04:08.720 --> 0:04:11.960 back in ye old days was called saltpeter. Yeah. And 0:04:12.040 --> 0:04:14.560 back in the old days, he mostly got it from India, 0:04:15.480 --> 0:04:17.880 at least if you were in the Western hemisphere, you 0:04:17.960 --> 0:04:20.719 got it from India. Uh. In fact, I read an 0:04:20.760 --> 0:04:25.240 interesting article published in eighteen sixty one by the New 0:04:25.320 --> 0:04:28.280 York Times about the various powder mills, which we'll talk 0:04:28.320 --> 0:04:31.720 about a little bit, uh in the United States, and 0:04:32.400 --> 0:04:34.480 essentially it was running down how the South didn't have 0:04:34.600 --> 0:04:36.520 enough powder mills for this Civil War thing to be 0:04:36.600 --> 0:04:39.840 a big deal. As it turns out, four more years later, 0:04:39.880 --> 0:04:42.680 they probably felt like that was maybe a little premature. 0:04:42.800 --> 0:04:45.000 I think, yeah, that that turned out to be less 0:04:45.000 --> 0:04:49.200 correct than they had hoped. It was a certainly, you know, 0:04:49.320 --> 0:04:51.440 I think it was an optimistic take on what ended 0:04:51.520 --> 0:04:54.159 up being a very trying time in the U. S. History. 0:04:54.200 --> 0:04:57.360 But we're going to focus on the fireworks. So speaking 0:04:57.360 --> 0:05:00.440 of history, looking at the history of fireworks, this is 0:05:00.560 --> 0:05:04.120 stuff of legend. As it turns out, Oh, certainly, because 0:05:04.200 --> 0:05:07.160 I mean, guess what neither of us were around two 0:05:07.200 --> 0:05:09.479 to three thousand years ago to observe and we don't 0:05:09.520 --> 0:05:12.360 have a real way back machine. Yeah, I'm really sorry, guys, 0:05:12.400 --> 0:05:15.040 we have been lying to you. It's just a special effect. 0:05:15.200 --> 0:05:20.200 It's a really special effect. It is. It is very special. Unfortunately, 0:05:20.520 --> 0:05:24.880 if someone has not actually documented it in a way 0:05:24.960 --> 0:05:28.479 that is verifiable, we cannot, in fact go back and 0:05:28.520 --> 0:05:30.400 say exactly what happened. But we can tell you what 0:05:30.440 --> 0:05:33.440 the legends are. Yes, there's a legend that over two 0:05:33.440 --> 0:05:37.480 thousand years ago in China, a chef, a chef was 0:05:37.680 --> 0:05:41.960 mixing together some charcoal, some sulfur, and some saltpeter, and 0:05:42.360 --> 0:05:46.400 those were all ingredients that were found in field kitchens. Okay, 0:05:46.760 --> 0:05:50.920 so uh yeah, apparently just accidentally happened to measure these 0:05:50.960 --> 0:05:54.120 in the or or mix these in the right amounts, 0:05:54.160 --> 0:05:57.080 because it's not like you have equal parts of each ingredient. 0:05:57.200 --> 0:06:00.680 It's actually more precise than that. Aren't going to talk 0:06:00.720 --> 0:06:03.800 about that because I don't want you guys making gunpowder, 0:06:04.320 --> 0:06:07.560 so don't try that at home. But this chef happened 0:06:07.640 --> 0:06:11.680 upon this recipe, Yeah, discovered that if you compress it, 0:06:11.760 --> 0:06:14.600 like if you put it into a container of some sort, 0:06:14.680 --> 0:06:16.320 and then if it were too I don't know, come 0:06:16.320 --> 0:06:19.400 into contact with any kind of flame, it blows up. 0:06:20.160 --> 0:06:23.840 I don't know if that chefs survived this discovery, because 0:06:23.880 --> 0:06:27.520 I don't even know if the chef's existed, So it's 0:06:27.520 --> 0:06:31.000 all up in the air really literally possibly depending upon 0:06:31.040 --> 0:06:33.440 where the gunpowder was. Now, if you look up the 0:06:33.480 --> 0:06:35.440 history of fireworks online, like if you were to actually 0:06:35.440 --> 0:06:39.920 go and put into your favorite search engine history of fireworks, 0:06:40.240 --> 0:06:44.680 you're going to find a particular story told repeatedly throughout 0:06:45.040 --> 0:06:48.960 numerous links, most of which go to like fireworks manufacturers 0:06:49.200 --> 0:06:53.040 and as like many other research topics, on the Internet. 0:06:53.080 --> 0:06:55.560 They all tell basically the same story and basically the 0:06:55.600 --> 0:07:01.080 same wording without any particular reference anything real. Yeah, there's 0:07:01.120 --> 0:07:04.560 no citation, right, yeah, so that so what the legend 0:07:04.680 --> 0:07:06.560 is is that there was a monk in China named 0:07:06.680 --> 0:07:11.280 le Chian who lived around quote a thousand years ago. 0:07:11.400 --> 0:07:13.440 That is always the way it's put, by the way, 0:07:13.520 --> 0:07:16.160 around a thousand years ago. It's never given a date. 0:07:16.480 --> 0:07:18.960 It just as around a thousand years ago. And so 0:07:19.120 --> 0:07:21.960 depending upon when this was written, you know, and anyway, 0:07:23.160 --> 0:07:26.000 so much so many different sources use the exact wording. 0:07:26.000 --> 0:07:28.400 I expect they all took their information from either the 0:07:28.480 --> 0:07:30.640 same source or they're just borrowing it from each other. 0:07:30.840 --> 0:07:33.440 It's just this big circle of people borrowing the same stuff. 0:07:33.680 --> 0:07:36.840 But the best scholarly source I could find simply said 0:07:37.160 --> 0:07:41.320 that the first firecracker was made sometime around eleventh century 0:07:41.760 --> 0:07:45.320 Common era in China, so eleventh century a d if 0:07:45.320 --> 0:07:47.800 you prefer, in China. And this was the time when 0:07:47.880 --> 0:07:51.440 Chinese alchemists were searching for something called the elixir of life. 0:07:51.920 --> 0:07:54.320 And along the way, while trying to find this elixir 0:07:54.360 --> 0:07:56.880 of life, they they mixed a bunch of different kinds 0:07:56.880 --> 0:07:59.760 of stuff together and found lots of interesting things, not 0:07:59.800 --> 0:08:02.280 the elixir life, but as it turns out, they found 0:08:02.320 --> 0:08:05.040 out about gunpowder. Just kind of like an a lixer 0:08:05.080 --> 0:08:06.720 of death. When you think about it, it can be 0:08:06.880 --> 0:08:10.680 certainly with the with the incorrect application. So the first 0:08:10.720 --> 0:08:14.000 firecracker was probably a parchment tube loosely filled with this 0:08:14.080 --> 0:08:17.800 mixture of saltpeter, sulfur and willow charcoal. Willow charcoal, by 0:08:17.800 --> 0:08:20.520 the way, one of the more popular forms. As it 0:08:20.520 --> 0:08:24.640 turns out, you want to use softer woods to create 0:08:24.680 --> 0:08:27.000 the charcoal because the harder woulds tend to create too 0:08:27.080 --> 0:08:29.680 much ash. I learned that while I was doing all 0:08:29.680 --> 0:08:34.600 this research. Now, once these things were invented, they started 0:08:34.640 --> 0:08:39.600 to spread throughout the world gradually, usually through trade. Uh. 0:08:39.679 --> 0:08:43.480 Sometime between twelve thirty five and twelve nine, d Roger 0:08:43.480 --> 0:08:47.160 Bacon began to experiment with an early form of black powder. 0:08:47.920 --> 0:08:50.320 This was again stuff that had probably been brought to 0:08:50.360 --> 0:08:55.040 the Western world through trade, yeah, mostly through Arabic traders. 0:08:55.720 --> 0:08:59.640 Most likely the story goes that Marco Polo brought some over, 0:08:59.679 --> 0:09:02.199 but it's much more likely that it was Arabic traders 0:09:02.240 --> 0:09:05.560 well before Marco Polo's journeys. But at any rate Bacon's 0:09:05.679 --> 0:09:08.360 work would lead to the development of what we know 0:09:08.440 --> 0:09:11.440 as gunpowder today. Yes, he would. He would sort of 0:09:11.840 --> 0:09:16.319 refine this mixture, finding the right proportions of mixing these 0:09:16.440 --> 0:09:20.120 ingredients together to get something that would work very well 0:09:20.440 --> 0:09:24.480 if you wanted to, uh, you know, launch something at somebody, 0:09:24.559 --> 0:09:27.640 like say a cannonball. Sure, because if you mix all 0:09:27.679 --> 0:09:30.199 of these things together, you get a good bright flash, 0:09:30.240 --> 0:09:32.400 and if you compress them beforehand, you get a big 0:09:32.400 --> 0:09:35.240 boom as well. Yep, yep. Otherwise, like if you've ever 0:09:35.280 --> 0:09:39.079 seen those videos of or films of people taking the 0:09:39.120 --> 0:09:41.880 old timey photographs with the flash powder, where it just 0:09:41.920 --> 0:09:43.840 it just lights up, and that was how they created 0:09:43.840 --> 0:09:46.040 a flash since they didn't have the capacitors to make 0:09:46.080 --> 0:09:48.960 up a flashing light bulb. That's what gunpowder does. If 0:09:49.000 --> 0:09:51.240 it's just out in the open. You've probably seen this. 0:09:51.360 --> 0:09:53.560 It's you know, it's also really popular in like cartoons 0:09:53.559 --> 0:09:55.520 and stuff. You see the long trail of gunpowder and 0:09:55.520 --> 0:09:59.199 the exactly so that really is how it just burns 0:09:59.679 --> 0:10:03.360 really really quickly. Now, the gunpowder industry and fireworks industry 0:10:03.360 --> 0:10:07.319 are very closely linked together. Improvements in developing gunpowder and 0:10:07.360 --> 0:10:11.319 the methodology for producing it were ported over to work 0:10:11.360 --> 0:10:14.880 in fireworks as well, and early fireworks displays were developed 0:10:14.880 --> 0:10:18.480 in China and India for religious festivals. Uh. There aren't 0:10:18.480 --> 0:10:21.960 really written accounts of how these fireworks spread throughout the world. 0:10:22.000 --> 0:10:25.760 But again we think that Arabic traders probably brought this 0:10:25.840 --> 0:10:30.040 stuff over into Europe and the Europeans said, Wow, that's amazing, 0:10:30.200 --> 0:10:32.439 that's awesome, let's bloss stuff up here too. Yeah. And 0:10:32.520 --> 0:10:35.960 in fact, for a long time they were importing this 0:10:36.120 --> 0:10:40.640 stuff from the East, and in fact would even higher 0:10:41.240 --> 0:10:43.960 experts from the East to come and do the displays 0:10:44.000 --> 0:10:46.680 in in Europe. It would only be in the late 0:10:46.720 --> 0:10:50.640 Middle Ages early Renaissance when you started seeing Europeans try 0:10:50.760 --> 0:10:54.679 and take on this responsibility themselves. Uh. Now, by the 0:10:54.679 --> 0:10:58.079 Italian Renaissance, fireworks creators began to experiment with adding extra 0:10:58.200 --> 0:11:02.319 ingredients to mixtures to use different colors of light, so 0:11:02.440 --> 0:11:05.280 for example, adding copper to create blue light. We'll talk 0:11:05.320 --> 0:11:08.400 more about adding color to fireworks a bit later. So 0:11:08.800 --> 0:11:10.760 the thing is, if you want to learn more about 0:11:10.840 --> 0:11:13.240 what the displays back in the Middle Ages were like, 0:11:13.320 --> 0:11:15.640 there are only a few accounts. A lot of them though, 0:11:15.800 --> 0:11:18.160 come from England, because it turns out the English were 0:11:18.880 --> 0:11:22.640 bananas over this stuff. The Italians and Germans were working 0:11:22.679 --> 0:11:25.880 really hard on improving fireworks technology, and the English were 0:11:25.960 --> 0:11:29.760 enjoying the heck out of it. We'll be back with 0:11:29.840 --> 0:11:40.320 more in just a moment. So one of the accounts 0:11:40.320 --> 0:11:42.960 says that during the wedding of Henry the Seventh also 0:11:42.960 --> 0:11:46.839 known as Henry Tudor and Elizabeth of York in four six, 0:11:46.880 --> 0:11:51.000 there were fireworks displays. Others talk more about Elizabeth's coronation, 0:11:51.120 --> 0:11:54.079 so there's a little bit of a argument there. The 0:11:54.160 --> 0:11:57.920 same is true for Henry the eighth wedding uh and Bleyn, 0:11:58.040 --> 0:12:01.480 which was a wife number two. I think I think 0:12:01.640 --> 0:12:04.600 she had a good head on her shoulders. Uh not 0:12:04.800 --> 0:12:09.200 for long. Spoiler art James Anthony Froud wrote that there 0:12:09.240 --> 0:12:13.720 were quote wild men casting fire and making a hideous 0:12:13.880 --> 0:12:17.640 noise end quote, which I think is a fantastic description 0:12:17.679 --> 0:12:20.640 of fireworks. When I was a kid, I hated them 0:12:20.679 --> 0:12:23.800 because I didn't like loud noise, and even just seeing 0:12:23.880 --> 0:12:26.600 the fireworks burst in the sky made me made my 0:12:26.600 --> 0:12:28.760 anxiety levels go up because I knew a loud noise 0:12:28.840 --> 0:12:31.760 was coming right right. I remember having one year where 0:12:31.760 --> 0:12:33.600 I was really upset by them, like I had loved 0:12:33.640 --> 0:12:36.480 them and then suddenly was like that's loud and I'm 0:12:36.520 --> 0:12:39.760 against it. Yeah, I've come back around now, but for 0:12:39.800 --> 0:12:42.040 a long time I was. I was certainly the person 0:12:42.040 --> 0:12:43.880 who was like, I don't want to be here when 0:12:43.920 --> 0:12:48.920 the fireworks start UNA for the record, Yeah, yeah, most 0:12:48.960 --> 0:12:52.520 dogs I've encountered shared my feeling. I think I finally 0:12:52.520 --> 0:12:56.680 evolved beyond dog stage. So Henry the eighth and Ann 0:12:56.840 --> 0:13:01.080 BERLEYN had a daughter, Elizabeth, Yeah, somewhat famous. Yes, it 0:13:01.160 --> 0:13:04.880 became Queen of England and uh sat on her thorn 0:13:05.000 --> 0:13:09.000 for many years throne throne. Sorry, it was just misreading 0:13:09.000 --> 0:13:12.480 my notes, but no, Elizabeth obviously one of the most 0:13:13.080 --> 0:13:19.200 influential um monarchs of all time. Really yeah, and she 0:13:19.200 --> 0:13:22.240 she loved the sparkles. She did she she she created 0:13:22.280 --> 0:13:27.280 a position for its Firemaster of England. Um, it would 0:13:27.280 --> 0:13:31.000 be I think it was after in the ruling of 0:13:31.280 --> 0:13:34.880 James the First when that position came along with the knighthood. 0:13:35.120 --> 0:13:38.960 At any rate, you had people who suddenly really wanted 0:13:39.000 --> 0:13:41.120 to pursue the craft, to become the best at it, 0:13:41.160 --> 0:13:43.440 in order to land this cushy job of being the 0:13:43.520 --> 0:13:46.160 fire Master of England, because you would imagine that comes 0:13:46.200 --> 0:13:50.160 with some sweet you know, bonuses like money. Yeah, and 0:13:50.200 --> 0:13:52.600 so a lot of people were trying new and different 0:13:52.720 --> 0:13:56.760 things to kind of impress the queen. Yeah. Yeah. According 0:13:56.800 --> 0:13:59.080 to some accounts, one of the things you might expect 0:13:59.080 --> 0:14:02.920 to see at a true, really outrageous display would be 0:14:03.080 --> 0:14:07.719 a dragon with paper mache scales that was loaded up 0:14:07.720 --> 0:14:10.960 with fireworks so that it would breathe fire. It would 0:14:10.960 --> 0:14:13.440 appear to be breathing fire, and sometimes they would have 0:14:13.480 --> 0:14:16.400 more than one, and then you would have dragon fights, yes, 0:14:16.640 --> 0:14:18.480 and then maybe one of the women's up catching on 0:14:18.480 --> 0:14:21.360 fire and the other one is slightly less on fire, 0:14:21.480 --> 0:14:24.000 and so that's the one that wins. Um. But they 0:14:24.040 --> 0:14:26.160 would battle one another. And so you read about this 0:14:26.200 --> 0:14:27.920 kind of stuff, you're like, wow, these these had to 0:14:27.960 --> 0:14:31.360 be pretty spectacular. And then you also think, remember they 0:14:31.400 --> 0:14:34.880 had no automated way this. There was probably some poor 0:14:35.000 --> 0:14:38.240 jerk who had a match stick or some form of 0:14:38.480 --> 0:14:41.280 torture something that was lighting this stuff manually and then 0:14:41.280 --> 0:14:43.400 trying to get the heck away from it before he 0:14:43.720 --> 0:14:45.960 burnt up. Yeah, or possibly a couple of guys on 0:14:45.960 --> 0:14:48.880 the ground like with sticks holding these things up. I'm 0:14:48.920 --> 0:14:52.240 a little bit terrified about the entire concept, but but yeah, no, 0:14:52.320 --> 0:14:55.360 they were very impressive. Shakespeare even wrote wrote about them 0:14:55.400 --> 0:14:57.880 in some of his plays, Right, Romeo and juliet There 0:14:57.920 --> 0:15:01.080 is a quote that says, these violent delight have violet ends, 0:15:01.120 --> 0:15:04.160 and in their triumph die like fire and powder, which 0:15:04.240 --> 0:15:07.280 as they kiss consume. Now, in that case, of course, 0:15:07.320 --> 0:15:09.960 he's referring to the lover's Romeo and Juliette, and the 0:15:10.040 --> 0:15:12.720 passion they have for one another, and he's likening it 0:15:12.760 --> 0:15:16.480 to a fireworks display, which you know, has been a 0:15:16.520 --> 0:15:21.800 pretty powerful image that has been repeated at nauseum ever since. 0:15:22.120 --> 0:15:24.280 The whole thing where the two lovers kiss and then 0:15:24.320 --> 0:15:27.520 you see the fireworks going off in the background very much. 0:15:27.680 --> 0:15:30.920 It's interesting that it seems to have originated with Shakespeare, 0:15:30.960 --> 0:15:36.240 as many so many things have. Also, fireworks were deemed 0:15:36.280 --> 0:15:40.920 to be an illegal possession for regular citizens right around 0:15:40.960 --> 0:15:46.240 six five. Uh, yeah, that that's about when a certain 0:15:46.520 --> 0:15:52.280 persona now publicly known because of a certain movies comic book. Yes, 0:15:52.640 --> 0:15:56.400 guy Fox got into some trouble with the gunpowder plot. Yes, 0:15:56.440 --> 0:15:59.360 he was part of a conspiracy to blow up the 0:15:59.400 --> 0:16:03.240 houses of Parliament by storing something like thirty something casks 0:16:03.400 --> 0:16:06.240 of gunpowder underneath. They were going to tunnel underneath the 0:16:06.240 --> 0:16:09.000 Houses of Parliament that stuff in there and then light 0:16:09.040 --> 0:16:12.480 it and blow it up. And the conspirators were caught 0:16:12.800 --> 0:16:16.920 before they could execute their plan. And Guy Fox himself, 0:16:17.600 --> 0:16:20.240 who was not necessarily the ringleader, he was one of 0:16:20.280 --> 0:16:24.120 the members Um, was really made an example of in 0:16:24.280 --> 0:16:26.360 some of the most horrifying ways you can imagine. Now, 0:16:26.400 --> 0:16:29.560 granted he was playing on committing a terrible act, but 0:16:29.640 --> 0:16:32.400 they did a really terrible act him and drawn quartered 0:16:32.440 --> 0:16:35.240 And of course they had Guy Fox Day for you know, 0:16:35.480 --> 0:16:38.800 the early Guy Fox days involved lots of burning of 0:16:39.440 --> 0:16:42.680 Guy Fox and effigy Um. And then there's a whole 0:16:42.680 --> 0:16:44.960 story there that's amazing, but stuff he missed in history 0:16:45.000 --> 0:16:46.920 class would really be the best place to cover that. 0:16:47.000 --> 0:16:48.960 And I'm sure they have actually mean, I feel like 0:16:49.000 --> 0:16:51.720 it's likely. Yeah, these these days we have the charming 0:16:51.760 --> 0:16:57.800 anonymous masks based off exactly. So at that point it 0:16:57.880 --> 0:17:01.320 was made illegal for the common citizen to possess fireworks. 0:17:01.360 --> 0:17:04.919 The only people who are allowed were specifically given that 0:17:04.920 --> 0:17:09.119 that responsibility by the crown. So that's kind of the 0:17:09.800 --> 0:17:14.280 early early history. But let's talk about what's actually going 0:17:14.440 --> 0:17:18.600 on inside of firework. What is what is making it work? Well, 0:17:18.640 --> 0:17:22.480 this is mostly chemistry, but let's let's talk about black powder, 0:17:22.520 --> 0:17:25.360 since that is that is the basic what is going 0:17:25.400 --> 0:17:29.399 on here. So we talked about sulfur, charcoal, and saltpeter 0:17:29.560 --> 0:17:33.240 or potassium nitrate. Uh, you might wonder what are these 0:17:33.280 --> 0:17:36.960 things actually doing within gunpowders. So sulfur and charcoal are 0:17:37.000 --> 0:17:41.159 acting as fuel, right, and the potassium nitrate is acting 0:17:41.200 --> 0:17:44.320 as an oxidizer. So oxidizers in this sense are the 0:17:44.359 --> 0:17:46.560 chemicals that fuel requires in order to burn. If you 0:17:46.600 --> 0:17:49.639 remember the great triangle of what is required to make fire, 0:17:50.000 --> 0:17:51.879 you have to have fuel, you have to have oxygen, 0:17:51.960 --> 0:17:53.880 and you have to have heat. Those are the three 0:17:53.880 --> 0:17:56.320 things that together will allow you to have fire. And 0:17:56.359 --> 0:17:58.600 if you're lacking any of those, you're not going to 0:17:58.640 --> 0:18:00.639 get it. If you have just oxygen and fal and 0:18:00.720 --> 0:18:02.920 but not heat, it's not gonna happen. Same thing with 0:18:03.040 --> 0:18:05.320 just oxygen and fire. You've got to have some fuel there. 0:18:05.720 --> 0:18:08.960 So oxydizers are chemicals that are really good at getting 0:18:09.000 --> 0:18:12.040 oxygen into the mix. Yes, And in fact, potassium nitrate 0:18:12.240 --> 0:18:16.400 is incredibly good at this. So let's look at these 0:18:16.520 --> 0:18:20.879 ingredients each on their own. If you look at just charcoal, 0:18:20.960 --> 0:18:24.919 which is essentially carbon and you want to try and 0:18:25.040 --> 0:18:26.879 burn it, if you were to light a match and 0:18:26.960 --> 0:18:30.480 just hold it to charcoal, it doesn't really ignite very well, yeah, 0:18:30.640 --> 0:18:33.960 kind of. It kind of smolders and smokes, and and 0:18:33.960 --> 0:18:35.760 if you get it hot enough, like it will start 0:18:35.840 --> 0:18:39.320 to burn. Certainly they'll start to glow, blow, doesn't. You 0:18:39.320 --> 0:18:41.040 don't get a lot of flame out of it. You've 0:18:41.119 --> 0:18:44.280 probably done this at home, perhaps on a charcoal grill, 0:18:44.600 --> 0:18:48.560 or when you have burned a log down to the coals. Yeah, 0:18:48.560 --> 0:18:51.159 you've got those those coals are that's charcoal that's just 0:18:51.200 --> 0:18:54.760 glowing because of the heat that's coming through. We'll talk 0:18:54.760 --> 0:18:57.640 about the actual mechanism of glowing a little bit later too. 0:18:58.600 --> 0:19:01.359 So again, you don't get a lot of ignition, not 0:19:01.359 --> 0:19:03.720 not in a lot of flame. It's certainly not explosive 0:19:03.720 --> 0:19:06.280 ignition yet, probably unless you've done something very strange, right, 0:19:06.359 --> 0:19:10.120 unless unless your charcoal has got some other funky ingredients 0:19:10.119 --> 0:19:13.560 in it, or I guess you've compressed it a lot. 0:19:14.200 --> 0:19:18.320 Maybe I'm yeah, that would be incredible. Eventually you would 0:19:18.320 --> 0:19:22.119 get a diamond. So, but sulfur it burns at a 0:19:22.160 --> 0:19:25.480 lower temperature than charcoal does that carbon does. It ignites 0:19:25.520 --> 0:19:28.520 more easily, but not really at room temperature. So if 0:19:28.520 --> 0:19:31.320 you had a little crucible, let's say, a little ceramic 0:19:31.320 --> 0:19:34.320 crucible filled with some some sulfur, and you put a 0:19:34.400 --> 0:19:37.240 match to it, it wouldn't really light up. But again, 0:19:37.280 --> 0:19:39.720 if you were to heat it, it will start to melt, 0:19:40.000 --> 0:19:42.800 and then it will burn if exposed to even higher temperatures, 0:19:42.840 --> 0:19:45.080 and that gives off sulfur dioxide, which, by the way, 0:19:45.640 --> 0:19:48.000 not good to breathe in. It could irritate your lung. 0:19:48.119 --> 0:19:50.840 One of the many reasons why you shouldn't melt sulfur 0:19:50.920 --> 0:19:54.520 at home. Yeah. Yeah, these these things like charcoal that's 0:19:54.560 --> 0:19:59.680 fairly fairly benign as things go. Sulfur a little bit 0:19:59.760 --> 0:20:03.920 less so, uh, potassium nitrate less so than either of 0:20:03.960 --> 0:20:06.160 the other two. Yeah, this is what increases that rate 0:20:06.160 --> 0:20:09.679 of combustion significantly when it's added to a mixture of 0:20:09.720 --> 0:20:12.800 carbon and sulfur, again in the correct amounts. So when 0:20:12.800 --> 0:20:16.119 it's mixed properly, that combination willing nite and burn really 0:20:16.240 --> 0:20:18.520 really quickly. Um. And it is it is the of 0:20:18.560 --> 0:20:22.760 course the traditional oxidizer in this combination of stuff that 0:20:22.800 --> 0:20:25.320 goes into black powder, but lots of other things can 0:20:25.359 --> 0:20:29.840 be used, for example, potassium chlorate, potassium perchlorate, or barium 0:20:29.960 --> 0:20:34.359 nitrate and UH. As of twenty eleven, organizations from like 0:20:34.520 --> 0:20:37.240 Walt Disney Company to the U. S. Department of Defense 0:20:37.560 --> 0:20:42.399 have started looking at green alternatives to all of these oxidizers. 0:20:42.920 --> 0:20:45.520 UH and I say green, and you go, like, what 0:20:45.560 --> 0:20:48.440 you're making stuff explode? How green does it need to be? 0:20:49.119 --> 0:20:51.679 But the thing is is that um okay. So it 0:20:51.680 --> 0:20:55.280 turns out the dangerous chemicals can present health and environmental hazards. 0:20:55.720 --> 0:20:59.720 UM and potassium nitrate specifically is a really common ingredient 0:20:59.760 --> 0:21:03.640 in herbsides, Potassium chlorate is a hearsh ingredient in disinfectants. 0:21:03.640 --> 0:21:07.159 Potassium perchlorate can disrupt the production of hormones and the 0:21:07.160 --> 0:21:10.600 thyroid and harmon born babies, and a barium nitrate can 0:21:10.640 --> 0:21:14.240 interfere with heart and breathing functions. So none of that 0:21:14.400 --> 0:21:16.320 is good fun times and and so a lot of 0:21:16.320 --> 0:21:18.840 research has been put in recent years into trying to 0:21:18.880 --> 0:21:23.320 figure out better ways of burning stuff, yet that isn't 0:21:23.320 --> 0:21:26.520 releasing these chemicals into the environment and showering them over 0:21:26.640 --> 0:21:30.000 crowds of fawning onlookers, or you know, into your water supply, 0:21:30.240 --> 0:21:33.960 or for example, potassium chlorate is a great example. Potassium 0:21:34.000 --> 0:21:36.600 chlorate is this stuff a great example of a bad, 0:21:37.440 --> 0:21:41.440 bad ingredients as opposed to one that's green. Potassium chlorate 0:21:41.720 --> 0:21:46.359 ends up creating a more explosive burn than say, potassium 0:21:46.400 --> 0:21:49.359 nitrate does. Potassium nitrates already pretty impressive, but if you 0:21:49.359 --> 0:21:54.000 ever watch someone create potassium chlorate a mixture of sulfur, 0:21:54.600 --> 0:21:57.520 charcoal and potassium chlorate in the right amounts and then 0:21:57.640 --> 0:22:00.840 light it, it lights even, It burns even faster than 0:22:01.160 --> 0:22:05.120 the regular black powder mixture, and so it's often used 0:22:05.119 --> 0:22:08.400 in something called a burst charge, which we'll talk about later. 0:22:09.240 --> 0:22:12.680 But like you said, it leaves some pretty nasty stuff 0:22:12.680 --> 0:22:15.560 behind chlorate. If you look at that word chlorate, you 0:22:15.600 --> 0:22:18.400 realize that chlorine is one of those things that's involved 0:22:18.400 --> 0:22:20.320 in this, and that's one of the byproducts as you 0:22:20.320 --> 0:22:24.000 get this chlorine released as as one of the the 0:22:24.040 --> 0:22:27.200 remnants after the chemical reaction that happens when you ignite 0:22:27.200 --> 0:22:30.560