WEBVTT - Rerun: TechStuff Lights Some Fireworks 0:00:04.440 --> 0:00:12.280 Welcome to Tech Stuff, a production from iHeartRadio. Hey there, 0:00:12.320 --> 0:00:16.160 and welcome to tech Stuff. I'm your host, Jonathan Strickland. 0:00:16.200 --> 0:00:19.960 I'm an executive producer with iHeartRadio. And how the tech 0:00:20.720 --> 0:00:24.640 are you well, folks. Originally I planned on having all 0:00:24.680 --> 0:00:27.880 new episodes this week, but I had forgotten that my 0:00:28.240 --> 0:00:32.919 vacation budded right up to the Fourth of July holiday 0:00:32.960 --> 0:00:36.519 here in the United States, and as such, we are 0:00:36.560 --> 0:00:38.720 going to have a couple of reruns. These are going 0:00:38.760 --> 0:00:41.640 to be my traditional reruns for this holiday, I think, 0:00:41.880 --> 0:00:45.200 because I think I did this last year too. But hey, 0:00:45.760 --> 0:00:48.320 if you want a little insight into Jonathan's Fourth of 0:00:48.400 --> 0:00:52.600 July celebrations, every Fourth of July, I sit down and 0:00:52.640 --> 0:00:55.960 I watched the musical seventeen seventy six. This is a 0:00:56.480 --> 0:01:02.600 heavily fictionalized telling of the drafting and then signing of 0:01:02.640 --> 0:01:06.560 the Declaration of Independence. It turns out in history there 0:01:06.560 --> 0:01:10.320 were way more musical numbers, because in seventeen seventy six 0:01:10.400 --> 0:01:15.399 they kind of they kind of stop for about two 0:01:15.520 --> 0:01:18.000 thirds of the movie, Like there's some of the beginning, 0:01:18.080 --> 0:01:19.520 there's a lot of the beginning, and then there's a 0:01:19.560 --> 0:01:21.600 little bit at the end and there's not a whole 0:01:21.640 --> 0:01:24.880 lot in the middle. It turns out that in actual 0:01:25.000 --> 0:01:28.959 history they sang and danced the whole time. But in 0:01:29.080 --> 0:01:31.640 order to celebrate that, we're going to listen to a 0:01:31.680 --> 0:01:35.600 classic episode tech Stuff Lights Some Fireworks. This is a 0:01:35.760 --> 0:01:38.440 part one of a two parter and this was when 0:01:38.520 --> 0:01:42.600 Lauren Vogelbaum, who hosts Brain Stuff and Other Stuff, she 0:01:43.319 --> 0:01:45.920 was a co host on the show. So I hope 0:01:46.160 --> 0:01:51.200 you enjoy this classic episode from July twenty third, twenty fourteen, 0:01:51.320 --> 0:01:54.360 tech Stuff Lights Some Fireworks. I'll talk to you again 0:01:54.560 --> 0:01:57.560 in just a minute. There's a lot of science there is. 0:01:57.600 --> 0:01:59.520 There's much, many much sciences. 0:01:59.560 --> 0:02:01.920 In fact, we say more science than tech when you 0:02:01.960 --> 0:02:02.600 get down to it. 0:02:02.680 --> 0:02:05.160 However, it's a technology of chemistry. 0:02:05.320 --> 0:02:07.400 Yeah, it is applied chemistry. 0:02:07.600 --> 0:02:07.800 Yeah. 0:02:08.160 --> 0:02:11.240 And there is UH. And we have demonstrated on the 0:02:11.280 --> 0:02:13.600 show previously that we like fire. 0:02:13.720 --> 0:02:16.440 Yeah, we did a full episode. Oh by the way, 0:02:16.760 --> 0:02:20.600 sorry we didn't talk about compression fire starters. I had 0:02:20.600 --> 0:02:23.400 it in my notes, did not fill it out, and 0:02:23.440 --> 0:02:25.880 then we were taken to task for it rightfully, So 0:02:26.080 --> 0:02:28.920 I would say, but we're gonna we're gonna be very thorough. 0:02:29.040 --> 0:02:31.280 As it turns out, with fireworks, because while I was 0:02:31.320 --> 0:02:34.000 thinking about it, you know, just covering the basics, the 0:02:34.000 --> 0:02:36.360 more I got into the chemistry, the more exciting it was, 0:02:36.400 --> 0:02:38.240 the more interesting it was, and the more I was like, well, 0:02:38.240 --> 0:02:39.680 I'm in for a penny, in for a pound if 0:02:39.680 --> 0:02:41.640 the government's going to see how I'm looking about, you know, 0:02:41.680 --> 0:02:43.880 how to make gunpowder and as we'll go all in, 0:02:44.480 --> 0:02:46.040 so we're going to talk all about it. 0:02:46.120 --> 0:02:48.840 Definitely one of those that were like, Okay, what interesting 0:02:48.880 --> 0:02:49.880 watch lists are we on this? 0:02:50.040 --> 0:02:50.200 Yeah? 0:02:50.200 --> 0:02:52.040 Week, at least three or four more. 0:02:52.520 --> 0:02:55.760 So we should probably define what a firework is for 0:02:56.160 --> 0:02:59.320 just just the purposes of framing the discussion, right, Ah. 0:02:59.080 --> 0:03:01.679 Sure, Well you know, at its base, I suppose it's 0:03:01.720 --> 0:03:03.840 something that explodes for fun. 0:03:04.160 --> 0:03:07.120 Yes, that's pretty much it. Firework is something that is 0:03:07.520 --> 0:03:11.560 explosive or combustible, and it's meant for display purposes, to 0:03:11.960 --> 0:03:14.280 create an impressive light display. 0:03:14.040 --> 0:03:16.839 Or noise noise exactly. Yeah. 0:03:16.880 --> 0:03:19.640 You could get a firecracker, which is really meant to 0:03:19.680 --> 0:03:22.160 make a lot of noise, or you you might get 0:03:22.320 --> 0:03:24.320 a Roman candle, which doesn't make a lot of noise 0:03:24.360 --> 0:03:27.520 but is very impressive light show. And of course then 0:03:27.560 --> 0:03:31.440 there's all the stuff that also falls into the fireworks category. 0:03:31.160 --> 0:03:33.200 Including things like Sparkler's that kind of stuff. 0:03:33.440 --> 0:03:37.000 We're mostly gonna be focusing on your traditional fireworks, the 0:03:37.000 --> 0:03:38.680 stuff that you would go and look up into the 0:03:38.720 --> 0:03:39.480 sky and see that. 0:03:39.640 --> 0:03:43.480 Stark displays that are launched from something into the air. 0:03:43.520 --> 0:03:48.320 Exactly, so big botty boom. Your common basic ingredients and 0:03:48.400 --> 0:03:53.119 fireworks are well, it's black powder, also known as gunpowder. 0:03:53.880 --> 0:03:56.000 You know, pretty pretty simple. 0:03:56.680 --> 0:04:03.160 Relatively simple. It's traditionally made from sulfur, charcoal, and potassium nitrate, 0:04:03.320 --> 0:04:06.160 which back in yie old days was called saltpeter. 0:04:06.440 --> 0:04:08.680 Yeah, and back in ye old days, he mostly got 0:04:08.680 --> 0:04:11.640 it from India, at least if you were in the 0:04:11.680 --> 0:04:15.240 Western hemisphere, you got it from India. In fact, I 0:04:15.360 --> 0:04:20.200 read an interesting article published in eighteen sixty one by 0:04:20.200 --> 0:04:23.120 the New York Times about the various powder mills, which 0:04:23.120 --> 0:04:26.279 we'll talk about a little bit in the United States, 0:04:26.680 --> 0:04:29.559 and essentially it was running down how the South didn't 0:04:29.560 --> 0:04:31.560 have enough powder mills for this Civil War thing to 0:04:31.600 --> 0:04:34.360 be a big deal. As it turns out, four more 0:04:34.440 --> 0:04:37.040 years later, they probably felt like that was maybe a 0:04:37.080 --> 0:04:37.839 little premature. 0:04:37.960 --> 0:04:40.520 I think, yeah, that turned out to be less correct. 0:04:40.760 --> 0:04:44.680 I had hoped it was. Certainly, you know, I think 0:04:44.680 --> 0:04:46.920 it was an optimistic take on what ended up being 0:04:46.960 --> 0:04:50.080 a very trying time in US history. But we're going 0:04:50.120 --> 0:04:54.040 to focus on the fireworks. So speaking of history, looking 0:04:54.120 --> 0:04:57.279 at the history of fireworks, this is stuff of legend, 0:04:57.360 --> 0:04:58.120 as it turns out. 0:04:58.240 --> 0:05:00.800 Oh, certainly, because I mean, I guess that's what neither 0:05:00.839 --> 0:05:03.480 of us were around two to three thousand years ago 0:05:03.560 --> 0:05:06.159 to observe, and we don't have a real way back machine. Yeah, 0:05:06.400 --> 0:05:08.920 I'm really sorry, guys, we've been lying to you. It's 0:05:09.000 --> 0:05:11.080 just a special effect. 0:05:10.320 --> 0:05:13.640 It's a really special effect. It is. 0:05:13.680 --> 0:05:14.640 It is very special. 0:05:14.760 --> 0:05:19.720 Unfortunately, if someone has not actually documented it in a 0:05:19.720 --> 0:05:23.520 way that is verifiable, we cannot in fact go back 0:05:23.560 --> 0:05:25.360 and say exactly what happened. But we can tell you 0:05:25.440 --> 0:05:26.320 what the legends are. 0:05:26.560 --> 0:05:29.320 Yes, there's a legend that over two thousand years ago 0:05:29.360 --> 0:05:33.560 in China, a chef, a chef, yeah, was mixing together 0:05:33.720 --> 0:05:36.880 some charcoal, some sulfur, and some saltpeter. 0:05:37.080 --> 0:05:41.400 And those were all ingredients that were found in field kitchens. Okay, 0:05:41.920 --> 0:05:46.159 so yeah, apparently just accidentally happened to measure these in 0:05:46.200 --> 0:05:49.880 the or mix these in the right amounts. Because it's 0:05:49.880 --> 0:05:52.680 not like you have equal parts of each ingredient. It's 0:05:52.920 --> 0:05:55.800 actually more precise than that. We aren't going to talk 0:05:55.800 --> 0:05:59.440 about that because I don't want you guys making gunpowder. Yeah, 0:05:59.480 --> 0:06:01.240 so don't try that at home. 0:06:01.560 --> 0:06:04.320 But this chef happened upon this recipe. 0:06:04.480 --> 0:06:07.120 Yeah, uh, discovered that if you compress it, like if 0:06:07.160 --> 0:06:09.880 you put it into a container of some sort, and 0:06:09.920 --> 0:06:11.680 then if it were to I don't know, come into 0:06:11.680 --> 0:06:15.400 contact with any kind of flame, it blows up. I 0:06:15.480 --> 0:06:19.080 don't know if that chef survived this discovery, because I 0:06:19.080 --> 0:06:22.800 don't even know if the chefs existed, So it's all 0:06:22.880 --> 0:06:26.360 up in the air really literally possibly depending upon where 0:06:26.360 --> 0:06:28.840 the gunpowder was. Now, if you look up the history 0:06:28.880 --> 0:06:30.760 of fireworks online, like if you were to actually go 0:06:31.040 --> 0:06:35.039 and put into your favorite search engine history of fireworks, 0:06:35.360 --> 0:06:39.839 you're going to find a particular story told repeatedly throughout 0:06:40.160 --> 0:06:45.000 numerous links, most of which go to like fireworks manufacturers. 0:06:44.320 --> 0:06:48.200 And as like many other research topics on the internet. 0:06:48.240 --> 0:06:50.680 They all tell basically the same story and basically the 0:06:50.680 --> 0:06:51.440 same wording. 0:06:51.839 --> 0:06:53.560 Yeah, they without without. 0:06:53.320 --> 0:06:55.719 Any particular reference to anything real. 0:06:55.839 --> 0:06:59.680 Yeah, there's no citation, right, Yeah, So what the legend 0:06:59.760 --> 0:07:01.720 is is that there was a monk in China named 0:07:01.800 --> 0:07:06.400 Li Chian who lived around quote a thousand years ago. 0:07:06.520 --> 0:07:08.400 That is always the way it's put, by the. 0:07:08.400 --> 0:07:09.720 Way, around a thousand years ago. 0:07:09.840 --> 0:07:12.520 It's never given a date. It just says around a 0:07:12.600 --> 0:07:15.560 thousand years ago. And so depending upon when this was written, 0:07:15.760 --> 0:07:20.200 you know, and anyway, so much so many different sources 0:07:20.280 --> 0:07:22.400 use the exact wording. I expect they all took their 0:07:22.440 --> 0:07:24.960 information from either the same source or they're just borrowing 0:07:25.000 --> 0:07:27.240 it from each other. It's just this big circle of 0:07:27.240 --> 0:07:28.280 people borrowing. 0:07:27.960 --> 0:07:28.560 The same stuff. 0:07:28.800 --> 0:07:32.200 But the best scholarly source I could find simply said 0:07:32.280 --> 0:07:36.440 that the first firecracker was made sometime around eleventh century 0:07:36.920 --> 0:07:40.440 Common era in China, so eleventh century a d if 0:07:40.480 --> 0:07:42.920 you prefer, in China. And this was the time when 0:07:43.000 --> 0:07:46.640 Chinese alchemists were searching for something called the elixir of life. 0:07:47.040 --> 0:07:49.440 And along the way, while trying to find this elixir 0:07:49.480 --> 0:07:52.120 of life, they mixed a bunch of different kinds of 0:07:52.120 --> 0:07:55.040 stuff together and found lots of interesting things, not the 0:07:55.080 --> 0:07:55.920 elexir life. 0:07:55.960 --> 0:07:59.280 But as it turns out, they found out about gunpowder. 0:07:59.080 --> 0:08:00.960 Just kind of like a serve death. When you think 0:08:01.000 --> 0:08:01.640 about it. 0:08:01.440 --> 0:08:05.560 It can be certainly with the incorrect application. So the 0:08:05.600 --> 0:08:08.960 first firecracker was probably a parchment tube loosely filled with 0:08:09.000 --> 0:08:12.800 this mixture of saltpeter, sulfur, and willow charcoal. Willow charcoal, 0:08:12.800 --> 0:08:15.560 by the way, one of the more popular forms. As 0:08:15.560 --> 0:08:19.480 it turns out, you want to use softer woods to 0:08:19.520 --> 0:08:22.200 create the charcoal because the harder woods tend to create. 0:08:22.040 --> 0:08:23.400 Too much ash. 0:08:23.440 --> 0:08:26.440 I learned that while I was doing all this research. Now, 0:08:27.200 --> 0:08:31.440 once these things were invented, they started to spread throughout 0:08:31.480 --> 0:08:36.400 the world gradually, usually through trade. Sometime between twelve thirty 0:08:36.400 --> 0:08:39.520 five and twelve ninety A. D. Roger Bacon began to 0:08:39.840 --> 0:08:43.440 experiment with an early form of black powder. This was 0:08:43.720 --> 0:08:46.000 again stuff that had probably been brought to the Western 0:08:46.040 --> 0:08:50.679 world through trade rates. Yeah, mostly through Arabic traders. Yeah. 0:08:50.840 --> 0:08:52.960 Most likely the story. 0:08:52.640 --> 0:08:55.680 Goes that Marco Polo brought some over, but it's much 0:08:55.720 --> 0:08:58.160 more likely that it was Arabic traders well before Marco 0:08:58.240 --> 0:08:59.200 Polo's journeys. 0:08:59.480 --> 0:09:03.040 But at anyway, Bacon's work would lead to the development of 0:09:03.040 --> 0:09:04.720 what we know as gunpowder today. 0:09:04.840 --> 0:09:09.160 Yes, he would sort of refine this mixture, finding the 0:09:09.240 --> 0:09:13.040 right proportions of mixing these ingredients together. To get something 0:09:13.520 --> 0:09:17.240 that would work very well if you wanted to, you know, 0:09:17.720 --> 0:09:20.920 launch something at somebody, like say a cannon ball. 0:09:21.520 --> 0:09:23.680 Sure, because if you mix all of these things together 0:09:23.840 --> 0:09:26.280 you get a good bright flash, and if you compress 0:09:26.360 --> 0:09:28.120 them beforehand, you get a big boom as well. 0:09:28.200 --> 0:09:28.760 Yep, yep. 0:09:28.800 --> 0:09:33.120 Otherwise, like if you've ever seen those videos or films 0:09:33.400 --> 0:09:36.200 of people taking the old timey photographs with the flash powder, 0:09:36.559 --> 0:09:38.200 where it just it just lights up, and that was 0:09:38.200 --> 0:09:40.280 how they created a flash since they didn't have the 0:09:40.320 --> 0:09:43.959 capacitors to make a flashing light bulb. That's what gunpowder does. 0:09:43.960 --> 0:09:46.400 If it's just out in the open. You've probably seen this. 0:09:46.480 --> 0:09:48.680 It's you know, it's also really popular in like cartoons 0:09:48.679 --> 0:09:50.599 and stuff. You see the long trail of gunpowder and 0:09:51.760 --> 0:09:55.120 exactly so that really is how it just burns really 0:09:55.160 --> 0:09:58.640 really quickly. Now, the gunpowder industry and fireworks industry are 0:09:58.760 --> 0:10:02.560 very closely linked together. Improvements in developing gunpowder and the 0:10:02.600 --> 0:10:06.600 methodology for producing it were ported over to work in 0:10:06.679 --> 0:10:10.120 fireworks as well, and early fireworks displays were developed in 0:10:10.200 --> 0:10:14.240 China and India for religious festivals. There aren't really written 0:10:14.240 --> 0:10:17.200 accounts of how these fireworks spread throughout the world. But 0:10:17.320 --> 0:10:21.320 again we think that Arabic traders probably brought this stuff 0:10:21.320 --> 0:10:25.640 over into Europe and the Europeans said, Wow, that's amazing. 0:10:25.320 --> 0:10:27.240 That's awesome, let's blow stuff up here too. 0:10:27.360 --> 0:10:27.520 Yeah. 0:10:27.559 --> 0:10:30.800 And in fact, for a long time they were importing 0:10:31.040 --> 0:10:34.880 this stuff from the East, and in fact would even 0:10:35.440 --> 0:10:38.480 hire experts from the East to come and do the 0:10:38.600 --> 0:10:41.800 displays in Europe. It would only be in the late 0:10:41.840 --> 0:10:45.840 Middle Ages early Renaissance when you'd start seeing Europeans try 0:10:45.920 --> 0:10:50.760 and take on this responsibility themselves. Now, by the Italian Renaissance, 0:10:50.800 --> 0:10:53.920 fireworks creators began to experiment with adding extra ingredients to 0:10:54.000 --> 0:10:58.160 mixtures to produce different colors of light, so for example, 0:10:58.240 --> 0:11:00.880 adding copper to create blue light. We'll talk more about 0:11:00.880 --> 0:11:02.800 adding color to fireworks a bit later. 0:11:03.240 --> 0:11:05.600 So the thing is, if you want to learn. 0:11:05.400 --> 0:11:08.079 More about what the displays back in the Middle Ages 0:11:08.080 --> 0:11:10.280 were like, there are only a few accounts. A lot 0:11:10.320 --> 0:11:12.520 of the though come from England, because it turns out 0:11:12.559 --> 0:11:16.520 the English were bananas over this stuff. The Italians and 0:11:16.600 --> 0:11:20.360 Germans were working really hard on improving fireworks technology, and 0:11:20.400 --> 0:11:24.280 the English were enjoying the heck out of it. Lauren 0:11:24.320 --> 0:11:27.120 and I will be back to talk about some fireworks 0:11:27.320 --> 0:11:39.520 in just a moment. So one of the accounts says 0:11:39.559 --> 0:11:42.000 that during the wedding of Henry the Seventh also known 0:11:42.040 --> 0:11:45.680 as Henry Tudor and Elizabeth of York in fourteen eighty six, 0:11:45.800 --> 0:11:49.880 there were fireworks displays. Others talk more about Elizabeth's coronation, 0:11:50.040 --> 0:11:53.280 so there's a little bit of a argument there. Same 0:11:53.400 --> 0:11:57.200 is true for Henry the eighth wedding and Bolin, which 0:11:57.240 --> 0:12:00.640 was a wife number two. I think I think she 0:12:00.640 --> 0:12:04.160 had a good head on her shoulders, not for long. 0:12:04.240 --> 0:12:05.040 Spoiler alert. 0:12:06.000 --> 0:12:10.040 James Anthony Froud wrote that there were quote wild men 0:12:10.200 --> 0:12:14.600 casting fire and making a hideous noise end quote, which 0:12:14.600 --> 0:12:17.719 I think is a fantastic description of fireworks. Yeah. When 0:12:17.760 --> 0:12:20.199 I was a kid, I hated them because I didn't 0:12:20.200 --> 0:12:23.959 like loud noise, and even just seeing the fireworks burst 0:12:24.040 --> 0:12:26.720 in the sky made my anxiety levels go up because 0:12:26.720 --> 0:12:28.880 I knew a loud noise was coming right right. 0:12:29.120 --> 0:12:31.520 I remember having one year where I was really upset 0:12:31.559 --> 0:12:34.120 by them, like I loved them and then suddenly was 0:12:34.160 --> 0:12:35.960 like that's loud and I'm against it. 0:12:36.120 --> 0:12:36.320 Yeah. 0:12:36.360 --> 0:12:39.640 I've come back around now, but for a long time 0:12:39.760 --> 0:12:41.480 I was. I was certainly the person who's like, I 0:12:41.520 --> 0:12:44.000 don't want to be here when the fireworks. 0:12:43.480 --> 0:12:45.400 Start agrees with you. 0:12:45.440 --> 0:12:49.559 For the record, Yeah, yeah, most dogs I've encountered shared 0:12:49.640 --> 0:12:53.400 my feeling. I think I finally evolved beyond dog stage. 0:12:54.160 --> 0:12:57.400 So Henry the Eighth and Ann Berlin had a daughter. 0:12:57.160 --> 0:13:01.720 Elizabeth, Yeah, somewhat famous. Yes, became Queen of England and 0:13:02.920 --> 0:13:06.360 sat on her thorn for many years. Thrown thrown, Sorry, 0:13:06.600 --> 0:13:10.720 I was just misreading my notes. But no, Elizabeth obviously 0:13:10.760 --> 0:13:17.360 one of the most influential monarchies of all time. Really, yes, yes, 0:13:17.640 --> 0:13:20.240 and she loved the sparkles. She did. 0:13:20.280 --> 0:13:21.920 She created a position for it. 0:13:22.080 --> 0:13:26.400 Yeah, fire Master of England. It would be. 0:13:26.800 --> 0:13:30.560 I think it was after in the ruling of James 0:13:30.600 --> 0:13:33.800 the First when that position came along with a knighthood. 0:13:34.040 --> 0:13:37.920 At any rate, you had people who suddenly really wanted 0:13:37.960 --> 0:13:40.040 to pursue the craft and become the best at it 0:13:40.080 --> 0:13:42.360 in order to land this cushy job of being the 0:13:42.440 --> 0:13:45.080 fire Master of England, because you would imagine that comes 0:13:45.120 --> 0:13:48.080 with some sweet you know, bonuses like money. 0:13:48.360 --> 0:13:50.960 Yeah, and so a lot of people were trying new 0:13:51.000 --> 0:13:55.359 and different things to kind of impress the Queen that juncture. 0:13:55.080 --> 0:13:57.240 Yeah, according to some accounts, one of the things you 0:13:57.360 --> 0:14:01.600 might expect to see at a truly outrage display would 0:14:01.640 --> 0:14:06.400 be a dragon with paper machede scales that was loaded 0:14:06.480 --> 0:14:09.520 up with fireworks so that it would breathe fire. 0:14:09.600 --> 0:14:10.480 It would appear to be. 0:14:10.520 --> 0:14:12.920 Breathing fire, and sometimes they would have more than one, 0:14:13.160 --> 0:14:15.800 and then you would have dragon fights, yes, and then 0:14:15.920 --> 0:14:17.760 maybe one of the women's up catching on fire and 0:14:17.760 --> 0:14:20.640 the other one is slightly less on fire, and so 0:14:20.720 --> 0:14:24.000 that's the one that wins. But they would battle one another. 0:14:24.080 --> 0:14:25.600 And so you read about this kind of stuff and 0:14:25.600 --> 0:14:28.280 you're like, wow, these had to be pretty spectacular. And 0:14:28.320 --> 0:14:31.720 then you also think, remember, they had no automated way 0:14:32.040 --> 0:14:34.480 of doing this. There was probably some poor jerk who 0:14:34.520 --> 0:14:37.920 had a match stick or some form of torch or 0:14:37.960 --> 0:14:40.440 something that was lighting this stuff manually and then trying 0:14:40.440 --> 0:14:43.160 to get the heck away from it before he burnt up. 0:14:43.240 --> 0:14:45.480 Yeah, or possibly a couple guys on the ground like 0:14:45.520 --> 0:14:48.240 with sticks holding these things up. I'm a little bit 0:14:48.320 --> 0:14:51.520 terrified about the entire concept, but yeah, no, they were 0:14:51.600 --> 0:14:55.360 very impressive. Shakespeare wrote about them in some of his plays, right. 0:14:55.360 --> 0:14:57.720 Yep, Romeo and Juliet. There is a quote that says, 0:14:57.800 --> 0:15:01.120 these violent delights have violent ends, and in their triumph 0:15:01.240 --> 0:15:05.440 die like fire and powder, which as they kiss consume. Now, 0:15:05.480 --> 0:15:07.520 in that case, of course, he's referring to the lovers 0:15:07.600 --> 0:15:10.520 Romeo and Juliet and the passion they have for one another, 0:15:10.560 --> 0:15:14.520 and he's likening it to a fireworks display, which you know, 0:15:14.680 --> 0:15:18.280 has been a pretty powerful image that has been repeated 0:15:18.880 --> 0:15:22.360 ad nauseum ever since. The whole thing where the two 0:15:22.360 --> 0:15:24.480 lovers kiss and then you see the fireworks going off 0:15:24.480 --> 0:15:28.320 in the background very much. It's interesting that it seems 0:15:28.320 --> 0:15:33.360 to have originated with Shakespeare, as many so many things have. Also, 0:15:33.480 --> 0:15:38.240 fireworks were deemed to be an illegal possession for regular 0:15:38.280 --> 0:15:40.680 citizens right around sixteen oh five. 0:15:42.560 --> 0:15:47.640 Yeah, that's about when a certain persona yeah, now publicly 0:15:47.680 --> 0:15:51.200 known because of a certain movie and comic book series. Yes, 0:15:51.560 --> 0:15:55.000 guy Fox got into some trouble with the gunpowder plot. 0:15:55.120 --> 0:15:58.160 Yes, he was part of a conspiracy to blow up 0:15:58.200 --> 0:16:01.400 the Houses of Parliament by store something like thirty something 0:16:01.720 --> 0:16:05.040 casks of gunpowder underneath. They were going to tunnel underneath 0:16:05.080 --> 0:16:05.680 the Houses. 0:16:05.360 --> 0:16:07.560 Of Parliament, will barro all that stuff in there. 0:16:07.360 --> 0:16:09.040 And then light it and blow it up. 0:16:09.200 --> 0:16:14.120 And the conspirators were caught before they could execute their plan, 0:16:14.320 --> 0:16:18.600 and Guy Fox himself, who was not necessarily the ringleader, 0:16:18.640 --> 0:16:22.040 he was one of the members, was really made an 0:16:22.080 --> 0:16:24.600 example of in some of the most horrifying ways you 0:16:24.600 --> 0:16:27.160 can imagine. Now, granted he was playing on committing a 0:16:27.240 --> 0:16:30.000 terrible act, yes, but they did a really terrible act 0:16:30.040 --> 0:16:32.680 him and drawn quartered And of course they had Guy 0:16:32.720 --> 0:16:35.720 Fox Day for you know, the early Guy Fox days 0:16:35.800 --> 0:16:40.600 involved lots of burning of Guy Fox and effigy. And 0:16:40.640 --> 0:16:43.240 then there's a whole story there that's amazing, but stuff 0:16:43.240 --> 0:16:45.040 you missed in history class would really be the best 0:16:45.040 --> 0:16:47.239 place to cover that. And yeah, sure they have Actually. 0:16:47.000 --> 0:16:49.320 I think I feel like it's likely. Yeah, these these 0:16:49.400 --> 0:16:52.040 days we have the charming anonymous masks. 0:16:51.720 --> 0:16:54.880 Yes, based off off Guy Fox exactly. 0:16:54.960 --> 0:16:58.080 So at that point it was made illegal for the 0:16:58.120 --> 0:17:01.160 common citizen to possess fire wars. It's the only people 0:17:01.160 --> 0:17:05.960 who are allowed were specifically given that responsibility by the crown. 0:17:06.480 --> 0:17:10.480 So that's kind of the early early history. But let's 0:17:10.560 --> 0:17:15.280 talk about what's actually going on inside of firework is 0:17:15.320 --> 0:17:16.679 what is making it work? 0:17:17.359 --> 0:17:20.560 Well, this is mostly chemistry, but let's let's talk about 0:17:20.640 --> 0:17:24.439 black powder, since that is the basic what is going on. 0:17:24.640 --> 0:17:28.520 Yeah, so we talked about sulfur, charcoal, and saltpeter or 0:17:28.560 --> 0:17:32.840 potassium nitrate. You might wonder what are these things actually 0:17:32.880 --> 0:17:37.840 doing within gunpowder. So sulfur and charcoal are acting as fuel, right, 0:17:38.160 --> 0:17:41.800 and the potassium nitrate is acting as an oxidizer. So 0:17:41.960 --> 0:17:44.640 oxidizers in this sense are the chemicals that fuel requires 0:17:44.680 --> 0:17:47.040 no order to burn. If you remember the great triangle 0:17:47.080 --> 0:17:49.240 of what is required to make fire, you have to 0:17:49.240 --> 0:17:51.240 have fuel, you have to have oxygen, and you have 0:17:51.280 --> 0:17:53.640 to have heat. Those are the three things that together 0:17:54.040 --> 0:17:55.840 will allow you to have fire. And if you're lacking 0:17:55.920 --> 0:17:57.919 any of those, you're not going to get it. If 0:17:57.920 --> 0:18:00.560 you have just oxygen and fuel but not heat, it's 0:18:00.600 --> 0:18:03.040 not gonna happen. Same thing with just oxygen and fire. 0:18:03.080 --> 0:18:04.200 You've got to have some fuel there. 0:18:04.640 --> 0:18:07.919 So oxidizers are chemicals that are really good at getting 0:18:07.920 --> 0:18:08.720 oxygen into the mix. 0:18:09.040 --> 0:18:13.240 Yes, and in fact, potassium nitrate is inredibly good at this. 0:18:13.400 --> 0:18:17.600 So let's look at these ingredients each on their own. 0:18:18.160 --> 0:18:21.240 If you look at just charcoal, which is essentially carbon 0:18:22.000 --> 0:18:24.840 and you want to try and burn it. If you 0:18:24.840 --> 0:18:27.080 were to light a match and just hold it to charcoal, 0:18:27.119 --> 0:18:28.800 it doesn't really ignite very well. 0:18:29.200 --> 0:18:32.040 Yeah, it kind of smolders, yeah, and smokes. 0:18:32.160 --> 0:18:32.440 Yeah. 0:18:32.480 --> 0:18:34.440 And if you get it hot enough, like it will 0:18:34.480 --> 0:18:36.400 start to burn, certainly, it'll. 0:18:36.240 --> 0:18:38.760 Start to glow glow, doesn't. You don't get a lot 0:18:38.760 --> 0:18:39.520 of flame out of it. 0:18:39.600 --> 0:18:43.200 You've probably done this at home, perhaps on a charcoal grill, 0:18:43.480 --> 0:18:47.080 or when you have burned a log down to the coals. 0:18:47.240 --> 0:18:49.960 Yeah, you've got those those coals, or that's charcoal that's 0:18:50.000 --> 0:18:53.480 just glowing because of the heat that's coming through. We'll 0:18:53.520 --> 0:18:56.040 talk about the actual mechanism of glowing a little bit 0:18:56.119 --> 0:18:59.880 later too. So again, you don't get a lot of ignition, 0:19:00.080 --> 0:19:03.360 not in a lot of flame. It's certainly not explosive ignition. 0:19:03.040 --> 0:19:05.280 Yet, unless you've done something very strange. 0:19:05.080 --> 0:19:09.000 Right, unless your charcoal has got some other funky ingredients 0:19:09.040 --> 0:19:09.439 in it. 0:19:09.440 --> 0:19:12.480 Or I guess you've compressed it a lot. 0:19:13.080 --> 0:19:14.000 Maybe I'm not sure. 0:19:14.080 --> 0:19:18.239 Yeah, that would be incredible eventually you would get a diamond. So, 0:19:18.880 --> 0:19:22.520 but sulfur it burns at a lower temperature than charcoal 0:19:22.560 --> 0:19:25.760 does that carbon does. It ignites more easily, but not 0:19:25.840 --> 0:19:28.960 really at room temperature. So if you had a little crucible, 0:19:29.040 --> 0:19:32.320 let's say, a little ceramic crucible filled with some sulfur 0:19:32.680 --> 0:19:34.800 and you put a match to it, it wouldn't really 0:19:34.880 --> 0:19:37.480 light up. But again, if you were to heat it, 0:19:37.480 --> 0:19:39.959 it'll start to melt and then it will burn if 0:19:40.000 --> 0:19:43.520 exposed to even higher temperatures, and that gives off sulfur dioxide, which, 0:19:43.520 --> 0:19:45.960 by the way, not good to breathe in. No, it 0:19:46.000 --> 0:19:46.960 can irritate your lungs. 0:19:47.040 --> 0:19:49.800 One of the many reasons why you shouldn't melt sulfur 0:19:49.840 --> 0:19:50.200 at home. 0:19:50.320 --> 0:19:50.600 Yeah. 0:19:50.760 --> 0:19:56.560 Yeah, these things like charcoal that's fairly, fairly benign as 0:19:56.600 --> 0:19:59.200 things go, sulfur a little bit less. 0:19:58.960 --> 0:20:03.360 So, potassium nitrate less so than either of the other two. 0:20:03.440 --> 0:20:06.680 Yeah, this is what increases that rate of combustion significantly 0:20:07.040 --> 0:20:09.520 when it's added to a mixture of carbon and sulfur, 0:20:09.600 --> 0:20:12.560 again in the correct amounts, so when it's mixed properly, 0:20:12.640 --> 0:20:15.880 that combination will ignite and burn really really quickly. 0:20:16.320 --> 0:20:19.680 And it is the of course, the traditional oxidizer in 0:20:19.960 --> 0:20:23.240 this combination of stuff that goes into black powder, but 0:20:23.280 --> 0:20:26.360 lots of other things can be used, for example, potassium chlorate, 0:20:26.440 --> 0:20:31.679 potassium perchlorate, or barium nitrate, and as of twenty eleven, 0:20:31.800 --> 0:20:35.560 organizations from like Walt Disney Company to the US Department 0:20:35.560 --> 0:20:40.120