WEBVTT - Fireworks, Part Two 0:00:04.240 --> 0:00:12.440 Get in touch with technology with text stuff from dot com. 0:00:12.440 --> 0:00:15.920 Hay there and welcome to text stuff. I'm Jonathan Strickland 0:00:16.000 --> 0:00:19.599 and and Lauren. I believe when last we met, we 0:00:19.760 --> 0:00:23.599 began to talk about fireworks. Yes, cyber Night, one of 0:00:23.640 --> 0:00:25.800 our listeners wrote in and asked if we could talk 0:00:25.800 --> 0:00:29.120 about how they work, how those big displays work, how 0:00:29.120 --> 0:00:32.080 do they choreograph everything, and what's going on? And boy, 0:00:32.120 --> 0:00:33.839 how do you we can talk about that? Yeah? So 0:00:33.840 --> 0:00:36.360 we we covered the basics, right, the basic stuff what 0:00:36.479 --> 0:00:39.360 goes boom in episode one, so we kind of covered 0:00:39.520 --> 0:00:42.840 the black powder side of fireworks, which is the basic 0:00:42.920 --> 0:00:47.320 chemical components that makes fireworks work. Yeah, exactly. It's it's 0:00:47.320 --> 0:00:50.000 really what is allowing them to both launch into the 0:00:50.080 --> 0:00:54.120 air in most cases and to explode outward and either 0:00:54.760 --> 0:00:58.160 well both make a loud noise and to also project 0:00:58.280 --> 0:01:03.520 whatever affect happens to be incorporated some kind of light display. Yeah. So, 0:01:03.760 --> 0:01:07.920 and these get really complicated. As of about the Italian Renaissance, 0:01:08.400 --> 0:01:13.000 people started adding different metals into the gunpowder to make 0:01:13.040 --> 0:01:15.800 it burn in different colors, right, and I suspect that 0:01:15.840 --> 0:01:18.720 this was tied into the fact that also around the 0:01:18.760 --> 0:01:22.679 Italian Renaissance people were starting to make brilliantly colored paints 0:01:22.680 --> 0:01:25.120 of many different kinds, and the same the same metal 0:01:25.200 --> 0:01:27.759 compounds that were being used for those paints, I'm guessing 0:01:28.400 --> 0:01:31.440 is what got ported over into firework. Absolutely. Yeah. They 0:01:31.480 --> 0:01:33.320 also found you know, if you were able to get 0:01:33.319 --> 0:01:36.240 a metallic salt and say burn it, it would burn 0:01:36.319 --> 0:01:39.160 with a particular color of flame. So you would get 0:01:39.200 --> 0:01:42.360 a flame that would be green or blue or whatever 0:01:42.520 --> 0:01:45.160 based upon the metallic salts that were in that mixture. 0:01:45.800 --> 0:01:50.040 And that's when they said, hey, this this firecrackers stuff. 0:01:50.400 --> 0:01:52.400 If we were to put this in combination with the 0:01:52.440 --> 0:01:55.360 firecracker stuff, we'd get these different colors of light that 0:01:55.400 --> 0:01:59.680 would go off because of the explosion could ignite a 0:01:59.800 --> 0:02:03.360 secondary charge that would have a mixture of these metallic 0:02:03.440 --> 0:02:06.120 salts in them. So we just mix it together the 0:02:06.200 --> 0:02:08.440 right way, we get the right color. Now, the important 0:02:08.440 --> 0:02:11.040 thing to remember is that these ingredients, they don't change 0:02:11.080 --> 0:02:14.600 the chemical reaction of the explosion itself. It's more like 0:02:14.760 --> 0:02:18.360 adding a little flavor. So you're basic ingredient is still 0:02:18.400 --> 0:02:21.280 the same. It's that black powder, but it's what you 0:02:21.360 --> 0:02:24.840 mix with it that gives you the bright, pretty colors. Right, 0:02:24.840 --> 0:02:28.800 And to explain what creates those bright, pretty colors, we 0:02:28.840 --> 0:02:31.360 need to get down to an atomic level of how 0:02:31.440 --> 0:02:36.200 photons are created, yeah, or not well, given off, given 0:02:36.200 --> 0:02:39.040 off yeah. Yeah. So if you have an atom, one 0:02:39.080 --> 0:02:41.960 of the things that one of the sub atomic particles 0:02:41.960 --> 0:02:44.280 that make up that atom is the electron. Right. You 0:02:44.320 --> 0:02:47.960 have electrons that surround the neutral the nucleus with neutrons 0:02:48.000 --> 0:02:51.320 and protons or in the case of hydrogen, just proton, 0:02:51.800 --> 0:02:54.360 And if you were to add energy to that atom, 0:02:54.520 --> 0:02:56.800 you would excite the electron. And I don't mean it'd 0:02:56.800 --> 0:02:59.640 be like, oh, I cannot wait until a veterest two 0:02:59.680 --> 0:03:01.560 age of a tron comes out. Actually that's kind of 0:03:01.639 --> 0:03:03.760 I imagine that the dance that the electron does is 0:03:03.840 --> 0:03:06.480 very much like that dance, but I do the little 0:03:06.600 --> 0:03:10.400 little little arms are at shoulder height and and clinched 0:03:10.400 --> 0:03:12.440 in fists if you want to envision it, and then 0:03:12.440 --> 0:03:15.960 you just kind of wiggle a little bit. So these electrons, yeah, 0:03:16.000 --> 0:03:19.040 they get excited from their normal energy state, which is 0:03:19.080 --> 0:03:21.600 called the ground state. That's the one that they naturally 0:03:21.720 --> 0:03:25.400 inhabit when they're just hanging out exactly. So, so that 0:03:25.440 --> 0:03:31.120 excited state will kind of push the electron further out. Yeah. 0:03:31.440 --> 0:03:34.600 So the thing is this is not sustainable forever. If 0:03:34.639 --> 0:03:38.120 you take the energy source away, then the electron will 0:03:38.120 --> 0:03:40.840 gradually come back down to its ground state, but it 0:03:40.880 --> 0:03:44.040 has to give off all that energy it accepted in 0:03:44.080 --> 0:03:46.360 the process, all right, So when it snaps back, it 0:03:46.480 --> 0:03:49.040 gives off energy in the form of a photon, right, 0:03:49.360 --> 0:03:52.840 And depending upon the element, you will get a different 0:03:52.920 --> 0:03:57.240 color of light, a different a different wavelength of photon exactly. Yeah, 0:03:57.320 --> 0:04:00.000 the photons light is dependent upon its wavelength. The amount 0:04:00.080 --> 0:04:03.600 of energy that it has uh equals the color that 0:04:03.960 --> 0:04:06.480 you see. Yeah. So, and and the thing is, once 0:04:06.520 --> 0:04:10.640 you know which elements are generating a certain color, it's 0:04:10.640 --> 0:04:13.600 going to be that way all the time. It's pretty dependable. Yeah. 0:04:13.760 --> 0:04:17.640 So we have a list of colors and a list 0:04:17.800 --> 0:04:21.400 of the elements the metallic salts that are commonly used 0:04:21.440 --> 0:04:25.160 to create said colors in your typical fireworks display. So 0:04:25.480 --> 0:04:28.360 we're going to alternate describing these. Do you want me 0:04:28.400 --> 0:04:32.279 to go first? It's the longest list, so all right, 0:04:32.400 --> 0:04:34.360 here we go. All right, So for the color, we're 0:04:34.360 --> 0:04:37.279 going by the way in the order of roy G BIV. 0:04:37.680 --> 0:04:42.640 Technically we're doing roy G bit because because indigo actually 0:04:42.640 --> 0:04:45.760 gets turned into indigo and violently get turned into purple. Also, 0:04:45.800 --> 0:04:48.560 I guess it's technically roy g BIPs because we have 0:04:48.600 --> 0:04:50.680 an s at the end. All right, fair enough, here 0:04:50.720 --> 0:04:53.640 we go, starting off red. To create the color red, 0:04:53.880 --> 0:04:58.200 you would typically add metallic salts such as strontium salts, 0:04:58.400 --> 0:05:03.200 lithium salts, lithium carbonate, or strontium carbonate, which creates a 0:05:03.279 --> 0:05:07.560 very bright red so the Again, depending upon which ones 0:05:07.600 --> 0:05:10.880 you use, you get different hues of whatever color you're 0:05:10.880 --> 0:05:15.400 looking at. Sure, orange you've got calcium salts or calcium chloride. 0:05:15.800 --> 0:05:19.960 Yellow you have sodium salts or sodium chloride. Green can 0:05:20.000 --> 0:05:25.400 be barium compounds plus a chlorine producer or barium chloride. Yep. 0:05:25.800 --> 0:05:28.760 Blue would be copper compounds plus a chlorine producer you're 0:05:28.800 --> 0:05:33.240 probably noticing some trends here, or copper chloride. Purple can 0:05:33.320 --> 0:05:36.240 be a mixture of blue and red compounds, so so 0:05:36.320 --> 0:05:39.640 like strontium and copper. And then you have silver, which 0:05:39.800 --> 0:05:43.359 is essentially something like aluminium, titanium, or magnesium that's just 0:05:43.480 --> 0:05:47.400 burning and those things burn really super bright. That's what 0:05:47.520 --> 0:05:53.719 gives fireworks there their silvery sparkly look. Yeah. So those 0:05:53.760 --> 0:05:57.640 are your basic ingredients. So how do we end up 0:05:57.720 --> 0:06:00.200 with the starburst patterns? I mean, obviously, if you just 0:06:00.320 --> 0:06:04.359 had an explosive with just these metallic salts mixed willy 0:06:04.480 --> 0:06:07.039 nilly in there and it exploded, it would just be 0:06:07.360 --> 0:06:10.720 a big, massive light in different colors. But we see 0:06:10.720 --> 0:06:13.880 these beautiful starburst patterns that come out. So what is 0:06:13.880 --> 0:06:18.000 it that causes that? Well, it's all in the actual 0:06:18.640 --> 0:06:23.719 manufacture and design, the layout design of right, Yeah, it's 0:06:23.760 --> 0:06:27.640 it's how you have uh situated the various metallic salts 0:06:27.680 --> 0:06:29.479 and you put them well. Well, okay, so so we 0:06:29.520 --> 0:06:32.080 mentioned we mentioned at the end of the last episode 0:06:32.120 --> 0:06:35.160 that the basic let's run down again, the basic way 0:06:35.200 --> 0:06:37.640 that a firework is composed. Sure, okay, So if you 0:06:37.680 --> 0:06:41.080 were looking at a firework from top to bottom, if 0:06:41.080 --> 0:06:43.800 you cut one right in half, yeah, so the yeah, 0:06:43.960 --> 0:06:45.240 if you cut it right in half, you would see 0:06:45.240 --> 0:06:47.400 that in the center is a burst charge. That's that's 0:06:47.400 --> 0:06:51.440 your your black powder that's designed to push everything outward 0:06:51.880 --> 0:06:55.000 in uh in whatever formation you happen to have. And 0:06:55.040 --> 0:06:57.120 then surrounding that you're going to have some kind of 0:06:57.160 --> 0:07:00.600 a clay or or other material that's holding what's called 0:07:00.640 --> 0:07:03.480 in the industry. Stars. Yeah, this is the metallic salts 0:07:03.520 --> 0:07:05.920 that are placed in and these these stars are small, 0:07:05.960 --> 0:07:08.480 they're like three or four centimeters across, so they look 0:07:08.560 --> 0:07:11.520 like pellets, and the pellets can be put around. There's 0:07:11.520 --> 0:07:13.720 also black powder around those, so it can really project 0:07:13.720 --> 0:07:16.800 them out and also ignite them so that they burn properly. 0:07:17.320 --> 0:07:22.240 Now you've got these layouts that will determine exactly what 0:07:22.320 --> 0:07:24.640 kind of effect you'll have. It's also the shape of 0:07:24.680 --> 0:07:28.760 the projectile shell itself, but really it's the layout of 0:07:28.800 --> 0:07:30.720 those those stars. If you put the stars in a 0:07:30.760 --> 0:07:34.720 really tight circle around this this uh, this burst charge, 0:07:35.000 --> 0:07:37.120 then when the firework goes off, you're going to get 0:07:37.120 --> 0:07:41.000 a perfect circle that expands outward as these metallic salts 0:07:41.080 --> 0:07:45.040 ignite and fly outward. And the cool thing is that 0:07:45.160 --> 0:07:48.400 a lot of these stars they have it where there 0:07:48.400 --> 0:07:51.560 it's a three and sixty degree thing. But because of 0:07:51.600 --> 0:07:55.320 the way we perceive fireworks, it looks to us more 0:07:55.360 --> 0:07:57.720 like a two dimensional circle that expands out, but it's 0:07:57.760 --> 0:08:01.840 actually going out in all directions. A true explosion. Uh, 0:08:02.240 --> 0:08:03.880 if you were somehow able to be in the middle 0:08:03.920 --> 0:08:06.600 of one, for example, if you were I don't know 0:08:06.720 --> 0:08:09.400 to fly a drone with a video camera on it 0:08:09.480 --> 0:08:12.440 into a fireworks display, which happened this year, then you 0:08:12.440 --> 0:08:14.400 would be able to see that it explodes outward in 0:08:14.480 --> 0:08:18.160 all directions, not just in a two dimensional circle, which 0:08:18.200 --> 0:08:22.120 is pretty cool. Uh. At any rate, you end up 0:08:22.160 --> 0:08:25.560 mixing those metallic salts with an oxidizer reducing agent, which 0:08:25.560 --> 0:08:29.440 is also a fuel. Oxidizers and reducers work together to 0:08:29.480 --> 0:08:32.120 create the Bernie Bernie, and then also a binder which 0:08:32.120 --> 0:08:35.600 holds all the stuff together. Now, the oxidizers and the 0:08:35.600 --> 0:08:38.960 stars aren't usually potassium nitrate like you would find a 0:08:38.960 --> 0:08:43.000 black powder, because those oxidizers don't allow for high temperatures 0:08:43.000 --> 0:08:46.040 that are needed to produce the chemical reactions necessary for 0:08:46.080 --> 0:08:49.360 the different colors. In other words, potassium nitrate doesn't burn 0:08:49.480 --> 0:08:53.400 hot enough to ignite those metallic salts, so we usually 0:08:53.480 --> 0:08:56.200 end up going with something like potassium chlorate, which we 0:08:56.240 --> 0:08:59.280 mentioned in the previous episode. Creates these more even more 0:08:59.320 --> 0:09:04.600 spectacler explosions or combustions. Uh. Just it burns even faster 0:09:04.760 --> 0:09:08.440 than regular black powder does, making it much more dangerous. 0:09:08.480 --> 0:09:11.040 But that's what you need in order to generate these colors. 0:09:11.040 --> 0:09:13.760 Although again also that we mentioned in the last episode, 0:09:14.080 --> 0:09:17.439 people are looking at alternatives because potassium chlorate is not 0:09:17.520 --> 0:09:20.280 the best thing in the world to get in the environment. 0:09:20.320 --> 0:09:23.000 Once it has combusted, you get chloride for one thing, 0:09:23.640 --> 0:09:26.160 not a good stuff, but you do get those more 0:09:26.160 --> 0:09:30.480 intense reactions which allows the the starbursts to ignite and 0:09:30.520 --> 0:09:34.199 fly outward. So you would typically have lots and lots 0:09:34.200 --> 0:09:37.480 of these stars packed into a single firework and you 0:09:37.559 --> 0:09:41.160 place the meticulously inside the rocket. And by meticulously, I 0:09:41.160 --> 0:09:45.320 mean this is done by hand. People hand make these 0:09:45.360 --> 0:09:48.960 fireworks so that the patterns are exact. They will place 0:09:49.040 --> 0:09:51.959 the stars strategically. Uh, this is how you are able 0:09:52.040 --> 0:09:54.960 to get something like a smiley face effect because it's 0:09:54.960 --> 0:09:57.640 it's it's all based on physics. You know that you 0:09:57.640 --> 0:10:00.079 know exactly how far something's gonna fly based upon on 0:10:00.120 --> 0:10:03.040 the amount of black powder in there, and it's orientation 0:10:03.160 --> 0:10:06.880 within the firework itself. So there's nothing special in the 0:10:06.920 --> 0:10:09.720 sense of there's no special tech that makes this heart 0:10:09.800 --> 0:10:13.320 shape or this smiley face. It's all in how those 0:10:13.360 --> 0:10:16.840 stars are right in there. It's very careful chemistry and 0:10:17.240 --> 0:10:20.640 mixing and physics. Yeah, physics does the rest for you. 0:10:20.720 --> 0:10:23.000 As if you've done your job correctly in the design 0:10:23.040 --> 0:10:25.680 of the physical firework. Physics takes care of the rest. 0:10:26.000 --> 0:10:28.120 It'll just make stuff go boom, and it'll fly the 0:10:28.120 --> 0:10:30.560 way it's supposed to fly based upon where you put it. 0:10:30.600 --> 0:10:32.960 And I'm sure machines could could even more precisely than 0:10:33.040 --> 0:10:36.200 humans create these mixtures and put them down in But 0:10:36.600 --> 0:10:38.520 the thing is that machines tend to get a little 0:10:38.559 --> 0:10:41.319 bit warm and sparky while they're doing their things, so 0:10:41.400 --> 0:10:44.120 overall it's a lot. I mean, my hand is way 0:10:44.160 --> 0:10:46.800 less sparky than most machines that I know. Yeah, so 0:10:47.120 --> 0:10:49.160 also get rid of that styck electricity before you go 0:10:49.200 --> 0:10:51.800 in there. But see, one thing you could do is 0:10:51.800 --> 0:10:54.320 you could use computer programs to help you figure out 0:10:54.360 --> 0:10:59.320 what's the ideal layout. Sure, I'm sure that those algorithms exist. Yes, yeah, 0:10:59.400 --> 0:11:01.880 they do. Where you can actually, you have all because 0:11:02.000 --> 0:11:05.000 the laws of physics are pretty consistent. You know, we 0:11:05.040 --> 0:11:07.839 don't generally have our laws turned upside down from one 0:11:07.880 --> 0:11:10.160 day to the next. As we'll talk about in the 0:11:10.200 --> 0:11:14.199 next section. There are some factors that can cause a 0:11:14.240 --> 0:11:19.160 little bit of havoc. Weather, humidity, all that kind of stuff. Pressure, 0:11:19.240 --> 0:11:23.480 I'm sure, so looking at a rocket completely in cross section. 0:11:23.520 --> 0:11:26.280 Let's say you're cutting it in half long ways, not 0:11:26.280 --> 0:11:29.160 not horizontally, so vertically. Uh, and you're looking at it 0:11:29.160 --> 0:11:31.920 from top to bottom. Here's what you would have. You 0:11:31.920 --> 0:11:36.199 would have a one main fuse that would lead down 0:11:36.360 --> 0:11:40.959 from the top of the projectile into the firework. That 0:11:41.000 --> 0:11:44.880 would ignite two separate other fuses. All right, So you've 0:11:44.880 --> 0:11:47.600 got one fuse that's a time delay fuse, and it 0:11:47.600 --> 0:11:49.959 burns more slowly. Then you have a quick burning fuse, 0:11:50.040 --> 0:11:54.400 which obviously burns faster. The quick burning fuse goes along 0:11:54.440 --> 0:11:58.120 the outside of the firework down into its base. That's 0:11:58.120 --> 0:12:00.520 where you have the lift charge. That's the back powder 0:12:00.559 --> 0:12:04.080 that's going to provide the force to project the the 0:12:04.200 --> 0:12:07.959 firework into the sky. Uh. The second the time delay 0:12:08.000 --> 0:12:10.800 fuse will continue to burn, and if you've designed the 0:12:10.800 --> 0:12:13.720 firework correctly, again based upon the laws of physics, you 0:12:13.760 --> 0:12:17.280 will have it ignite it just the right uh arc 0:12:17.720 --> 0:12:21.240 right right, usually when the firework has reached the peak exactly, 0:12:21.720 --> 0:12:24.840 and so that would light the burst charge that's the 0:12:24.840 --> 0:12:26.840 one that has all the stars centered around it. So 0:12:26.840 --> 0:12:29.560 you've got two charges, the lift charge and the burst charge, 0:12:29.559 --> 0:12:31.760 and the two have to be separated or else you 0:12:31.800 --> 0:12:34.800 just get a mortar that explodes in a bright color 0:12:34.840 --> 0:12:38.120 of light, which we've had happened before that accidents have happened, 0:12:38.600 --> 0:12:40.480 um and then right, and then each of those little 0:12:40.880 --> 0:12:44.480 stars inside the package have their own oxidizers that are 0:12:44.520 --> 0:12:47.240 going to set off at the star exactly. And you 0:12:47.320 --> 0:12:50.280 may even have a multi break firework which would have 0:12:50.720 --> 0:12:54.520 multiple chambers that have burst charges and stars in them, 0:12:54.760 --> 0:12:58.520 so that you get multiple explosions from one projectile. Uh. 0:12:58.559 --> 0:13:01.319 Those would have even separate ration charges. You can think 0:13:01.320 --> 0:13:03.200 of it kind of like a rocket that goes into 0:13:03.200 --> 0:13:05.600 outer space. You know, when the engines are done, you 0:13:05.679 --> 0:13:09.000 have the little separator charges that explode, separating the engines 0:13:09.040 --> 0:13:11.079 away so that the rest of the vehicle can continue 0:13:11.120 --> 0:13:13.640 going off into space. Same sort of thing with your 0:13:13.640 --> 0:13:15.920 basic firework, except of course you're not shooting it nearly 0:13:15.960 --> 0:13:18.240 as high, but you have little little Yeah, you have 0:13:18.240 --> 0:13:21.360 a little separation charges that will allow the multi breaks 0:13:21.400 --> 0:13:24.520 to happen. Meanwhile, that fuse just continues to slowly go 0:13:24.600 --> 0:13:29.440 through the entire uh firework, lighting each section uh in 0:13:29.480 --> 0:13:32.360 the right order. So it's pretty cool. So let's talk 0:13:32.360 --> 0:13:34.920 about some of these different kinds of shells and what 0:13:35.040 --> 0:13:37.920 exactly they do. Sure, yeah, so these are these are 0:13:38.080 --> 0:13:41.880 terms in the fireworks industry. So the kind of shell 0:13:41.960 --> 0:13:45.439 you have, the design of it, the the physical shape 0:13:45.480 --> 0:13:47.200 of the shell as well as the layout of the 0:13:47.200 --> 0:13:52.360 stars are what determine the how it behaves. So, for example, 0:13:52.440 --> 0:13:54.080 I guess we can alternate with these two. You have 0:13:54.280 --> 0:13:58.920 a palm shell, which contains large comets or charges in 0:13:58.920 --> 0:14:02.880 the shape of a solid cylinder. These travel outward, they 0:14:02.920 --> 0:14:05.440 explode and then curve downward like the limbs of a 0:14:05.480 --> 0:14:08.079 palm tree. So those are you know, now you'll be 0:14:08.120 --> 0:14:10.720 able to impress your friends when you watch a fireworks display. 0:14:10.840 --> 0:14:16.920 That's a palm charge. Really well done. You've also got 0:14:16.920 --> 0:14:21.560 the round shells. Those perhaps expectedly explode in a spherical shape, 0:14:21.680 --> 0:14:24.240 usually of colored stars. Yeah, this is what I always 0:14:24.320 --> 0:14:27.000 think of when I think fireworks. This is the particular 0:14:27.360 --> 0:14:30.360 style I think of, just the big round globe of 0:14:30.440 --> 0:14:34.040 glowing stars like red or green, flying outward. Actually think 0:14:34.080 --> 0:14:36.440 of the palm first. Yeah, I can, I can see it. 0:14:36.480 --> 0:14:38.640 All depends on I guess, your own personal experience. I've 0:14:38.680 --> 0:14:42.320 seen a lot of Disney fireworks and and these round shells, 0:14:42.520 --> 0:14:44.920 they're very fond of them. Yeah, because if you do 0:14:45.000 --> 0:14:47.400 three of them in the right orientation, they look like 0:14:47.440 --> 0:14:49.960 a mickey head, yes, exactly. So then you have the 0:14:50.080 --> 0:14:53.080 ring shell. This explodes to produce a symmetrical ring of stars. 0:14:53.080 --> 0:14:54.680 The way this works is that again, if you were 0:14:54.720 --> 0:14:57.920 to cut a ring shell in half, you would see 0:14:57.960 --> 0:15:01.840 just a perfect ring of the the pellets, the star 0:15:01.920 --> 0:15:05.080 pellets around the burst charge, and it would just shoot 0:15:05.120 --> 0:15:07.960 them all out, uh, in a circle, you know, in 0:15:07.960 --> 0:15:11.440 in equal directions. So that's all that one works. Uh. 0:15:11.520 --> 0:15:15.240 Then you've got a willow. These contain stars with a 0:15:15.320 --> 0:15:18.760 high charcoal composition to make them really long burning so 0:15:18.800 --> 0:15:21.400 that they'll fall out in the shape of willow branches 0:15:21.440 --> 0:15:24.080 and and stay lips, stay visible sometimes even until they 0:15:24.160 --> 0:15:25.800 hit the ground. Yeah, these are the ones that you know, 0:15:25.840 --> 0:15:28.240 you see those sparkles and they just the long trail 0:15:28.280 --> 0:15:31.760 of sparkles as they slowly descend. They're very, very impressive. 0:15:32.200 --> 0:15:35.280 We're making so many gestures over here, folks, it's really 0:15:35.400 --> 0:15:38.080 there's a lot of like, uh, spirit fingers going on 0:15:38.440 --> 0:15:41.080 inside the studio right now. Then you have the roundel, 0:15:41.280 --> 0:15:44.080 which bursts into a circle of maroon shells that then 0:15:44.160 --> 0:15:48.560 explode in sequence maroon shells is that the color actually 0:15:48.680 --> 0:15:52.400 no in in fireworks language, maroon shells are shells that 0:15:53.000 --> 0:15:55.560 make a boom noise. These are the ones that I 0:15:55.600 --> 0:15:58.600 really didn't like as a kid, the very loud banks. So, 0:15:58.920 --> 0:16:01.120 by the way, again, the way you create that loud 0:16:01.120 --> 0:16:04.240 bang is you really compressed that black powder uh in 0:16:04.240 --> 0:16:07.000 in uh fireworks factories. The way I've seen this is 0:16:07.040 --> 0:16:10.320 that you create the parchment shell the black powders in it. 0:16:10.560 --> 0:16:14.080 You then have that shell wrapped in string that is 0:16:14.240 --> 0:16:17.440 very tightly wound so it compresses it. Then you put 0:16:17.560 --> 0:16:20.840 wet parchment paper on the outside of it, tightly wrapped 0:16:20.880 --> 0:16:24.000 so that when it dries, it compresses it even more. Yeah, 0:16:24.080 --> 0:16:27.360 pretty impressive. Our next type is the chrysanthemum shell, which 0:16:27.560 --> 0:16:30.520 which burst into like a spherical pattern of stars that 0:16:30.520 --> 0:16:32.920 that leave a visible trail, so the effect is something 0:16:32.960 --> 0:16:35.360 like a chrysanthemum blossom. Yep. Then you have the pistol, 0:16:35.560 --> 0:16:37.880 the p I S T I L, which is like 0:16:38.040 --> 0:16:40.880 the chrysanthemum shell, but this one has a core. There's 0:16:40.880 --> 0:16:43.320 a different color than the stars that fly out from 0:16:43.320 --> 0:16:45.720 the middle. So the middle has one color, the stars 0:16:45.760 --> 0:16:48.800 the second color. You can have just a maroon shell. Ye, 0:16:49.280 --> 0:16:52.240 so if you just just a bang, Yeah, I hated those, 0:16:53.040 --> 0:16:56.360 and then you had the serpentine, which is my strategy, 0:16:56.400 --> 0:17:00.880 and halo, which never works. But no serpent fireworks shell 0:17:01.320 --> 0:17:05.119 bursts to send small tubes of incendiaries skittering outward at 0:17:05.160 --> 0:17:08.199 random paths, which may culminate an exploding star. So if 0:17:08.200 --> 0:17:10.080 you ever see the ones that have like the crazy 0:17:10.119 --> 0:17:14.080 Spinney's that off, yeah, those are serpentines. So those are 0:17:14.080 --> 0:17:16.719 your basic types of fireworks shells. Of course, there are 0:17:16.760 --> 0:17:20.040 other variations on these, or there's some that use this 0:17:20.160 --> 0:17:22.520 as a basis and then they create a different effect. 0:17:22.880 --> 0:17:25.359 But if you were in the fireworks trade, those are 0:17:25.400 --> 0:17:27.840 the kind of terms you would be hearing, and people 0:17:27.880 --> 0:17:30.160 would just call them out as they would see them launchic. Oh, 0:17:30.280 --> 0:17:33.399 that's a round, l that's a serpentine. You wouldn't have 0:17:33.440 --> 0:17:35.080 to say that's a maroon because everyone would be going 0:17:35.119 --> 0:17:38.720 what anyway. So we've talked a little bit about this, 0:17:38.880 --> 0:17:44.320 but actually launching fireworks, especially in terms of displays. So yeah, 0:17:44.359 --> 0:17:47.240 the basic one we've covered the idea that you know 0:17:47.280 --> 0:17:49.879 you have the slow burning fuse and the quick burning fuse. 0:17:49.880 --> 0:17:52.719 The quick burning one lights the black powder. One thing 0:17:52.720 --> 0:17:54.320 we didn't mention is that you do have to have 0:17:54.359 --> 0:17:56.520 a mortar, which is essentially a pipe that has a 0:17:56.560 --> 0:17:59.439 closed off end on one side. And you know, in 0:17:59.480 --> 0:18:02.480 the old day, as you would essentially light the the 0:18:02.560 --> 0:18:07.520 one main fuse, drop the package into the mortar, and 0:18:07.560 --> 0:18:12.000 then run the heck away before everything started going buonky. So, 0:18:12.160 --> 0:18:16.479 once that lift charge ignites, it creates a lot of 0:18:16.520 --> 0:18:19.919 gas and that gas expands and that's what provides the 0:18:19.960 --> 0:18:22.879 thrust to push the package out of the mortar and 0:18:22.920 --> 0:18:25.159 into the air. So if this sounds a lot like 0:18:25.400 --> 0:18:30.000 our discussions about things like cannon and flintlock pistols and 0:18:30.119 --> 0:18:32.160 things of that nature, it's because it is. We're talking 0:18:32.160 --> 0:18:35.840 about expanding gases. It's the same thing that creates the 0:18:35.840 --> 0:18:41.760 the propulsion for your basic firearms. So you've got your 0:18:41.800 --> 0:18:44.000 mortar and your your lift charge, and that's all you 0:18:44.040 --> 0:18:46.639 need to be able to launch it properly. These days, 0:18:47.000 --> 0:18:50.840 we don't necessarily need to have someone physically light a 0:18:50.960 --> 0:18:54.400 fuse and then dump it into a mortar. Than right, 0:18:54.440 --> 0:18:58.480 there's there there are computerized fuses that will i mean 0:18:58.520 --> 0:19:01.320 not self light, but oh no, why Essentially you've got 0:19:01.320 --> 0:19:04.320 is you set up your your mortar system that already 0:19:04.359 --> 0:19:08.200 has the various packages in each mortar as it's supposed 0:19:08.200 --> 0:19:10.639 to be uh, and then you have an electrical charge 0:19:10.760 --> 0:19:14.320 that can create the spark to light the fuse, so 0:19:14.359 --> 0:19:16.919 that way everything can be done from a distance. You 0:19:16.920 --> 0:19:19.760 can either have it where it's manually done, where you 0:19:19.760 --> 0:19:22.359 push a button and that button is what creates the spark, 0:19:22.680 --> 0:19:24.560 or you can have it fully automated, where you've got 0:19:24.560 --> 0:19:27.880 a full program and you say, at this time stamp 0:19:28.080 --> 0:19:31.879 when this program runs, this particular spark needs to happen, 0:19:32.280 --> 0:19:34.359 and in that case you can launch a firework. So 0:19:34.440 --> 0:19:37.879 this is where you get those big choreograph displays. Right, 0:19:38.000 --> 0:19:40.800 You've got a essentially a program that has a beginning 0:19:41.119 --> 0:19:43.320 to the end, and think of it like a video 0:19:43.440 --> 0:19:45.639 on YouTube. You would you look at the video and 0:19:45.640 --> 0:19:48.600 you'd see, oh, it's seven months, twelve twelve seconds long. 0:19:48.640 --> 0:19:52.320 I want to see what happens at minute three and 0:19:52.320 --> 0:19:54.520 and twelve seconds and you go straight to that point 0:19:54.560 --> 0:19:58.200 and you look at that frame. Well, in this computer program, 0:19:58.280 --> 0:20:01.399 you would be able to see which switches were essentially 0:20:01.440 --> 0:20:06.359 being thrown electronically, not mechanically necessarily these days, and you 0:20:06.359 --> 0:20:09.800 could say, oh, all right, at that point, mortars seventeen 0:20:10.400 --> 0:20:14.080 three and forty nine all fire. There's a roundel in 0:20:14.080 --> 0:20:17.280 the center, there's a chrysanthemum, and there's a pistol, and 0:20:17.359 --> 0:20:20.200 all three go up simultaneously to create the effect you're 0:20:20.240 --> 0:20:23.760 going for. And you know exactly what's in which mortar. 0:20:23.880 --> 0:20:25.960 You know, you program that ends. You put them there. Yeah, 0:20:26.080 --> 0:20:27.919 you put them there, and you say to the computer 0:20:28.000 --> 0:20:31.360 program this is the thing that's in this other thing, 0:20:31.760 --> 0:20:36.240 and you you cut and create your fuses. Fuse technology 0:20:36.280 --> 0:20:38.600 also has a lot to do with how all of 0:20:38.640 --> 0:20:41.520 this is going to go off. And fuses are just 0:20:41.720 --> 0:20:44.320 really basic things if you've never created one yourself, that 0:20:44.359 --> 0:20:47.359 are made of some kind of fuel um that's coated 0:20:47.480 --> 0:20:50.720 or or possibly soaked or infused with some kind of oxidizer, 0:20:51.160 --> 0:20:54.320 and the exact materials and ratios of materials that you 0:20:54.400 --> 0:20:57.120 use are going to give you these these different time effects, 0:20:57.200 --> 0:20:59.280 right whether or not it will burn at say, you 0:20:59.359 --> 0:21:01.400 could have the same same length of fuse and one 0:21:01.440 --> 0:21:04.520 of them might take fifteen seconds to burn all the 0:21:04.520 --> 0:21:06.320 way through, and the other one might burn all the 0:21:06.320 --> 0:21:09.280 way through in three seconds. Again, it all depends upon 0:21:09.359 --> 0:21:12.360 the the stuff you've put into that fuse, the oxidizers 0:21:12.400 --> 0:21:15.560 and any other kind of fuel you've imbued the fuse with. 0:21:16.200 --> 0:21:19.760 So uh, once you know the physics and assuming your 0:21:19.800 --> 0:21:23.480 chemistry is good, you can have very consistent results from 0:21:23.520 --> 0:21:26.960 one firework to the next. So that assumes a lot. 0:21:27.080 --> 0:21:29.119 It means that you have to be very consistent and 0:21:29.240 --> 0:21:31.560 all the ingredients you use. You have to be consistent 0:21:31.600 --> 0:21:35.120 in the mixtures, the proportions you're using, as well as 0:21:35.160 --> 0:21:38.439 consistent in the placement of stars and the fuses that 0:21:38.520 --> 0:21:40.880 you use. But if you are, if you're really good 0:21:40.920 --> 0:21:45.200