Team+5

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__The Chemistry of Fireworks__
William "Wallace" Witwer Ryan "Rocket" Stroud Emily "Bunker" Peterson

The ancient Chinese used fireworks as both signals and as weapons in archaic warefare. Our G4 Project will investigate how fireworks function chemically, in terms of the reactions that take place when they are lit and the concentration of the materials used. Here is a PowerPoint presentation that summarizes our whole project:


 * __Some chemicals used in the creation of fireworks__

Explosion! Colors
 * Potassium Nitrate (KNO3), Charcoal (Carbon), and Sulfur are the three primary compounds that provide thrust for fireworks. These compounds are mixed to create gun powder used for the explosion.
 * Colors in fireworks are produced by metals mixed with other chemicals to create "pyrotechnic stars." Pyrotechnic stars contain five main ingredients:
 * 1) A fuel, which lets the pyrotechnic star burn
 * 2) An oxidizer, which generally produces oxygen to support the combustion of the fuel
 * 3) One or multiple color-producing metal(s)
 * 4) A binder, to hold the pyrotechnic star together
 * 5) A chlorine donor, which provides chlorine that helps strengthen the color of the pyrotechnic star. Sometimes this can be substituted for an oxidizer.

Lithium (medium red) || SrCO3 (strontium carbonate) Li2CO3 (lithium carbonate) || source http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Firework#Pyrotechnic_compounds
 * Here's a nifty table on fireworks colors:**
 * **Color** || **Metal** || **Example Compounds** ||
 * Red || Strontium (intense red)
 * Orange || Calcium || CaCl2 (calcium chloride) ||
 * Yellow || Sodium || NaNO3 (sodium nitrate) ||
 * Green || Barium || BaCl2 (barium chloride) ||
 * Blue || Copper halides || CuCl2 (copper chloride), at low temperature ||
 * Purple || Potassium or Strontium + Copper || KNO3 (potassium nitrate) or SrCl+ + CuCl+ (Strontium Chloride + Copper Chloride) ||
 * Gold || Charcoal, iron, or lampblack ||  ||
 * White || Titanium, aluminium, or magnesium powders ||  ||

lithium carbonate, Li2CO3 = red strontium carbonate, SrCO3 = bright red ** || **652 ** || calcium chloride, CaCl2 ** || **668 ** || sodium chloride, NaCl ** || **610-621  ** || barium chloride, BaCl2 ** || **589  ** || copper(I) chloride, CuCl ** || **505-535 ** || copper (blue) compounds ** || **420-460 ** || Here is a diagram of basic fireworks structure from [|this website]:
 * Here's a nifty light spectrumtable from** [|**this website**]**.**
 * **Color** || **Compound** || **Wavelength (nm)** ||
 * **Red ** || **strontium salts, lithium salts
 * **Orange ** || **calcium salts
 * **Yellow ** || **<span style="color: rgb(242, 248, 68);"><span style="color: rgb(243, 210, 27);">sodium salts
 * **<span style="color: rgb(111, 229, 62);"><span style="color: rgb(65, 239, 31);">Green ** || **<span style="color: rgb(111, 229, 62);"><span style="color: rgb(65, 239, 31);">barium compounds + chlorine producer
 * **<span style="color: rgb(82, 7, 242);">Blue ** || **<span style="color: rgb(82, 7, 242);">copper compounds + chlorine producer
 * **<span style="color: rgb(242, 22, 248);">Purple ** || <span style="color: rgb(242, 22, 248);"> **<span style="color: rgb(242, 22, 248);">mixture of strontium (red) and
 * **Silver** || **burning aluminum, titanium, or magnesium** ||  ||

__ History __ The first fireworks in ancient China were made out of green bamboo that would be thrown into a fire to keep away evil spirits, Nian. The first accounts of gunpowder, though, is during the Sui and Tang dynasties (~600-900 A.D.) when alchemists were expirementing with sulfurous mixtures in order to discover an elixir of life. The mixture of sulfur, saltpeter (potassium nitrate), honey, and arsenic disulfide was heated over a flame and resulted in a large explosion. The alchemists began experimenting with the mixture and resulted in //huo yao//, or the "fire chemical,” a crude form of gun powder. These explosions were used a form of entertainment initially but then made their way to warfare, used in the forms of fire arrows and noise bombs; the Chinese would use the explosives to frighten and confuse their enemies during battle. Eventually, this primitive form of gunpowder was advanced and was used in weapons such as cannons, guns, and grenades.  __ Introduction __   Since the first fireworks of ancient China, fireworks have been modernized significantly. The gunpowder present in the fireworks is no longer intended to frighten enemies, but is now used as a form of entertainment. Thus, compounds used to produce colors in fireworks have become commonplace over the years. Compounds that produce color in fireworks vary, though, depending on the preference of the maker and the ultimate height of the firework. However, different compounds will emit varying wavelengths of light. Inspired by the progress fireworks have made over the years, our goal was to find out what compounds were used in fireworks that we set off by simply observing the fireworks and comparing our observations to a color spectrum. __ Research Question __ How do varying chemicals alter the visual effects of fireworks? __ Experiment __ For our experiment, we wanted to find out how changing the color-producing chemicals in fireworks would effect the ultimate explosion. We decided that we would observe the fireworks at varying distances (20, 40, and 60 feet) and then guess the compound present within the firework by comparing our observations to a color spectrum. Ultimately, we researched the actual color-producing compounds present in the fireworks we set off and compared them to our guesses. __ Materials __ · Safety goggles · Fire pit · Fire extinguisher · Safety matches · Digital camera · Digital camcorder · Tripod · Observation sheets · Pens · Adult supervisor · Fireworks, 2 each: ‘Golden Glittering Flower’, ‘Green Glittering Flower’, ‘Tri-Color Sprayer’, ‘Happy Silvery Flower’, ‘Violet and Butterfly’ · Measuring tape · Place markers · Water bucket __ Process __ 1. Research legality of fireworks by calling a local police department. 2. Collect materials and travel to testing site. 3. Set up testing area. Create a fire pit, measure distances and use place markers to show where 20, 40, and 60 feet from the fire pit are. Set up digital camcorder and digital camera. Place fire extinguisher at an accessible distance. Distribute observations sheets and pens. Determine firework order, and set fireworks that are not being lit off in an area a safe distance from the fire pit. 4. Press ‘Record’ on the digital camcorder, go to specified observation station, and station first firework in fire pit. Put on safety goggles. 5. Have the person stationed at the first station (the 20 foot marker) light firework and travel back to post very quickly before explosion occurs. 6. Record observations during the explosion. 7. Wait for explosion to stop and smoke to disperse before approaching firework shell to safely remove it from the fire pit. Put firework shell in water bucket, and make sure it is totally submerged so as to douse the shell. 8. Repeat steps 4-7 with each firework for two trials. 9. When finished with both trials, collect and dispose the doused firework shells safely. Turn off camcorder and camera. Collect all materials. Return all materials to their specified areas.

__Sources:__** Good Information is here: http://dopamine.chem.umn.edu/chempedia/index.php/Fireworks Light spectrum table and other good stuff: http://scifun.chem.wisc.edu/CHEMWEEK/fireworks/fireworks.htm How fireworks work: http://inventors.about.com/od/rstartinventions/a/SolidPropellant_3.htm History of fireworks: http://www.fireworks-mag.org/history.html History: http://www.allsands.com/history/objects/fireworkshistor_req_gn.htm Colors: http://chemistry.about.com/od/fireworkspyrotechnics/a/fireworkcolors.htmThis is a really in depth website with lots of diagrams: http://people.howstuffworks.com/fireworks.htm This is a great(!) website with diagrams about the color of fireworks: [|http://cc.oulu.fi/~kempmp/colours.html]



__Time Log:__
 * 1) August 21, 2008: Brainstorming Chemistry Topics: 60 minutes
 * 2) September 4, 2008: Final Topic Decision (Chemistry): 60 minutes
 * 3) September 12, 2008: Formed Group and selected topic (Chemistry): 60 minutes
 * 4) September 18, 2008: Edited and uploaded our page for the first time: 60 minutes
 * 5) October 15, 2008: Emily decides that we have all, collectively, spent at least another hour researching our topic. (I know I have, at least.) : 60 minutes
 * 6) November 6, 2008: Computer lab work a.k.a Will and Emily finally get it together: 90 minutes
 * 7) November 8, 2008: Ryan and Emily get together for planning: 30 minutes
 * 8) November 11, 2008: Everyone works! We find out that fireworks are legal in Parker! Woo!: 90 minutes
 * 9) November 18, 2008: Performed Experiment 60 minutes
 * 10) November 29, 2008: The three of us worked for 4 hours
 * 11) December 1, 2008: Ryan and Emily worked for another 3 hours writing the content of our board.
 * 12) December 2, 2008: We met for three hours to complete everything.