What Makes Fireworks Change Colors?
Since the invention of fireworks in ancient China, they have been synonymous with celebration. We see them every 4th of July in celebration of Independence Day, bursting in the sky in every major city in the world to ring in the beginning of a new year, and in both commencements and celebrations at a wide range of sporting events. Starbursts of all colors flash in the night sky and slowly fall back to earth, extinguishing before reaching their targets. Some of the most spectacular fireworks displays are the ones that burst into brilliant flowers with colors like red or blue and then gently transition to other colors as they descend. In order to understand how these fireworks can change colors, we must first understand how fireworks themselves work. A single firework is comprised of a collection of components that all have to work together in order to make a successful result. The first stage is the lift charge. The lift charge is comprised of black powder, a mixture of potassium nitrat
