Fireworks
HISTORY OF THE FIREWORKS
Fireworks were born in China when a cook mixed everyday kitchen materials such as black powder, salt petre, sulfur, and charcoal and lighted it. It resulted in colorful flames. He also noticed that when lit in a bamboo shoot, there was a huge explosion. This discovery was first used for entertainment. A theory spread that the loud sound was perfect to scare away evil spirits, celebrate weddings, battle victories, eclipses, and religious ceremonies. Legend says that Marco Polo brought fireworks from China to the west from one of his many journeys to China. It spread to Arabia where they called fireworks Chinese arrows.
click here for more info about the history of fireworks
Fireworks are beautiful but they are nothing to play with. Before they are shipped to stores, fireworks are kept in forty foot bunkers called magazines. These magazines are surrounded by twenty-foot sand mounds. Just in case the fireworks went off, the sand would prevent it from lighting the other fireworks in other bunkers. It may sound like useless sand is lying around, but even the tiniest little spark could set off the highly explosive chemicals that make up fireworks.
40 foot bunkers filled with fireworks...
Employees have to make special preparations such as not wearing anything but cotton, right down to their underwear, before going into these bunkers. Nylon, silk, and polyester easily make static electricity and must NEVER be worn around fireworks. People touch a copper plate by the door of a building to make sure no static electricity is sticking to their body.
being careful by touching a copper plate...
Why copper, you ask? It's because copper is an element that conducts electricity, so it harmlessly passes through the plate.
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HOW THEY WORK
THE INSIDE OF A COMET
the outside of a comet
Facts About Macy's 4th of July Fireworks
The Macys 4th of July Fireworks® Spectacular - Lights of Freedom is comprised of more than 30,000 shells which makes over 1,000 shells exploding every minute.
They're more than 30,000 different kinds of shells coming together for a total of over 158,500 pounds of pyrotechnic power.
The shells are timed exactly to
blow to the beat of the music. This is controlled through a computer system with
10 miles of wire necessary for synchronization.
The FDNY Fireboat Water Show will consist of not just water sprays that go 300
feet into the air (that’s approximately 30 stories) but also the water is be
colored red and blue to demonstrate our national colors
you see the explosion before hearing it.
| COLORS ARE MADE BY Master pyrotechnicians build shells with bright burning metallic salts, which may be intensified by adding chlorine compounds. The salts are tightly packed into balls called stars, and placed inside the shell. The colors are: green / Barium Nitrate; blue / Cooper Salts and Chlorine; red / Strontium Nitrate; amber & orange / Charcoal & Carbon; white / Magnesium & Aluminum; and yellow / Sodium Salts. |
Fantasy in the Sky at the Magic Kingdom:
12 show barges in World Showcase Lagoon launch all of the fireworks for illuminations
45,000 light bulbs are used to illuminate the Countries Around the World Showcase
8 lasers are used to create the visual effects on the dancing water and the sky
8 different countries provide fireworks for the nightly shows including the United States, France, Japan, China, Italy and Spain
THANK YOU
SINCERELY,
BRITTANY F.
