FIREWORKS

CHEMICALS

• The mixture of chemicals determines the color of a firework
• Each fire work has small packet filled with special chemicals
• The packets are mainly metal salts and metal oxides

WHAT THEY DO

• The metal salts and metal oxides react to creat an array of colors
• When you heat them up the atoms from each element absorbs energy and goes from a low energy state to an excited one
• As the electrons return to a low energy state the leftover energy is emitted as light.

WHAT DETERMINES COLOR

• Each element releases a different amount of energy
• The amount of energy determines the color or wavelengths of the light seen when a firework explodes
• Just like paints, secondary colors are made by mixing to primary colors.. Example: mixing copper (blue) and strontium (red) creates purple.

Sources: http://www.livescience.com/32675-how-do-fireworks-get-their-colors.html