Thohan
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Coloring firworks chemistry demo
Recently I have been assigned the task of getting the fireworks demonstration that the chem club that I am a part of to produce a color other than
white. In our demonstrations we tape up an erlymier flask and burry it up to the head in sand. In the flask is a mixture of smokeless powder,
pyrodex powder, magnesium powder, aluminum powder, and iron powder and is set off by sending a current though a wire that is placed in the flask. I
have done some searching and found what chemicals are used to make normal fireworks produce color and have tried removing the metal powered and
replacing it with the other chemicals but to no avail (the pyrodex and smokeless powder ignited but nothing was ejected from the flask). Sense than I
have been thinking that I might remove one of the metal powders and see if that works but I though I would come here first and see if anyone knew if I
was going in the right direction or not or if anyone knew how to do what I am trying to do. Thanks.
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YT2095
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for a start you`de be better off using flash pots or metal crucibles on the sand, rather than a flask under it.
if the mix did burn you wouldn`t see it, only the smoke it produces, it`s the Flame you need to see.
as for the color mixes you have quite a bit of freedom, you can dope the oxidiser or the reducer with your color ion, and avoid Sodium Ions at all
costs, unless you Want every single color to be Yellow
\"In a world full of wonders mankind has managed to invent boredom\" - Death
Twinkies don\'t have a shelf life. They have a half-life! -Caine (a friend of mine)
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woelen
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For really extensive fireworks knowledge, look over here:
http://groups.google.nl/group/rec.pyrotechnics
Search with keywords like strontium, barium, lithium, copper (red, green, brickred, green/blue).
There is a lot of info over there and there are quite some experts over there.
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The_Davster
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Or if you do not want to mess with all the solid oxidizers and fuels to get the colors you want, you can just pour alcohol on a pile of the salt you
want the color of and light it, it is the simple way.
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Thohan
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Our fireworks demo sends the sparks up out of the top of the flask and what i am really trying to do is get the color of the sparks to be something
other than white.
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12AX7
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Sparks tend to be burning metal, something notoriously difficult to color.
If you want to get absurd about it, you could use strontium, barium, sodium and potassium metals to get the corresponding color as burning sparks.
But...er yeah...
Tim
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YT2095
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colored "sparks" are easy enough, you just need to make Micro stars, a dextrin binder and an extruder (or even a potato ricer will do), the
ignition/lifting charge can be Pyrodex then 
\"In a world full of wonders mankind has managed to invent boredom\" - Death
Twinkies don\'t have a shelf life. They have a half-life! -Caine (a friend of mine)
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