Why is it difficult to show the blue color with fireworks?



The fireworks display, in which colorful fireworks light the night sky, is a feature of Japan's summer, but even in the United States, it is customary for large fireworks displays to be held in various places on July 4 Independence Day. Paul Smith, a chemical instructor at Purdue University and a leader of the

Pyrotechnics Guild International , the world's largest fireworks enthusiast community, talks about why 'blue fireworks' is the most difficult of all such fireworks.

Red, white but rarely blue – the science of fireworks colors, explained
https://theconversation.com/red-white-but-rarely-blue-the-science-of-fireworks-colors-explained-119284

The origin of fireworks originates from the fact that Chinese smelter researchers in 200 BC discovered stilts as raw materials for explosives. However, at that time, it was studied not as a gunpowder but as a material for immortality spirits, and it was used as a gunpowder after 1000 years when the black gunpowder was invented.


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orcearo

After that, the explosives that spread to the world as an invention in human history were used as an event for a fire-fighting doll at an Italian festival around the 14th century, and this became the prototype of today's ornamental fireworks.

The pyrotechnic explosives emit light of various colors due to the flame reaction , which is a phenomenon in which light energy is released when electrons in metal atoms are excited by thermal energy and then returned to the ground state. . Since the light generated at this time has a different wavelength for each element, it is possible to make colorful fireworks such as red, green, yellow and purple by the metal mixed with the explosives.



Among the fireworks that are made in this way, Mr. Smith says that the most difficult is blue fireworks because one of the reasons is that 'even though the night sky looks dark, it is still quite blue.' As a result, even if the blue fireworks are launched in the night sky, they will be visible.

Another reason is that it is difficult to emit blue light unless the combination of chemicals is complicated. This applies to anything other than blue fireworks, but mixing a metal mass that causes a flame reaction with gunpowder does not result in colorful fireworks. It is only possible to make brightly colored fireworks using compounds that combine multiple chemicals and metal elements, but as noted above blue has to be outstanding against the sky, and so on. Unlike the color of, it is necessary to devise a device.

Smith thinks that it is best to use copper as the main source of blue light, but there are 20 ways to get to the bright, deep blue fireworks that Smith named 'pillbox blue' He had to figure out how to make things.

The pillbox is the Towka during World War II, which remains on every island of Oahu in Hawaii. The pillbox is generally located in a scenic spot, and the blue waters of Oahu that are viewed from there are known as scenic spots.


by Gabriel

Mr Smith states, 'When blue particles of light are seen dancing in the night sky, the excited electrons release energy as blue light,' an art of complex chemical reactions I was talking about the attraction.

in Science, Posted by log1l_ks