by Bart King
Soak fireworks completely in water before putting them in the trash.
If you are going to store fireworks, put them in a cool, dry place. Tape shut the container they’re in, so that no moisture can get inside.
Gunpowder: “The Devil’s Invention”
Gunpowder is what made early fireworks go BOOM! But who was the first genius to discover the magical properties of gunpowder? As with so many other things (yo-yos, compasses, cards, kites, pasta), it was an unknown person living in China. About a thousand years ago, this person (probably a cook) accidentally mixed saltpeter (potassium nitrate), sulfur (used to make a fire burn hotter), and charcoal together. BOOM!
The Chinese didn’t call this stuff “gunpowder” because guns hadn’t been invented yet. They called their invention huo yao or the “fire chemical.” It didn’t take too long for the Chinese to figure out that if they attached bamboo tubes filled with the chemical to arrows, the arrow would go extra fast. After a while, they left the arrow out of the equation since the tubes could launch themselves and create a nice explosion up in the air! The Chinese used their new invention for many celebrations and events.
One Chinese man, Wan-hu, even tried to use these rockets to fly. He set up two big kites with a chair and 42 rockets. Three, two, one, TAKE-OFF! There was a loud explosion, and Wan-hu was gone! Was he up in the air? Nope. Was he in the ashes that were left where the explosion was? Yep! Wan-hu was the ashes that were left where the explosion was!
The Chinese used huo yao for celebrations and also for exploding arrows and other weapons. But when the Europeans and Arabs got their hands on this explosive powder, they began inventing cannons, guns, and other antisocial devices. This is when it got its nickname, “The Devil’s Invention.”
But gunpowder has had peaceful uses. Northern Italians were especially interested in fireworks for fun, and the famous traveler Marco Polo brought back firework recipes from the mysterious East for them to use. In 1292, Marco Polo wrote of his firecracker collection: “They burn with such a dreadful noise, they can be heard for ten miles at night...it is the most terrible thing in the world to hear for the first time.” To this, I say: “Marco...Wusso!”
In early America, firearms and fireworks were very popular. (Maybe you’ve heard the line from “The Star Spangled Banner” about the rockets’ red glare?) One unusual form of American fireworks was an activity called “Shooting the Anvil.” A blacksmith’s heavy anvil was set up in an open area. A bag of gunpowder with a fuse coming out was then placed on top of it. The people would then put another anvil on top of the bag, light the fuse, and run away! The colonists had to keep their eyes open, though. After the explosion, the top anvil would fly way up in the air, and what goes up could come down on them!
Back in those days, to discourage kids from shooting guns for fun, adults actually encouraged the use of firecrackers as a safe alternative. Boys came up with fun uses for their firecrackers, like attaching them to large weeds to knock them down, sticking firecrackers in tomatoes for juicy explosions, and of course, blowing up their toy soldiers.
Firework Types
There are many different types of fireworks: pinwheels, Roman candles, rockets, squibs, gerbs, and so on. But there are really just two basic elements that most fireworks have in common: They either go “Boom!” like a firecracker, or they give off cool lights and sparks like a sparkler. Maybe they do both! You already know about firecrackers. Sparklers, though, are usually made by dipping a stick in a gooey mix of chemicals. Contained in the chemicals is a black powder (a gunpowder type of mix) so that the sparkler burns. Mixed in with the powder are flecks of metal dust, like iron, aluminum, or magnesium. When these get hit with a high temperature, they burn with a bright spark. For example, zinc burns with a green color, while aluminum burns with a white flame.
When you see fireworks going off in the sky (“aerial fireworks”), you can see both of these firecracker and sparkler elements. Aerial fireworks are usually shot out of a cannon-like device called a “mortar.” All the ingredients needed for the fireworks are in a shell with a fuse. (The length of the fuse determines how high the fireworks are when they explode.)
When the aerial fireworks go off, you hear a loud BANG first. That sound comes from the explosive in the middle of the shell, which is much like a big firecracker. Then you see the starburst of color coming out of it. (By the way, blue is the hardest color to show with fireworks.) These colored starbursts are really just bigger chunks of the same stuff you find on a sparkler. The pattern of these starbursts is decided by how they are placed inside the shell.
If you see more than one explosion from the same firework, the shell may have other shells with different colors or sound-making devices hidden within it.
Different cultures like different aspects of fireworks. The Japanese word for fireworks is hanabi, which means “flowers of fire.” They like fireworks that give off smoke clouds and star bursts in different colors. In Europe, many people enjoy the noise of fireworks the most—you know, that moment when the explosion goes off and you can feel the air press in on your eardrum: BOOM! Sometimes it’s so scary, the next thing you know, Euro-peein’!
Gunpowder is not usually used much in fireworks anymore. Firecrackers usually have something called “flash powder” in them, which was originally made for photography. But one thing hasn’t changed. Whether they whistle, screech, or bang, boys dig the sound of fireworks. (Unless they’re duds!)
Firecrackers Make Good Fire Alarms! People have been known to put firecrackers in different parts of the walls and roof of a house while it is being built. That way, if a fire ever breaks out, the firecrackers will go off, waking everyone in the house!
*The longest string of firecrackers ever set off was in Hong Kong in 1996. To celebrate the Chinese New Year, a string of firecrackers was lit that took 22 hours to completely explode.
*There is a town in Massachusetts called Fireworks.
Hand Grenades
Hand grenades are the only hand-thrown devices still used by armies. Like most explosions, a hand grenade blows up because of expanding gases. Here are two hand grenade designs that you can use that won’t start a fire or blow off your hand!
Hand Grenade 1
For this grenade, take any small plastic container with a plastic lid, like a small plastic container or a film canister. Fill it 1/3 to 1/2 with water, then throw a couple of Alka-Seltzer tablets in it. Quickly snap on the lid, and throw it! Bang!
Hand Grenade 2
Get a zippered sandwich bag. (Not the giant freezer bags, but one of the smaller models.) Also, get some vinegar and baking soda, and a paper towel. Then cut a 6-inch square off of your paper towel and put 3 tablespoons of baking soda in the middle of it. Now fold it up.
Over the sink, pour 3/4 cup of vinegar and 1/3 cup of warm water into the Ziploc. Now comes the tricky part: You want to put the paper towel into the bag without letting it touch the vinegar! You may want to have someone help you, as they pinch the folded paper towel inside the bag while you carefully zip it tightly.
Once the bag is zipped, take it outside, drop the folded paper towel into the vinegar, shake the bag, and drop it on the ground. You should get a good bang out of it! (If not, try changing the amounts described above; I sometimes skip the warm water part.)
The Dry Ice Boomer
THIS ACTIVITY CAN ONLY BE DONE WITH ADULT SUPERVISION AND EYE PROTECTION!
WARNING: Dry ice is frozen carbon dioxide. It is REALLY cold! Dry ice is usually colder than –75 degrees Fahrenheit, so if it touches your skin, you’re in trouble. It will stick to you and cause freezing burns and frostbite! Only handle it with gloves and salad tongs!
You Need:
a 2-liter plastic soda bottle
dry ice
the outdoors
a wrist rocket or slingshot
This might be the simplest exploding device of all time. If you do it correctly, it is perfectly safe. Take your plastic soda bottle and some dry ice. (Onl
y plastic bottles will work for this. Do not use any other kind of container.) Decide what open, safe area you can use for the explosion. It must be a place where you can stand at a safe distance, and where someone would not unexpectedly come upon the bottle or be disturbed by a loud boom!
Once you are in the area where you are going to explode the container, make sure that everything is in place. You must be prepared to keep an eye on that bottle for up to half an hour. Okay, now put some dry ice in the bottle. Add water until the bottle is about 1/4 full. Crush the side of the bottle a little. Screw on the lid tightly. Stand back.
The dry ice will go through what is called a “phase change.” This means it is changing from a solid into a gas. As it does so, the gas will expand the bottle outward. Once the crushed part of the bottle fills out, you shouldn’t go anywhere near it. If the crushed part of the bottle does not expand out, it SHOULD still be safe to approach.
Result
There will be a loud boom and the bottle will burst. If the container does not burst, WAIT! Like I said, it could take 30 minutes for it to blow. Do NOT approach the container; it could go off! If you get impatient and want to leave or try again, shoot rocks at the bottle with your wrist rocket (or throw rocks at it, or shoot it with your BB gun, or pop it with a 20-foot spear, or whatever) until you break its side. THEN (and only then) is it safe!
Special Section: M-80s and Cherry Bombs
M-80s and Cherry Bombs are illegal fireworks. Both of them have been against the law to possess since 1966, and they are very unsafe. Do you want to know why they were outlawed? Because so many kids were blowing their hands and feet off with them. Don’t buy them! If you see any, they are probably homemade, and if there is one thing you don’t want homemade, it’s fireworks.
M-80s were originally designed as “military rifle-fire simulators.” In other words, they were used in the military for exercises when they needed the sound of gunshots. Although M-80s are not as powerful as a 1/4 stick of dynamite (a lot of people think this), they can hurt or kill someone. M-80s contain 60 times more powder than is legal for a firecracker. Lots of firecracker manufacturers try to make their product sound cool by calling them “M-70s” or “M-90s” or things like this. This is just a trick; these firecrackers are nothing like an M-80.
As for Cherry Bombs, they are usually round and are often dyed red. Just like with the M-80, you will sometimes see legal firecrackers that are called “Cherry Bomb Type” or some baloney like that. Their makers are just trying to trick you into thinking you’re buying the real thing. Avoid ANYTHING that is labeled something like “Cherry Bomb” or “M-80” to avoid getting ripped off or hurt (or both!)
Nitroglycerin and TNT
Many people think a stick of dynamite is just a really big firecracker. WRONG! Dynamite (or TNT) is very different, and the difference is something called “nitroglycerin.”
“Nitrogen” is everywhere; for example, it makes up about 80 percent of the air around you right now. “Glycerin” is a sweet syrup used in foods. In 1847, an Italian named Ascanio Sobrero was experimenting with glycerin in an attempt to find a cure for headaches. He mixed some glycerin with some acid and he ended up with what we now call “nitroglycerin.” Ascanio learned that the combination of glycerin and acid is explosive when the glass tube it was in blew up in his face, leaving him badly scarred.
Ascanio was a good man. He tried to keep this terrible new explosive a secret because he was afraid of how it might be used in the wrong hands. But word of the explosive got out. Nitroglycerin was very unstable and dangerous, but that didn’t stop people from messing around with it. Ascanio said, “When I think of all the victims killed during nitroglycerin explosions...I am almost ashamed to admit to be its discoverer.”
A man from Sweden named Alfred Nobel worked at trying to make nitroglycerin safe for use in road-building and mining. It took years of work, and his own brother was killed in an accident with it, but Alfred discovered that if he mixed nitroglycerin with a special kind of dirt and molded it into sticks, it would not explode by itself. He called this invention “dynamite.”
Alfred Nobel was an unusual person. His father made guns and explosives for armies. But Alfred was an inventor and poet who spoke 5 languages and thought of himself as a loner. He made a fortune from his invention of dynamite, but like Ascanio Sobrero, Alfred had a conscience. He set up a system of special prizes that would be given out every year to people who make a valuable contribution to the world in science or the arts or for peace. These are called the Nobel prizes, and they have been given out yearly since 1901.
Follow-Up Activity
There is an ultimate weapon so frightening and awful, only a crazy person would ever use it. Because this ultimate weapon is so terrifying to others, it can be used to bring peace to the world. I am, of course, talking about your dad’s gas problem. Encourage your dad never to bomb unless he is punishing evildoers or trying to scare a salesperson away from the front door.
Flying Things!
If you’re interested in launching something into the air, you’ve come to the right place!
Turtles
In 456 BC, a very bald man named Aeschylus was minding his own business when a flying turtle hit him in the head, killing him. (Aeschylus was a famous playwright in ancient Greece.) How bald was Aeschylus? He was so bald, an eagle that had caught this turtle flew up and dropped the shelled reptile on a shiny “rock” to break it open. This didn’t work. The rock was Aeschylus’s gleaming skull, and the turtle’s shell didn’t break.
Kites
Kites were invented in China 3,000 years ago. These first kites were not for fun and games, however. They were used by soldiers to signal each other from far away. The color and type of kite as well as the way it was flown gave a message to another soldier.
Back then, boys imitated what the grown-ups did. (Oh wait, boys still do that!) Since soldiers were “playing” with kites, Chinese boys and girls started doing the same thing. (Hopefully they didn’t foul up the army’s communications.)
Anyway, kites are cool, but you don’t really need this book to learn about them. I am happy simply to share with you the coolest kite of all time. It doesn’t need a string, and it catches on fire! It is...The Kite O’ Flame!
The Kite O’ Flame
When this is done properly, you will get “Oohs!” and “Aahs!” from all who see it!
You Need:
a full sheet of newspaper
Scotch tape
4 people with matches or lighting devices
a cool or cold night
adult supervision
The idea of the Kite o’ Flame is that it will fly up on its own while burning majestically, and then disappear into the air. You have to see it to believe it! There are no strings with this kite; heat rises, and it will rise from the heat of its flames. Because of the heat factor, this kite will only work if it is cool or cold out; fly it in the evening, when you can appreciate its effect.
Warning: Because of its flame, ONLY do this activity with your parents present. Only fly this kite in an area away from houses and plants. A parking lot is perfect.
Take the newspaper and lay it down so that the main crease forms a small mountain (not a valley.) Bring the 4 corners together to meet in the middle; try to make the points line up perfectly. Carefully tape the four corners to each other. The puffy area of air that you will create is what makes this kite fly. Turn the kite over, then place a person with a match at each of the 4 corners.
Have everyone light their match at the same time. On your command, they should all light the corner they are holding. The kite will begin to slowly rise if you have prepared it properly; you may need to try this a couple of times to get it taped and lit correctly, but it’s worth it. The kite does not rise far or go fast, but it is awesome.
*There are competitive kite-flying games in some Southeast Asian countries in which the kites are equipped with sharp edges. Contestants then try to shred their opponents’ kite
s!
Paper Airplanes
The cool thing about paper airplanes is that they never need batteries. (You can try putting a battery into yours, but they don’t usually fly as well.) Since a paper airplane has no engine, its design must take advantage of airflow and wind to keep it in the air. If it doesn’t fly as well as you wanted, that just means that you should experiment with different adjustments and wing folds and stabilizers and try again.
Plane Construction
When you create your plane, fold on a flat surface. Use good straight folds, no rough edges, and try to make it perfect. It will really pay off.
Plane Flights
Never judge a paper airplane on its first flight! Throw the plane gently, like a dart. Most planes climb and then stall if you throw them too hard. If your plane climbs and then stalls even if you throw gently, try putting more weight on the nose; sometimes just a small piece of paper taped at the nose does the trick.
If the plane turns (or “banks”) in either direction, the wings have uneven angles. Check them and refold if necessary.
Some of the terms used in this section include the following:
crease: same thing as a fold.
valley: paper’s fold looks like a valley, or the letter V.
