Happy Independence Day from your favorite American podcast!
As John Adams said, “it is the glorious Fourth of July. It is a great day. It is a good day.”
You don’t need me to tell you that today is going to be full of parades, ceremonies, food and fireworks.
Today we’re going to look at that last category, and explain how fireworks do what they do every July 4.
Essentially, this is chemistry – a lot of it, since there’s multiple reactions in every launch.
A trained fireworks technician (don’t try this at home) lights a fuse to ignite the charge under a firework shell, which is more or less gunpowder.
That propels the shell out of its mortar tube and up into the air.
Another fuse in the shell operates on a time delay, so once it’s airborne and much more visible to the crowds in the area, it can set off the burst charge.
That’s what makes the whole firework go off.
It’s also what ignites the showy parts of the shell, known as stars.
Those are little pellets that explode with lots of light and color and even patterns, depending on the design.
Fireworks makers can choose the colors and the shapes by making stars out of specific ingredients and arranging them in particular ways inside the shells.
Of course, not every American loves seeing these pyrotechnics on the anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.
Some combat veterans or others who might be dealing with PTSD don’t love hearing a bunch of loud and bright explosions in the night sky.
And many pet owners say those explosions drive their dogs and cats up the wall.
Those critics can maybe blame John Adams.
The man who helped convince the Continental Congress to vote for independence, before becoming the new nation’s first vice president and second president, wrote to his wife Abigail that Independence Day “ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, bonfires and illuminations (known today as fireworks) from one end of this continent to the other, from this day forward, forevermore.”
And if you’re looking for a really big fireworks show, there’s one in Seward, Nebraska.
This is a relatively small community, some 7,000 people, but the town that called itself the “Fourth of July City” has a grand parade, plus a car show, a craft fair, live music and dancing, a 10K Freedom Run and after all of that, a gigantic fireworks show.
The chemistry behind fireworks (University of Pennsylvania)
Seward Is A Small Town In Nebraska That Offers Plenty Of Peace And Quiet (Only In Your State)
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