At any fireworks show, you will notice the different colors of fireworks. To any curious person, you are wondering how the fireworks get their different colors. When making the explosive powder for the fireworks, it is similar to mixing gunpowder and/or medicine. By mixing in certain ingredients, you are going to get the desired color of your fireworks. On Independence Day, it will be a given that there will be red colored, white colored, and blue colored fireworks to signify the national colors of the United States of America.
For red colored fireworks, you need one or two metals. This depends on how red you want your fireworks. If you want moderately red, you need lithium (Li2CO3 or LiCl, lithium carbonate and lithium chloride respectively). If you want the fireworks to be very red, then you need strontium (SrCO3).
For white colored fireworks, you need one of the four types of powdered metals: titanium, aluminum, beryllium, or magnesium. With titanium, the sparks will be of a more silver than white color. With magnesium, the sparks will be very bright white.
For blue colored fireworks, you need copper halides (CuCl2) burned at a low temperature. You want the copper halides and not the entirety of copper. With the entirety of copper, the flames or sparks would be a blue-green color.
If you want an orange color, you need something like calcium (CaCl2). If you want a yellow color, you need sodium (NaNO3). If you want green, you need barium (BaCl2). In the past, radium was used for green colored fireworks; but, it’s too dangerous to use. If you want indigo, you will need cesium (CsNO3). If you want gold, you need charcoal, iron, or lampblack. For violet colors, you need either potassium (KNO3) or rubidium (RbNO3). If you use rubidium, it will be a mix of red and violet instead of being just violet.
These are the chemical elements that you will need if you want to produce different colors of fireworks. If you wanted to make a Christmas theme for fireworks, you would need lithium, barium, and magnesium. Respectively, they would produce red, green, and white sparks.
Keep in mind that chemical elements, such as metallic elements, are not just responsible for the different colors of the fireworks. The elements also give off other visual effects when it comes to setting off the fireworks. Examples include the following: propelling, glitter, smoke, and so forth.
