The Science of Fireworks!

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<iframe src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/36697433?title=0&byline=0&portrait=0" width="400" height="300" frameborder="0" webkitAllowFullScreen allowFullScreen></iframe><p>Watch the full video with related content here: <a href="http://www.richannel.org/the-science-of-fireworks">http://www.richannel.org/the-science-of-fireworks</a></p>

27 footnotes:

02:02

Gunpowder

Gunpowder
02:51

Guy Fawkes Night

Guy Fawkes Night
05:31

Potassium nitrate

Potassium nitrate
07:56

Graphite

Graphite
08:34

Sulphur

Sulphur
18:11

Lycopodium

Lycopodium
21:00

Electron microscope

Electron microscope
24:11

Activation energy

Activation energy
28:31

Sodium hypochlorite

Sodium hypochlorite
35:40

Flash Powder (Wikipedia)

Flash Powder (Wikipedia)
35:47

Oxidiser (Wikipedia)

Oxidiser (Wikipedia)
36:13

Potassium Perchlorate (Wikipedia)

Potassium Perchlorate (Wikipedia)
36:20

Potassium perchlorate (wolfram alpha)

Potassium perchlorate (wolfram alpha)
41:31

The Chemistry of Fireworks GeekDad Wired com (YouTube)

The Chemistry of Fireworks GeekDad Wired com (YouTube)
Watch on YouTube
42:32

Flare (Wikipedia)

Flare (Wikipedia)
44:57

Fuse (Wikipedia)

Fuse (Wikipedia)
45:10

Burst Charge (Wikipedia)

Burst Charge (Wikipedia)
46:54

British Fireworks Classification (Wikipedia)

British Fireworks Classification (Wikipedia)
47:14

British Firework Classification Law (Wikipedia)

British Firework Classification Law (Wikipedia)
50:00

Quick Match (Wikipedia)

Quick Match (Wikipedia)
50:55

Visco Fuse

Visco Fuse
51:58

Plastic Igniter Cord (Wikipedia)

Plastic Igniter Cord (Wikipedia)
53:27

Electric Fuse (Wikipedia)

Electric Fuse (Wikipedia)
01:00:45

Pyrotechnic Whistle (Wikipedia)

Pyrotechnic Whistle (Wikipedia)
01:03:38

Nitration (Wikipedia)

Nitration (Wikipedia)
01:04:27

Nitrocellulose (Wikipedia)

Nitrocellulose (Wikipedia)
01:08:31

Guy Fawkes (Wikipedia)

Guy Fawkes (Wikipedia)

A brief history of the modern firework.

Professor Chris Bishop, presenter of the 2008 Royal Institution Christmas Lectures, gives a family lecture on the history of the modern firework.

Through demonstrations of pyrotechnic chemistry hear how Chinese incendiaries made from honey led to the development of gunpowder; discover how the loud bangs of fireworks are routed in the origins of photography; and find out how an accident in a nineteenth-century kitchen sparked a new chemistry for firework making.

Recorded at the University of Cambridge on the 4 November 2011.