Sparklers

Sparklers

Sparklers are a kind of fire crackers, which burn for about a minute and produce very bright light.

A sparkler is a self supporting rigid stick capable of burning at one end to the other end and has a support to be held in the hand. Sparklers burn for up to a minute and produce extremely bright light. They are also referred to as 'snowball sparklers'.

A sparkler consists of various components. They are as follows (see figure 1)-

1. Fuel

2. Oxidizer

3. Iron/Steel powder

4. Binder.

Sparklers usually contain black powder as a fuel. It consists of charcoal, sulphur and potassium nitrate. Oxidizers are used to provide oxygen to the fuel. Stored oxygen works the best. Since it is not feasible to use canisters of oxygen, chemicals like sodium chlorate and potassium chlorate are used as oxidizers. Oxidizers help in intense combustion of anything. Binders, as the name suggests are used to bind (or hold) the mixture. Common binders used in sparklers are sugar or starch. The last most important component is iron/steel powder. This is required to produce bright shimmering light. The way this happens is that the metal flakes, when are heated to high enough temperatures, start glowing and a variety of chemicals can be added to create colors.

All the above ingredients are mixed in together and molded onto a rigid stick or a wire and once it dries, a sparkler is ready to use.

Although fire crackers are very amusing and they add to the celebrations, they are dangerous items and should be carefully used.