|
Most fireworks are launched from rows of steel tubes which are secured in
troughs of sand. The tubes or "mortars" are three times as long as the
firework shells, but are the same size in diameter. If a firework doesn't fit
snugly in its launching tube the pressure created from the lift charge
will escape, and the firework won't become airborne.
When gunpowder burns in the open air, the heat and gas it generates quickly
dissipates. But if the gunpowder is confined, say in a pouch at the bottom of
a firework cylinder, the heat and gas are trapped and will push wildly at the
inside of the launch tube until an explosion results. This explosion will
free the heat and gas, and hurtle the firework shell as high as 1000 feet into
the air.
(back to Anatomy)
Kaboom! Home | Anatomy | Pyrotechnics | Demolition
Table of Contents
|
