Modern fireworks utilise an ancient black powder mixture of potassium nitrate, charcoal, and sulfur, which ignites to create a rapid combustion reaction that propels and explodes the firework. The ...

There are hundreds of chemical formulas – or as I like to think of them, pyrotechnic recipes – for fireworks. These recipes are still based on an ancient mixture of chemicals that produces the ...

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — The Fourth of July holiday is this week and that means bright colors and big booms are coming to the night sky. Fireworks are a staple of the Independence Day celebration in the ...

A Chinese alchemist mixed saltpeter, sulfur and charcoal, to produce a black, flaky powder – a crude version of gun powder.