sparkler

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A "Morning Glory" type sparker, emitting small pyrotechnic stars during this phase of the burn

Sparklers are popular fireworks for children.

Moving sparklers quickly can create attractive patterns

A sparkler, is a type of hand-held firework, that burns slowly while emitting colored flames, sparks, and other effects.

In the United Kingdom, a sparkler is often used by children at bonfire and fireworks displays on Guy Fawkes Night, the fifth of November.

Design

The "classic" type of sparkler consists of a thin metal rod approximately 20 cm (8 inches) long that has been dipped in a thick batter of slow-burning pyrotechnic composition and allowed to dry. The composition contains these components, one or more of each category: [1]

• Metallic fuel, mandatory to make sparks; size of particles influences appearance of the sparks
  • Aluminium or magnesium or magnalium, producing white sparks
  • Iron, producing orange branching sparks
  • Titanium, producing rich white sparks
  • Ferrotitanium, for yellow-gold sparkles
• Additional fuel, optional, modifying the burning speed
  • Sulfur
  • Charcoal
• Oxidizer, mandatory
  • Potassium nitrate
  • Barium nitrate
  • Strontium nitrate
  • Potassium perchlorate, more powerful but potentially explosive
• Optional pyrotechnic colorants, for colored flames
  • chlorides and nitrates of metals, e.g. barium, strontium, or copper
• Combustible binder, holding the composition together
  • Dextrin
  • Nitrocellulose

The colored spot on the top of each rod indicates the color of the sparkles emitted when ignited.

A more modern type of sparkler, known as the "Morning Glory", consists of a long, thin paper tube filled with composition and attached to a wooden rod using brightly-colored tissue paper and ribbon. Several different compositions can be packed into a single tube, resulting in a sparkler that changes color.

Safety issues

Sparklers are responsible for the vast majority of legal firework-related injuries, primarily as a result of their widespread sale in areas where other forms of fireworks are banned. The most common situation for injuries occurs when lit sparklers are given to unsupervised children, many of whom may not understand the risks. The devices burn at a high temperature (as hot as 1800 to 3000° F, or 1000 to 1600° C), depending on the fuel and oxidizer used, more than sufficient to cause severe skin burns or ignite clothing. Safety experts recommend that adults ensure children who handle sparklers are properly warned, supervised and wearing non-flammable clothing which cannot catch fire easily. Children who are too young to understand the risk of burns should not be allowed to handle lit sparklers. As with all fireworks, sparklers are also capable of accidentally initiating wildfires. This is especially true in drier areas; in Australia, for instance, sparkler-related bushfire accidents have led to their banning at public outdoor events during summer like Australia Day celebrations.

Sparklers in art and pop culture

An Art group monochrom were planning to light 10,000 bound sparklers as they described as "symbolic liberation" to reflect that sparklers are generally used in monotheistic traditions.^[1]

A large group from Toronto, Canada also held an event displaying 10,000 sparklers but with no religious meaning attached. The interactive event was a gesture of positivity toward the city's upcoming winter. Beginning in 2010, a new spirit of creativity and innovation would be launched in efforts to develop a fun, engaging atmosphere for the city during its cold and snowy months. The sparklers symbolized brightness, intensity, warmth and creativity (eg, signing one's name with a sparkler), some key values of the initiative. For more information see Reinventwinter.net

In 1999 the two artists Tobias Kipp and Timo Pitkämö developed a technique of drawing portraits with burning sparklers on paper, which they called pyrografie. Since then the two artists have drawn more than 20,000 pyroportraits. ^[2]

References