Pyrotechnics 101

Welcome to the Pyrotechnics 101

This is a planning page for a future course to be taught at Monmouth College. The course will be taught by a chemistry professor and the campus' lead electrician.

The rules that regulate the fireworks in the state of Illinois can be found here

Fireworks are classified as a hazardous material (HAZMAT) class 1.3. The United Nations classification system can be found here; the classification by the United States Department of Transportation (DOT) can be found here. Consumer grade fireworks (where allowed are classified as 1.4.

Possible Textbooks

The Chemistry of Fireworks: 2nd Ed.

A PDF of this text can be found here

An online version of the first edition can be found here

Fireworks Company

Both instructors are employees of J&M Displays

Lab Activities

Week 1

ACS: The Chemistry of Fireworks, John A. Conkling, Ph.D. (6 min)

ACS: Fireworks: The Chemistry in the Color (2 min)

Week 2

Shell Design

How Fireworks Work: Ball Shells (4 mins)

TOP 10 AMAZING HOMEMADE FIREWORKS #1 (9 mins)

TOP 10 AMAZING HOMEMADE FIREWORKS #2 (10 mins)

TOP 10 AMAZING HOMEMADE FIREWORKS #3 (11 min)

Week 3

Shell Construction

7 Inch Double Petal Ballshell Rocket Heading, Experimental. See note below the video (52 mins)

Week 4

Rockets

Fireworks Rocket Master 2016 (22 mins)