How Fireworks Work and Where to Watch

We hope you’re looking forward to a safe July 4 celebration, including a spectacular display of fireworks. There are so many amazing shows to pick from in the Chicago area. Do you ever find yourself wondering how those fireworks do what they do? And why we find the display so thrilling?

Those colorful explosions are created with equal parts chemistry and artistry—and the beauty of it all starts with how your eyes take in the display. Be sure you and your loved ones stay safe. Only enjoy fireworks shows from at least 500 feet away.

Inside your eye.
There’s a thin layer of tissue at the back of your eye called the retina. The retina is actually brain tissue, packed with light-sensitive neurons called rods and cones. The cones are electrically stimulated by certain wavelengths of light into telling your brain that you’re seeing colors.

So colors are really just different wavelengths of light that excite your retinal neurons a certain way.

And fireworks are just devices for creating short, powerful bursts of light at those wavelengths.

The art of modern chemistry.
The secret to fireworks’ magic is that different metals emit light at different wavelengths when they’re heated, a process called incandescence. (If you’re curious, what actually happens is that electrons in the metal ions absorb and then emit specific amounts of energy that correspond to specific colors.) It’s not much different than what goes on inside your average light bulb—just more colorful!

The firework itself is basically just an explosive device designed to heat those metal particles and blast them into a variety of shapes. The components inside the firework create the shape and the color.

People have been experimenting with colorful burning metals for centuries, but modern chemistry has made the art of designing fireworks far more precise. The basic lineup of metals and colors is:

• Sodium to produce yellow.
• Barium to produce green.
• Strontium to produce red.
• Copper to produce blue.

We hope you’ll take some time this weekend to catch a fantastic show in the Chicago area. We found Oaklee’s Family Guide complied a list of Chicago and suburban fireworks displays, festivals and parades.

If it’s time to schedule your annual exam, call Forsight Vision at 847-955-9393 or make an appointment online with one of our optometrists. If you are in the area, stop by our Long Grove office to meet our optical staff and browse our selection of frames and sunglasses.