Sparkler
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A sparkler, though commonly mistaken for a type of hand-held firework, actually makes up its own category of pyrotechnics that burn slowly while emitting colored flames, sparks, and other effects. Fireworks, by definition, must launch from the ground, thus excluding the sparkler from that category.
In the United Kingdom, a sparkler is often used by children at bonfire and fireworks displays on Guy Fawkes Night, the fifth of November.
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[edit] 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
- Additional fuel, optional, modifying the burning speed
- 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
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.
[edit] Safety issues
Sparklers are responsible for the vast majority of legal firework-related injuries, but mainly as a result of parents giving sparklers to young children. 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. This can cause devastating burns to hands and faces or ignite clothing. The government recommends adults to ensure children are wearing non-flammable clothing or materials which cannot catch fire easily. Sparklers, as with all fireworks, present a fire hazard. 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. It is always wise to wear gloves while handling lit sparklers.
[edit] 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 monolithic like tradition.[1]
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]
