Bright Firecrackers ?

[User64]

This past 4th of July I purchased some standard red TNT brand firecrackers and some silver colored "Titanium" TNT brand firecrackers.

The "Titanium" were packaged in an outer silver lined foil paper and are a gray color.

 

Couldn't really tell the difference one at a time, as I personally think setting off a string of 100 firecrackers in a residential area is rude even if it is the 4th of July. I usually take them off the string and light them one or two at a time to avoid being annoying to the neighbors.

 

To tell the difference between them, two groups of five were lit. Using sunglasses to keep vision loss at a minimum, the "Titanium" version did in fact seem to be brighter.

 

What I'm wondering is, what might they have added for the brighter flash ? It couldn't be as simple as the name could it ?

 

I really like areal shots that you can barely see the tail of as they go up but then overwhelm your senses with very bright colors and effects when they finally burst. Just wondering what might have been used for the brighter effect and if it's a common element added for brighter effect.

[Xtreme Pyro]

Some firecrackers actually do have a small amount of titanium in them to give them more visual effect, hence the "Titanium" in the name.

[User64]

Thank you, guess It was that simple.

 

So can titanium be used to make shells colors seem more bright or does it just produce white light ?

[boule]

It'll produce white sparks and thus make the burst look brighter. Here is a little example of what you can expect - some of the rockets are loaded with Ti-flash, others with plain. Feel free to guess which are which.

 

[User64]

Thank you, that answers my questions.

 

I'll have to wait for my copy of The Art, Science, and Technique to show up to better understand what I'd like to Achieve.

[a_bab]

A fairly unknown oddity is that adding some oxalic acid (5%) to the regular flash formula will increase the light output dramatically.