Question

Dark red color of bombs in fireworks is due to the presence of:
a.) Na
b.) Ba
c.) Sr
d.) K

Answer 1

Hint: Also Try to recall that sodium is always associated with yellow calls and barium gives apple green color in flame test.

Complete step by step answer:
In school labs when we perform flame tests there are only two basic radicals that produce red colors and among those two only one is given among the four options. Let us check the colouration for different metals:
- Aluminum – Aluminum is used to produce silver and white flames and sparks. It is a common component of sparklers.
- Barium – Barium is used to create green colors in fireworks, and it can also help stabilize other volatile elements.
- Carbon – Carbon is one of the main components of black powder, which is used as a propellant in fireworks. Carbon provides the fuel for a firework.
- Copper – Copper compounds produce blue colors in fireworks.
- Iron – Iron is used to produce sparks. The heat of the metal determines the color of the sparks.
- Magnesium – Magnesium burns a very bright white, so it is used to add white sparks or improve the overall brilliance of a firework.
- Phosphorus – Phosphorus burns spontaneously in air and is also responsible for some glow-in-the-dark effects. It may be a component of a firework’s fuel.
- Sodium – Sodium imparts a gold or yellow color to fireworks, however, the color may be so bright that it masks less intense colors.
- Potassium – Potassium helps to oxidize firework mixtures. Potassium nitrate, potassium chlorate, and potassium perchlorate are all important oxidizers.
- Strontium – Strontium salts impart a red color to fireworks. Strontium compounds are also important for stabilizing fireworks mixtures.
The correct answer is option “C” .

Additional Information : A pyrotechnic colorant is a chemical compound which causes a flame to burn with a particular color.

Note: To produce color in fireworks there are two mechanisms:
1.) Incandescence is the emission of light caused by high temperature. As a substance heats up it emits colors in different stages starting with infrared, then red, orange, yellow, and white as it becomes increasingly hotter.
2.) Luminescence the emission of light by a substance that has not been heated. To produce luminescence, energy is absorbed by an electron, causing it to become excited, but unstable. When the electron returns to a lower energy state the energy is released in the form of a photon (light).