Video: It isn’t hard to understand how the firecrackers you played with as a kid worked, but YouTube’s BeyondSlowMotion channel reveals how those gigantic fireworks that fill the night sky with colourful sparkles actually work.
To safely film a fireworks shell at 3200 frames per second on the ground, a thin cross-section of a shell was sandwiched between two pieces of glass to allow a high-speed camera to see the fuse burning, and eventually all of the pyrotechnics inside igniting. It’s almost as satisfying as watching the real thing, although it’s missing the thrilling prospect of blowing some extremities off.
[YouTube via Laughing Squid]