Official Names of July 4th Pyrotechnic Effects Quiz

Answer:

Here are the choices that are terms for American Pyrotechnics Association firework displays:

In pyrotechnics, a Brocade is a large, slow-falling firework effect in the sky, resembling a golden or silver umbrella, or spider's web, or crown (a variant is the brocade crown, which forms a broad, symmetrical burst with a tail that glitters as it hangs down). Brocades are distinguished by their long, sparkling trails drifting downward as opposed to exploding and disappearing quickly.

The Chrysanthemum effect is an aerial shell, of a spherical paper casing launched from a mortar tube, producing a spherical break of small colored stars of compressed chemical pellets creating the light and color. They leave a trail of sparks flying outward, forming the long petals of the flower it is named after. The shells burst after black powder-coated rice hulls explode at the top of its trajectory, and the charcoal inside produces the trail of sparks as they burn.

The Crackling Rain firework effect combines a visual waterfall of light with a loud crackling sound. So, there's an audio and visual aspect in that the effect mimics a shimmering curtain or shower of golden or silver sparks falling from the sky like rain, but unlike the Falling Leaves effect, Crackling Rain has a rapid popping or crackling sound that accompanying the falling sparks. To get the crackling sound, a compound called bismuth trioxide, produces the sound effect.

In contrast to the Chrysanthemum which bursts outward with bright, trailing sparks, the "Falling Leaves" has a gentle, drifting motion of seemingly glowing leaves or embers fluttering slowly downward. And it's not so much a spherical burst, as it is a shower of small, bright twinkling stars that flutter downward as though falling off a tree. The stars are made from small pieces of paper/cardboard coated with a colored chemical that burns slowly, while their lightweight irregular shapes create the erratic unpredictable fluttering pattern as they drift down instead of following a straight path.

The Fish firework effect also has an unpredictable motion, although livelier than the Falling Leaves. Their bright bursts dart and zigzag just like a school of fish squiggling as they swim through water. The particles of the burst shoot in different directions, at a more rapid pace than some of the other particle burst fireworks. To create the swimming motion, the small "micro-star" particles have tiny extra propellants that shoot off in their own direction instead of dropping downward.

A Multi-Break Shell is an aerial firework with instead of one single explosion, is designed to burst into two or more separate sequences of distinct effects from a single launch. It does this by way of having a shell within a shell, and possibly several smaller shells or sections, each containing its own different effect, that are set off with time-delay fuses. Each explosion sets off the next explosion a fraction of a second later.

The Palm Tree firework creates a palm tree-like silhouette in the sky with a two-part structure. First is the "trunk" in which a thick tail of golden sparks that follow the shell as it continues upward. Then the second burst goes off at the apex, and the "fronds" or "palms" appear, trailing downward in a curved shape similar to the palm tree's leaves. The effect is helped by having those palm leaves made of slow-burning stars which are larger, brighter and burn longer. For a bonus, some will have a "coconut-effect" shell explode in the center of the palms.

The Peony is the classic firework burst, with a perfectly round, full shape as it expands. The stars burn brightly without leaving a visible trail of sparks behind them, which differentiates it from the Chrysanthemum whose stars do leave a visible trail of sparks. The shell has a lift charge fuse that ignites black powder, launching it into the sky. As the shell goes up, a timed fuse burns, waiting for the right altitude to explode, and when that happens the charge ignites and creates the explosion. For the Peony, the stars burn without a tail effect.

The Salute is heavily regulated because of its power, and is considered one of the more hazardous types of fireworks. It is an explosive firework whose primary effect is a loud BANG with a bright flash of light-not so much a pretty picture in the sky, but more of a sharp impact concussive sensation. They can be set off on the ground like a cherry bomb, or they can be an aerial, launched firework. Most are made with a compound called flash powder, which many other fireworks use, but in the Salute the formula is 70% potassium perchlorate (providing the oxygen needed for the rapid reaction) and 30% dark aluminum powder (the fuel in the form of a specific flake shape and fine particle size for creating the most violent reaction).

The Spider firework effect has an angular pattern in the sky, resembling the long, straight legs of a spider-radial lines that shoot out quickly from a central explosion. The lines are thinner than the lines in a willow or chrysanthemum effect. The straighter lines are achieved with a shell loaded with a fast-burning composition of stars with a powerful burst charge that causes the stars to explode out with such force that they travel in a more linear trajectory before they begin to descend and fade out.

As its name might suggest, the Waterfall firework effect looks like a cascading waterfall of light, shimmering against the black night sky. It is created by not just one shell, but a construction of multiple pyrotechnics, particularly many slow-burning fountain-type fireworks, often made with a line of inverted gerbs (pyrotechnic fountains that shoot a steady spray of sparks, for a lengthier amount of time) suspended across a span like a bridge or elevated stage construction for launching. The sparks then pour down in a continuous sheet, like a waterfall.

And the following choices are all nicknames of firearms, but are not fireworks:

Blunderbuss (short large-caliber firearm with a flared muzzle, from the 17th through 19th centuries).
Bo Whoop (nickname for the famous Winchester Model 1873 rifle).
Broomhandle (nickname for the Mauser C96 semi-automatic pistol).
Gyrojet (1960s firearm that fired tiny rocket-powered projectiles instead of bullets)
Miquelet (flintlock firing mechanism widely used in parts of Europe in the 16th-19th centuries)
Pepperbox (multi-barreled repeating pistol popular in the early to mid-19th century)
Yellowboy (nickname for the Winchester Model 1866 with a bright brass receiver)