The primary chemical component in nearly all fireworks is "black powder." The recipe for black powder, a mixture of 75 percent saltpeter (potassium nitrate), 15 percent charcoal, and 10 percent sulfur ...

Celebrating Diwali with firecrackers increases the risk of many diseases. Let us tell you that some firecrackers can cause ...

Potassium nitrate (KNO 3), known historically as saltpeter or the mineral niter, is a common salt with multiple uses. It has been known since antiquity; an early appearance in the chemical literature ...

There would be no guns without gunpowder, the volatile mixture of saltpetre (potassium nitrate), charcoal and sulphur that came to Europe in the 14th century. Chinese chemists were experimenting with ...

When a 'rocket' firecracker is lit up, it climbs to the sky, where it may additionally explode in a starburst. Here is the ...

• In our article on recycling old ammunition (30 August, p 13) we listed the constituents of gunpowder as the classic mixture of potassium nitrate, charcoal and sulphur. But as several readers have ...