Useful Trivia

Someone asked me the other night, "How do they make the fireworks all those different colors?" Fortunately, having taken inorganic chemistry in the not-too-distant past, I was able to tell them the different colors came from small amounts of different metals mixed in with the explosive components. I couldn't remember exactly which metals made which colors, though.

Imagine my satisfaction, then, when I was unpacking some books the other day and came across the notes for that class. Here's what they use to make the different colors:

White: Magnesium
Red: Rubidium
Brick Red: Calcium
Crimson: Strontium, Lithium
Yellow: Sodium
Green: Barium, also Copper and Boron
Blue: Cesium
Purple: Potassium

At last, some practical use for all those chemistry classes I took!