ACS Webinars: Welcoming 2012: The Chemistry of Fireworks

[asilentbob]

http://acswebinars.org/mocella

 

*You do NOT have to be an ACS member, anyone can register and get a unique link

*Filling out the online registration form to get your unique link to the webinar IS required. Multiple people can't use the same unique link.

*There is no fee, it is FREE

*If it turns out to not be so great, its only a waste of an hour

 

I'm not sure how good this will actually be. Many of us here feel like we know a good deal of the chemistry pretty well, especially when we have been doing it for so many years, but still it could be nice to watch, and perhaps it would be good for some of the newer members or anyone's interested family or what not. The dude was one of Conklings students, so he may have picked up some stuff. I dunno, I'm just bringing it to everyone's attention.

 

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Welcoming 2012: The Chemistry of Fireworks

 

New Year and fireworks. Pop! Bang! Whooo! Boom! We love them. These are the sounds of celebration. Although the basic recipe and techniques used in preparing the black powder (gun powder) in modern-day fireworks is the same as it was 500 years ago, advances in chemistry have allowed us to create spectacular displays we enjoy today. Join our speaker, Chris Mocella as he describes the delicate chemistry that brings loud sounds and brilliant colorful images to welcome your new year. Just don’t try this at home!

 

 

Download Presentation Slides (available after the webinar)

 

“Welcoming 2012: The Chemistry of Fireworks” A short presentation followed by Q&A with speaker Dr. Chris Mocella, U.S. Customs and Border Protection Laboratories.

 

What You Will Learn

 

* The basic “re-dox” principles in pyrotechnic reactions

* Chemical ingredients in fireworks

* Putting fireworks together and igniting them

* Special effects: color generation and “stars”

* And much more…

 

 

Webinar Details

Date: Thursday, December 8, 2011

Time: 2:00-3:00 pm ET

Fee: Free

 

 

Meet Your Experts

Chris Mocella began working with Dr. John Conkling as an undergraduate research associate while pursuing his Bachelor’s degree in chemistry at Washington College in Chestertown, MD, with a focus on energetic materials and pyrotechnics. Chris continued working with the Summer Pyrotechnic Seminar series while attending the University of Virginia for graduate school in organometallic chemistry. He is now a tenured chemist with the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Laboratories. Most recently, Chris was co-author on the second addition of Dr. Conkling’s The Chemistry of Pyrotechnics book.

 

The Fine Print

 

ACS Webinars™ does not endorse any products or services. The views expressed in this presentation are those of the presenters and do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the American Chemical Society.

[warthog]

I signed up for this one and I hope it al goes well. It looks interesting enough and once the webinar is done, the "slides" and notes will be available for download too. I also think it will be nice to be able to ask some questions of him since I have read the Conkling/Mocella book cover to cover.

 

While I am fairly well able to understand the chemistry and physics going on in what we do, my actual lab and class time was some 30 years ago and a little refresher sure can't hurt.

Edited November 17, 2011 by warthog

[NightHawkInLight]

Very cool, I'll be sure to tune in! Looks like a great way to introduce some people to the basics if nothing else. If anyone remembers, please make a post here the day before or something as a reminder to everyone. I'll try not to forget to do it myself.

[warthog]

Is there a Calendar here? Maybe Mumbles can add it so there is an automatic notification on the main page?

 

That would rock! I set me computer to send me an email and make a sound just before I need to get all linked in via Google Calendar.

[asilentbob]

I set a reminder with alarm on my cell phone calendar, then go get my link from my email acct right before, though I could make a tinyurl with my unique link and save it in my phone too. I did that once with a previous webinar where I wasn't sure that I would be home when it started and might have to use whatever computer is nearby.

[californiapyro]

lol "don't try this at home" XD

[NightHawkInLight]

One day notice.

[asilentbob]

Reminder, the webinar starts in like 12 minutes. Join it now if you did register.

[NightHawkInLight]

That was pretty good. Reading through some of the questions that were posted though it was driving me nuts that I couldn't respond to them myself. Someone asking how do we regulate fireworks chemicals so they're not used in roadside b*mbs and IED's...Makes me want to pull my hair out.

[asilentbob]

Presentation is over.

 

I thought it was pretty good. It was very much pyrotechnics 101 for the lay person though.

 

From the audience questions you could tell that many attendees were pretty young and wanted to know how to do things. Another portion had specific concerns from a toxicity or regulation standpoint. There was also a portion representing a few pyrotechnics clubs, so some of those got plugged.

 

There were waayyyyyyy too many questions and only a couple were answered in the webinar, the moderator suggested that people post questions to here:

http://www.linkedin.com/groups/Chemistry-Fireworks-Pyrotechnics-Just-in-3061256.S.84215842?qid=51d867c6-7b0f-43e9-949a-a8151bece383&goback=.gmp_3061256

Though so far it is going veerrryyy slow.

 

EDIT: NightHawkInLight, I know exactly what you mean.

Edited December 8, 2011 by asilentbob