Rockets are rarely, if ever, used in modern public
displays. If they are used, they are smaller ones in flights and usually over large open
areas or water. Bottle rockets, skyrockets and other rockets are available as consumer
fireworks but these are relatively small. There are a few fireworks enthusiasts who do
build some impressive rockets, but these are the exception rather than the rule. This is a
common misconception from cartoons like Tom & Jerry and from the 19th
century when small rockets were the most common aerial fireworks used. Aerial shells fired
from mortars are by far the most generally used aerial fireworks today.
Aerial bombs is a term left over from the days when
aerial fireworks were in their infancy and used to assault castles, mostly during the
Feudal period in history. While some cannons would fire stone balls at the doors and walls
to batter it down, mortars would be used to lob aerial bombs inside in an effort to start
the wooden structures inside on fire. They worked essentially the same as aerial shells
used for entertainment, they were just fused longer and aimed differently.
Fireworks do not detonate, although many still
erroneously use this term. A detonation is "an exothermic chemical reaction in which
the reaction front advances at a supersonic speed in the unreacted material"
or what is often referred to as a high order explosion. Fireworks either burn, as
sparklers and fountains do at high temperatures, or they deflagrate. A deflagration is
"an exothermic chemical reaction in which the reaction front advances at a subsonic
speed in the unreacted material" " or what is often referred to as a low order
explosion.
Fireworks are also not a high explosive. They are
defined by the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms
(BATF) as a low explosive because they deflagrate when unconfined. ATF does have
regulations for bulk flash powder and salutes to be stored as a high explosive though
because their deflagration so rapid, the results of even small quantities require
additional room for safety.
Except for toy caps and snap pops, fireworks are
designed not to function upon impact. They are also made to be stable if stored for long
periods of time, even in high heat and humidity.
M-80s, cherry bombs, silver salutes, etc. are not
available on the legitimate market. They are no longer made by legitimate manufacturers,
have been banned since the 1966 Child Protection Act.
Fireworks do not have gunpowder in them, they have
blackpowder. Modern gunpowder contains nitrocellulose and is much finer than blackpowder.
Fireworks do not need the propellant or explosive energy of gunpowder to work and in fact
using gunpowder would cause most fireworks to lose their ability to function as designed
and desired.
Finally, fireworks are not "illegal".
Possessing or using certain types of fireworks in certain states and municipalities
without a license and/or permit, or in such a way as to cause a public nuisance, or a
threat to public safety can be illegal.