Cities have adopted a pyrotechnic show model that does not harm babies, the elderly and animals
Having a dog during the holidays can be difficult. As soon as the fireworks start, the animals become very anxious and tremble with fear, due to the great sensitivity of their hearing.
To avoid this discomfort, several cities in Italy are replacing fireworks with silent versions.
This is the case of Collecchio, in the province of Parma, which adopted technology as a rule for its popular celebrations, including New Year's. The law applies to residents: if you want to set off fireworks there, it will have to be the silent version.
In the municipality of Spezia, In Liguria, residents last week created a petition proposing the use of silent fireworks.
Trieste, in the northern region of Italy, tested the technology this year at the main festival in the commemorative calendar, Ferragosto. Thousands of spectators watched the fireworks, which were synchronized with music by Andrea Bocelli, for example. The city promises to repeat the experience.
How the technology works
The English factory Fantastic Fireworks has been producing silent fireworks for 30 years. What's new for them is not the silence, but the competitors. “Over the last decade, we have had more competition,” Rino Sampieri, the company’s exhibition manager, told the New York Times. Increasingly, small producers are dedicating themselves more to the less noisy version of the artifacts. In practice, with increased production, it becomes easier (and cheaper) to use them on different occasions.
The explanation is chemical and physical. Some elements, when they come into contact with heat, emit flames of different colors. When the molecules of a certain element are agitated, they gain energy, which ends up being released in the form of light.
Each element releases a different amount of energy, forming waves of light with equally different characteristics. A wave with an amplitude of 380 nanometers (a billion times smaller than a meter) is violet. If the value is 780 nanometers, the color becomes red. In practice, this means that if you burn copper, the chemical process will result in yellow flames, and if you touch barium on fire, the result is green. So far so good, chemistry for English to see; not listen. It turns out that traditional fireworks use bombs, which explode these chemical elements, after throwing them into the air. No silent fires, they burn gradually, without a big explosion.
This brings a visual effect. By avoiding explosions, the quiet fires burn slowly – from the moment they are launched. This means that they generally do not reach as high a height as their noisy cousins (by the time they reach the top they are finished). Consequently, fewer people get to see it. On the other hand, those who succeed enjoy it more. Slow burning allows for a wider color spectrum. When the fireworks explode, they give you just one color, the gradual burning lets you watch a fiery gradient in the skies.
It's fair to say that they are not mute. There is a sound, but it is much smaller than the common ones. It's more of a “Pá”, while the traditional ones make a bombastic noise. It's enough to alleviate some problems. Audio-sensitive people, babies, and pets often suffer from celebrations involving fireworks, and the silent version has been used as an alternative.
Of course, there is no plan to extinguish traditional fireworks, but the impression that you are watching a fireworks display on mute may become more frequent.
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