In pyrotechnic compositions you see many chemicals represented by many different symbols. Just what do all of these symbols mean? In this webpage, I will explain that to you. Remember, the better you understand basic chemistry, the beter you'll understand pyrotechnics!

You know that all matter in this whole universe is made of atoms right? Well do you really know what an atom is? An atom is defined as the smallest particle of an element that still retains all the properties of that element. Here is another question, do you have a peridioc table? If not you really should get one. The periodic table is a list of all of the elements in order of atomic mass( I 'll cover that later, maybe). With a periodic table you can figure out what ANY pyro composition means.

If you read the news group rec.pyrotechnics you have seen people talking about a chemical called KClO3. Just what is KClO3? Here is how to break it down. All elements are named with a capital letter or a capital letter with a lower case one. So in the fomula KClO3 you have K=potassium, Cl=Chlorine and O=Oxygen. Hey but what about the 3?? Well this is where it gets tough. The chlorine and the oxygen combine to form a polyatomic ion. The ion is ClO3-. This ion is called chlorate. So when the polyatomic ion, chlorate and the element potassium combine the form a compound called potassium chlorate. Do you understand? Lets try another one. You've heard of a chemical called KNO3, right? Well lets break it down. The K we know =Potassium, the N=Nitrogen, and the O=Oxygen. Ahhh... but here we go again! There is a polyatomic ion in there. The nitrogen and the oxygen combine to form an ion called nitrate, NO3-. So when the element poassium and the ion nitrate combine they form potassium nitrate. Pretty cool,eh?

Here is a list of all the common elements used in pyro:

Al=aluminum

Ba=barium

c=carbon

Cl=chlorine

Cu=copper

Fe=iron

K=potassium

Mg=magnesium

Na=sodium

O=oxygen

Pb=lead

Sb=antimony

Sr=strontium

Ti=titanium

Zn=zinc

Here is a list of common polyatomic ions:

ClO3=chlorate

ClO4=perchlorate

Cr2O7=dichromate

NO3=nitrate

SO4=sulfate

NH4=ammonium

I really hope this helps you. If you still need help. Please email me.