The Science of Pyrotechnic Effects - with Matthew Tosh

Matthew Tosh, one of the UK’s leading pyrotechnicians, explains how fireworks and explosions are safely performed in a journey from fundamental combustion to the complex and visual effects seen around the world.
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How do we make gunpowder and launch fireworks in the air? How do they create the intricate patterns in the sky at firework displays or the bangs, whistles and crackles for sound effects? Matthew Tosh reveals the inner workings of a pyrotechnic extravaganza with fiery demos and explosive bangs.
Matthew Tosh is a presenter, broadcaster and pyrotechnician. He’s built a reputation for bringing energy, enthusiasm and creative “spark” to events, live performances, television, radio and education projects. He is particularly well-known for his live event work involving fireworks and pyrotechnics all over the UK. Matthew has supervised fireworks as part of the London 2012 Torch Relay, as well as at many live orchestra concerts, awards ceremonies and, of course, Bonfire season displays.
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[@justmeisthatok7990]

Please mention the dangers of STATIC electricity also. People DO play with items trying to make a louder bigger effect, no matter how much warning is given. Great presentation all in all! Thank you. Love the inert product demo!

[@TheWitcherX]

He warned about it

[@asencme]

I love this channel, I mean I can't attend those lectures, so it's amazing to watch it from home!

[@johnw.s7838]

What other interesting channels do you subscribe to? . The MIT OR Harvard talks/Lectures can be very interesting too. Is it pyrotechnics that you find the most rivetting? Thoisoi2 channel is worth a look , and Rulof maker is a very clever man, staying away from crazyRussianHacker will help conserve your IQ..

[@asencme]

John W.S No, I'm interested in anything new that I can learn but physics and astrophysics are my thing!

[@Limpn00dle84]

Asen Georgiev is that right? Congratulations!

[@awmperry]

Really good lecture - and nice to see the emphasis on not only being safe but teaching about safety.

[@TimothyMcAleeSrGeD]

As an amateur inventor, I discovered gun powder, while working on a H^2O fuel source, during the first OPEC fuel embargo! Unsure of my discovery, I raced to my local library & sure enough, I had the ingredients of gunpowder! Then, as I continued reading, I further discovered, that I was 3500 years too late! The Chinese had beat me to it!!!

[@jdogg198]

Absolutely outstanding lecture! I had the opportunity to register for limited use of professional grade pyrotechnics, and had a lot of fun, but as Mr. Tosh describes, safety was tantamount to proper enjoyment!

[@jamesb6820]

When you say register for limited use, what do you mean?

[@jdogg198]

Basically, it was a Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives registration form, and we had to fill it out with type of explosives, date, time, location, safety equipment, and names of all who were to be present. In Idaho where I did this, the rules at the time required that registration form for anything that leaves the ground, or anything that deflagrates with destructive force. Basically, without registering (or a pyrotechnics' license, firecrackers and roman candles and mortar shells are illegal there.)

[@jamesb6820]

Ah ok, in the UK we have the ASP and the BPA, often you need to be a member of one of these to buy equipment and get insurance.

[@mjtonyfire]

Love the enthusiasm! I wanted to be a pyrotechnic when I was in school. Great science background to the craft too.

[@weukk]

You wanted to be a pyrotechnic? I think you mean Pyrotechnician lol because if you wanted to be a pyrotechnic and that would mean you wanted to be an explosive.

[@laserfloyd]

The title had me at "pyro". Love these videos. Also 1:27 is how I light a candle, too. :D

[@opensesame525]

Brilliant. Totally engrossed and enlightened !!

[@elvida17]

At 47:35 He talks about colours in fireworks, just for anyone who's trying to learn about pyrotechnics that has to do with colours, like I am trying to.

[@falconmick]

Amazing lecture, great work.

[@stevedl3150]

`First time I ever came across real Pyrotechnics ( being from England ) was when I visited Valencia, Spain - to see one of their Festivals ( Las Fallas ). My interest in this particular Festival was piqued when I read, in Rough Guide to Spain, that this is `probably the most riotous Festival in the whole Country.` Well then , whom wouldn`t... ? Hells` Bell`s - it is totally insane. Pieces of trees dropping on top of my head whilst stood a quarter of a mile away from the action. People being wheeled off to hospital to have their ears checked. In fact, the first time I was there I went behind a tree and put my back to it - thinking that the tree might adsorb some of the sound energy that I could feel hitting my chest. It surprises me that any Valencian can hear at all.

[@justmeisthatok7990]

U can use foam rubber or even cigarette filter in a pinch for hearing protection.

[@phugoid]

They should've titled it "An Hour of Tosh" ;)

[@tiredmummy7512]

I'm 53 so I've see a fair few fireworks from the little box of standard fireworks when we were kids because cars weren't as common to get to displays in bigger towns, to organised displays. I'm concerned that way too many people buy fireworks that are too large for the garden/area they have.

[@andrewlavey6992]

Very good presentation by Matthew with loads of information.

[@Twitchi]

Wonderfully entertaining and interesting

[@kylerichards2939]

What a great lecture, I love this channel!!

[@RaivoltG]

I wanna feel an "Infrared Fireworks Show!" Cool video, I always wondered how you guys made some of the effects, like crackles, roaring, whistles, showers of sparks, designs etc. You made some pretty funny comments too! You've definitely got an awesome job! I'll be looking for any other videos you made!

[@justmeisthatok7990]

It's not just a Job.. it's a way of LIFE! People don't really get me though. And my fellow full time tech's tell me the SAME thing.. only others in the entertainment industry seem to have respect for us . UNLESS they want something.. and suddenly now I am popular

[@_krivbeknih]

Brilliant lecture ! Thank you Ri :)

[@Shadowbot074]

Woke up to this playing. Watched the rest and subbed

[@Ketobbey]

[@toburae3870]

I do love this lecture, but I wonder if you could enable them to be captioned, please. There should now be an option to allow others to add captions for you, or to allow KZbin to auto caption and auto-translate. I'm hard of hearing, and from the US so trying to make sense of some of the accents and terminology without captions was a little difficult. Thank you for the great video!

[@TheRoyalInstitution]

Hi Tobu Rae, we do have the option of adding captions available for all of our videos, for just the reasons you mentioned. We're a team of 2.5 people here, so we don't really have capacity to do the in-house at the moment (although we're fundraising on Patreon so fingers crossed we'll be able to do so in the not too distant future), so we rely heavily on our committed fans to donate their time and skills. KZbin auto captioning is also auto enabled but it won't work if the video is over an hour so this one is sadly still lacking subtitles.

[@toburae3870]

Thank you for the response. I was unaware of the 1 hour limit preventing the auto caption. I truly appreciate the care and attention you took to my response. I'll be subscribing to you and hopefully your staff of 2.5 will continue to provide high quality content for years to come!

[@justmeisthatok7990]

Ask me any questions.. I'm in U. S. And very familiar with ALL pyro products.

[@krismevoli598]

Cool I love these videos. Glad I could watch one same day it's put up

[@yakacm]

Who takes their kid to a lecture called The Science of Pyrotechnic Effects, then takes them out when there might be a loud noise? I understand safety is important but it's getting ludicrous how micro managed things are now a days. In the 70's you could walk into a chemist and buy the chemicals to make BP, which I did when I was 12. Pre internet I wasn't aware of the ratios, or the other steps needed to make proper BP, but we still had fun.

[@CookingWithCows]

probably started when kids started filling said blackpowder into metal pipes and blowing up their houses or blowing up vending machines to steal cigarettes

[@mikec4156]

awesome presentation

[@nicwilson89]

8:45 5 or 6? That's basically just like lighting a candle for a Rammstein gig :D

[@Systemrat2008]

Great stuff thank you.

[@MythicalPyro]

Interesting video. Pyrotechnics are always fun.

[@greglaroche1753]

Great job !

[@g_blue_2737]

I love his chanel because i like chemistry and fire

[@MrRobinhalligan]

Love this

[@CellRus]

AHHHH, Clifton Suspension Bridge in Bristol!! AHHHH!!

[@sockington1]

I wish we could get some lectures aimed at adults

[@schelsullivan]

I want to do this!

[@justmeisthatok7990]

Well, TRULY wasn't very loud.. and it's on a home theater system.. maybe it's just I'm used to LOUDER fireworks.. or .you Tube has muffled it.

[@mbirth]

And now I have to watch the London NYE fireworks video again…

[@eliasklein9311]

I enjoyed the lecture, but I was hoping for a bit more science and not just a pyro-show. Love his enthusiasm!

[@liamprincetech]

I mean, his audience was predominantly kids and parents so there's only so far he could go with the science...

[@S.Ktechboy118]

56:36 cool fireworks How to maid can you any tell me Which ingredient use

[@S.Ktechboy118]

Indore fireworks

[@Sarge92]

27:31 that kid just needs to listen when hes told DONT SIT IN THAT SEAT or you could give him a physical demonstration and just let him get injured

[@davkrod]

9 minutes in and all he has told us is how good he is. Get on with it!

[@slip8293]

Andrew Szydlo needs to show this guy how its done

[@patriot7703]

Exactly! This guy talks way too much. It's good to live in a state in the U.S. where we can light our own fireworks. Liberty!!

[@pitchforkpeasant6219]

@@patriot7703 not in all states of the united states of authoritarianism. No fireworks allowed here

[@thelolminecrafter7830]

I guess 44 Grandmas got hit with a whizzy rocket going "pbtbtbtbtbt"

[@9787nalin]

Any one know which chemical are used in indoor cold pyro?

[@jonelectronics510]

Mostly nitrocellulose based with metal powders added to give the sparks (normally titanium for brilliant white). However, you can achieve different flame colours by adding a variety of other chemicals.

[@sayyadarshad2699]

@@jonelectronics510 hi

[@sayyadarshad2699]

Nitrocellulose +titanium + ?

[@jpmorgan187]

I don't know, I think he should have used 6 inch thick armored glass for the black powder demo.

[@reymarckessaguirre5082]

I like how the people up the stairs are coughing due to inhalation of MgO 😂😂

[@TomKappeln]

As a former mine diver i did a lot of "fireworks" ... hehehehe

[@znithz4350]

no wonder he is an expert each time he talks, the words are exploding 🤣🤣🤣

[@teresashinkansen9402]

The presenter needs to go to an Andrew Szydlo talk. While the safety aspect when dealing with pyrotechnics is understandable he talks too much about safety for such tame demonstrations, makes his talk be less engaging.

[@Ryan-Fkrepublicnz]

SMILE.

[@alansharples9520]

There is a similar lecture by Chris Bishop which is rather better done

[@patriot7703]

I really enjoy these lectures. They don't tell you enough to "try this at home" and of course "report it to the police" if you see a shell like that. That is sad their society is that controlled. The smaller shell is totally legal in the U.S. and it's not as dramatic as he stated.

[@ragabufragsome3426]

h1.08.10s and that creates an RPG. He just gave us a lesson on how to make bombs. I knew how they worked before but someone who might want to hurt others might use this. That's the thing about the internet I have never even reperched explosives but i still learnt how to make gunpowder how to make a mortar how to make a timed charge and how to make a shell. And people wonder why bombs are going off not very smart are we ?

[@jonwest403]

RPG stands for Rocket Propelled Grenade, what he is showing is a shell effect which is neither rocket propelled or a grenade. Equally, nothing he shows you will allow you to create a high explosive bomb.

[@ragabufragsome3426]

@@jonwest403 So he didnt give the exact compounds of black powder? He didnt show how to create a timed charge? You could take this and make explosives thats a fact.

[@pitchforkpeasant6219]

Plenty of people know this stuff already. There are good and bad uses of almost everything and so are the applications across various aspects of life

[@jeremycalnan4180]

You don't want to talk about "new Jack city"

[@solarsombrero227]

aren't those safety measures a bit over the top?

[@jpmorgan187]

We live in world obsessed with safety.

[@pitchforkpeasant6219]

@@jpmorgan187 those who would choose safety over freedom...... if youre scared stay home😁

[@leosedf]

He actually never mentioned oxidizers and metal salts or the indoor ones (nitrocellulose-Zirconium). That is ok though because kids will try to recreate. He also forgot to mention how the timefuse lights up during lift on shells.

[@tiarnanb3667]

+leosedf All true, could have put some of those in instead of going into quantum mechanics with 10 year olds :P

[@leosedf]

+Tiarnan Branson There are so many other things that could be in there but other than that it was great.

[@transparentpolitics]

+leosedf He was talking so fast putting every thing in... what would he leave out to add this?

[@leosedf]

+transparentpolitics Yeah you probably need a whole day to mention all of them lol

[@jamesb6820]

In fairness, here in the UK it takes a full day lecture (well a 4-6 hour) to become basic trained with pyro, when you are explaining this stuff at such a base level you can't have everything...

[@paulstannard7985]

Love the RI lectures - went to some as a kid, this guy is good but too much talking and not enough pyro......

[@julianernesto7231]

Forest fires brought me here, anyone?

[@MWDFrancis]

What the heck, kid in the front row? Don’t make him ask you to move again, or he will turn this fireworks show right around and go back home.

[@jamesb6820]

I'm sorry matthew, I tried these at home....

[@phishiphishi]

me too .... blamed it on Matthew ......

[@ambulocetusnatans]

Now my bathroom's all wet and my grandmother's on fire.

[@cortster12]

Of course they made a Tardis out of fireworks...

[@josephgalarneau7177]

pretty good lecture, he is a little difficult to endure, and I've seen all of this before on other shows

[@jesusisthelord6993]

¶ Better is a little with righteousness than great revenues without right. Proverbs 16:8 KJV

[@jpmorgan187]

I feel like this could have been condensed to 45 minutes.

[@ANTINUTZI]

... As anyone equipped with A Pair and supplied with the resultant testosterone knows, *blowing stuff up is the Mt. Everest summit of FUN.* How something can be so equally thrilling, and relaxing, is just flat-out *wonderful.* The surefire (sorry!) evidence of this is the Fun Fact that virtually every boy who labored with great love to build, and paint his model cars, planes, ships & etc. almost inevitably, one somewhat boring day, found himself out in the back yard, coating his soon to be ex-beloved models in airplane glue, touching them off with a match, and thrilling to the sight of 'em burning down into puddles of blazing, bubbling, smoking & stinking goo that would have left bald patches in the lawn for the next half-decade, had I not been sentenced to replacing the topsoil, reseeding, and watering the replacement grass patches (which never *quite* matched the original lawn, heh-heh-heh) ... Until I got thoroughly busted and read right out by my Dad, I was sending my model airplanes flaming down a steeply angled zip-wire I'd rigged up to a small tree. They looked *fantastic,* and I surely owed them at least *some* testosterone-twisted version of a Viking funeral, which I'd seen at the movies, and thought *incredibly* cool-- and, oh, uh, yeah, right-- *noble.* And *incredibly* cool, what a way to go out, Dragon-prow dancing against the equally blazing sunset ... Viking orchestra & chorus howling away ... Some years later, I suddenly remembered that it v-e-r-y probably wasn't a coincidence that my Dad landed on me right after my *last* (of about a dozen) woebegone model planes burned and crashed, and then burned some more ... by then, one whole section of the back yard looked like a miniature war movie set. And *you* just know that *I* now know that *he* knew that I didn't know then that he was standing somewhere out of sight, *watching the whole thing.*

[@sirsmokealotofkush5857]

I swear to god if that kid moves again...moved again at 1:01:15😡😡😡😡

[@kstevencrombie191]

Interesting but a little too much health and safety!

[@SpydersByte]

for real :D you'd think he were actually setting off real fireworks for the amount of safety talk there was. You'd also think an audience attending a pyrotechnic talk would be expecting flashing lights and loud sounds but he warns them like they just walked in off the street each time.

[@BigGreezyJake]

Yeah i can comment again wo hoo

[@samiraperi467]

Jerb? THER TERK ER JERBS!

[@cobrasvt347]

I'm glad I live in the US and can buy fireworks year round. I don't know what i'd do without my guns and massive fireworks. If someone blows off their own head it's on them. Guns and fireworks don't kill people. People using them in the wrong way kills people. Don't blame the fireworks or firearms. Blame the user.

[@NBC_NCO]

So in reality...there is no such thing as a explosion? Only super rapid expansion of gas.

[@mariagabrielaespinagonzale1564]

The dark angora trivially terrify because hamburger congruently wail except a demonic search. obsolete, befitting beauty

[@masterzedd4]

when he was describing the flash powder tube, I noticed the China Export symbol on it. No wonder it is Extremely dangerous.

[@buggsy5]

CE does not stand for China Export. It is a certification mark that indicates the product conforms with health, safety, and environmental protection standards for products sold within the European Economic Area.

[@xenonram]

buggsy5 That's actually wrong. There are two "CE" symbols. The Conformité Européene one is spaced out more than the "China Export" symbol, to the point where, if the "C" is closed off to form an "O," the line thickness of the newly formed "O" and the "E" should just overlap. The China Export symbol is too close, and the "O" would cut through the middle of the "E."

[@Ariccio123]

AvE?

[@ingensvidcz5390]

im disappointed ín the size of the explosions and burning. Very small, very boring.

[@John-tk1in]

The British amaze me. 120 years ago Your Kings forced Your Peasants to proforme Fireworks Shows at the risk of the Peasants own life, MANY died for the pleasure of the rich. Now it's PLEASE PLEASE call the police if you see a 2'' motor shell. It's almost like, well you heard the man say a Billionaire had a show for 3500 per minute. Anyway, your legale system is still to the benefit of the rich. Oh no you can't buy this for 5 and shoot it off yourself, but if you can pay 3500 a minute you can still enjoy these in the place of your liking. So we Government folk haven't really taken anything away from you. Right not as long as you have the cash. This is the difference between America and GB. And the EU finds it completely unacceptable, the poor in America have access to the same kinds of things as the rich.

[@ianwilliams7015]

well just does prof then one does need to understand science first and he is not it

[@FutureChaosTV]

You just prove that anyone can comment even those that can't do english.

[@donaldbarnett8045]

Sorry to be the party pooper here but their are much better lectures on fireworks on the internet. The explanations of effects and how fireworks function were lame.

[@newagarwalcomputech2952]

Dead audience

[@thomasluczak2868]

a little bit boring.

[@epasko5713]

cool, intelligent, too bad he stutters too much, I can't listen to it

[@rowannadon7668]

when? lol

[@epasko5713]

that + the and-Uhms..counted 32 from15:00 to 17:00 he's just pumped in front of the crowd is all, Notice His Narration Is Perfect though! your reply got me through the rest of it so, Thanks Potato!

[@rowannadon7668]

E Pasko i didn't get that far ironically, i ran out of time to watch youtube

[@zekiballroom]

E Pasko M.

[@Limpn00dle84]

Wow, less quew quew more pew pew! Jeez, this guy talks too much about one little thing. I have to go watch something else now. This guy spends way too much time talking about senseless s*** and his fireworks are not even worth watching. I'm so mad

[@unlokia]

Yawn. If you get excited by this, you probably get excited by magic shows, and are likely a 12 year old. Yawn. Sorry, wanted to enjoy... zzzzz

[@eringobreathtiocfaidharla1446]

Gone overboard on the safely