How to Make Black Snake or Glow Worm Fireworks

How to Make Black Snake or Glow Worm Fireworks Black snakes, sometimes called glow worms, are small tablets that you light, using a punk or a lighter, that burn to produce long black snakes of ash. They produce some smoke (which had a characteristic, probably toxic odor), but no fire or explosion. The original fireworks used to contain salts of a heavy metal (such as mercury), so while they were marketed for kids to play with, they really werent that much safer than conventional fireworks, just dangerous in a different way. However, there is a safe way to make black snakes. You can heat baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) with sugar (sucrose) to produce carbon dioxide gas that puffs up black carbon ash (see a video). Black Snake Materials SandAlcohol or fuel oil (High-proof alcohol or lighter fluid works well for this  project)Baking sodaSugar (Powdered sugar or you can grind table sugar in a coffee grinder) Steps to Make Snakes Mix 4 parts powdered sugar with 1 part baking soda. (Try  4 teaspoons sugar and 1 teaspoon baking soda)Make a mound with the sand. Push a depression into the middle of the sand.Pour the alcohol or other fuel into the sand to wet it.Pour the sugar and soda mixture into the depression.Ignite the mound, using a lighter or match. At first, youll get a flame and some small scattered blackened balls. Once the reaction gets going, the carbon dioxide will puff up the carbonate into the continuously extruded snake. You can also make black snakes without sand mix baking soda and sugar in a metal mixing bowl, add the fuel and light the mixture. It should work fine. These will have a distinct, familiar smell... of burnt marshmallows. Finally, rest assured that if you use pure ethanol, sugar, and baking soda, there is nothing toxic about this project. One caution: Dont add fuel to the burning snake, since you risk igniting the alcohol stream. How Black Snakes Work The sugar and baking soda snake proceeds according to the following chemical reactions, where sodium bicarbonate breaks down into sodium carbonate, water vapor, and carbon dioxide gas while burning the sugar in oxygen produces water vapor and carbon dioxide gas. The snake is carbonate with black carbon particles: 2 NaHCO3 → Na2CO3 H2O CO2 C2H5OH 3 O2 → 2 CO2 3 H2O These instructions were adapted from a tutorial given on Boing Boing which in turn came from a defunct Russian site. The Russian site suggested two additional ways to make chemical snakes: Ammonium Nitrate Black Snake This works the same way as the sugar and baking soda snake, except using ammonium nitrate (niter) instead of sugar. Mix one part ammonium nitrate and one part baking soda. This recipe is more like what you would see in commercial black snake fireworks, which are supposedly composed of soda with nitrated naphthalenes and linseed oil. Its another very safe demonstration, though not safe enough to eat, like sugar and baking soda. Ammonium Dichromate Green Snake The green snake is a variation on the ammonium dichromate volcano. The volcano is a cool chemistry demonstration (orange sparks, green ash, smoke), but its a chemistry-lab-only demonstration (not safe for kids at all) because the chromium compound is toxic. The green soda snakes are made from: Two parts of ammonium nitrateOne part of powdered sugarOne part of ammonium dichromate Mix the ingredients, add a small amount of water, and roll the result into a snake shape (using gloves is strongly recommended). Allow the snake to dry (the tutorial suggests using a hairdryer to speed the process). Light one end of the snake.  Its worth knowing how to do this demonstration if you have ammonium dichromate and ammonium nitrate on hand, otherwise, let the Russian photos suffice and play with the sugar and baking soda snakes instead.  In this case, an orange snake burns to green ash.  Another (spectacular) form of black carbon snake results from reacting sugar and sulfuric acid. Disclaimer: Please be advised that the content provided by our website is for EDUCATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY. Fireworks and the chemicals contained within them are dangerous and should always be handled with care and used with common sense. By using this website you acknowledge that ThoughtCo., its parent About, Inc. (a/k/a Dotdash), and IAC/InterActive Corp. shall have no liability for any damages, injuries, or other legal matters caused by your use of fireworks or the knowledge or application of the information on this website. The providers of this content specifically do not condone using fireworks for disruptive, unsafe, illegal, or destructive purposes. You are responsible for following all applicable laws before using or applying the information provided on this website.