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A spark is an
incandescent Incandescence is the emission of electromagnetic radiation (including visible light) from a hot body as a result of its high temperature. The term derives from the Latin verb ''incandescere,'' to glow white. A common use of incandescence is ...
particle In the physical sciences, a particle (or corpuscule in older texts) is a small localized object which can be described by several physical or chemical properties, such as volume, density, or mass. They vary greatly in size or quantity, from ...
. Sparks may be produced by
pyrotechnic Pyrotechnics is the science and craft of creating such things as fireworks, safety matches, oxygen candles, explosive bolts and other fasteners, parts of automotive airbags, as well as gas-pressure blasting in mining, quarrying, and demolition. ...
s, by
metalworking Metalworking is the process of shaping and reshaping metals to create useful objects, parts, assemblies, and large scale structures. As a term it covers a wide and diverse range of processes, skills, and tools for producing objects on every scal ...
or as a by-product of
fire Fire is the rapid oxidation of a material (the fuel) in the exothermic chemical process of combustion, releasing heat, light, and various reaction products. At a certain point in the combustion reaction, called the ignition point, flames a ...
s, especially when burning
wood Wood is a porous and fibrous structural tissue found in the stems and roots of trees and other woody plants. It is an organic materiala natural composite of cellulose fibers that are strong in tension and embedded in a matrix of lignin ...
.


Pyrotechnics

In pyrotechnics, charcoal, iron filings,
aluminum Aluminium (aluminum in American and Canadian English) is a chemical element with the symbol Al and atomic number 13. Aluminium has a density lower than those of other common metals, at approximately one third that of steel. It ha ...
,
titanium Titanium is a chemical element with the Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ti and atomic number 22. Found in nature only as an oxide, it can be reduced to produce a lustrous transition metal with a silver color, low density, and high strength, resista ...
and metal alloys such as
magnalium Magnalium is an aluminium alloy with 5% magnesium and 95% aluminum. Properties Alloys with small amounts of magnesium (about 5%) exhibit greater strength, greater corrosion resistance, and lower density than pure aluminium. Such alloys are also mo ...
may be used to create sparks. The quantity and style of sparks produced depends on the composition and
pyrophoricity A substance is pyrophoric (from grc-gre, πυροφόρος, , 'fire-bearing') if it ignites spontaneously in air at or below (for gases) or within 5 minutes after coming into contact with air (for liquids and solids). Examples are organolith ...
of the metal and can be used to identify the type of metal by spark testing. In the case of iron, the presence of
carbon Carbon () is a chemical element with the symbol C and atomic number 6. It is nonmetallic and tetravalent—its atom making four electrons available to form covalent chemical bonds. It belongs to group 14 of the periodic table. Carbon mak ...
is required, as in carbon steel — about 0.7% is best for large sparks. The carbon burns explosively in the hot iron and this produces pretty, branching sparks. The color of sparks used in pyrotechnics is determined by the material that the sparks are made from, with the possibility of adding different chemical compounds to certain materials to further influence the color of the sparks. The basic color of sparks is limited to red/orange, gold (yellow) and silver (white). This is explained by light emission from a solid particle. Light emitted from solid particles is defined by black-body radiation. The temperature of the spark is controlled by the reactivity of the metal. Higher reactive metals lead to hotter sparks. The
electronegativity Electronegativity, symbolized as , is the tendency for an atom of a given chemical element to attract shared electrons (or electron density) when forming a chemical bond. An atom's electronegativity is affected by both its atomic number and the ...
has found to be a helpful indicator to estimate the temperature and consequently the color of a spark. To achieve colors differing from black body emitters, vapor phase combustion of the metal is necessary. A typical example is
zinc Zinc is a chemical element with the symbol Zn and atomic number 30. Zinc is a slightly brittle metal at room temperature and has a shiny-greyish appearance when oxidation is removed. It is the first element in group 12 (IIB) of the periodi ...
, with a low boiling of 1180 K. Zinc sparks show an unusual bluish/greenish white appearance. Exotic sparks can be obtained from
erbium Erbium is a chemical element with the symbol Er and atomic number 68. A silvery-white solid metal when artificially isolated, natural erbium is always found in chemical combination with other elements. It is a lanthanide, a rare-earth element, or ...
powder. These sparks switch between surface and vapor phase combustion and accordingly between orange (black body) and green (element specific) emission. The color-change is based on the medium-ranged boiling point of erbium, which burns only partly in the vapor phase. The adjacent rare earth elements
thulium Thulium is a chemical element with the symbol Tm and atomic number 69. It is the thirteenth and third-last element in the lanthanide series. Like the other lanthanides, the most common oxidation state is +3, seen in its oxide, halides and other c ...
,
lutetium Lutetium is a chemical element with the symbol Lu and atomic number 71. It is a silvery white metal, which resists corrosion in dry air, but not in moist air. Lutetium is the last element in the lanthanide series, and it is traditionally counted am ...
and
yttrium Yttrium is a chemical element with the symbol Y and atomic number 39. It is a silvery-metallic transition metal chemically similar to the lanthanides and has often been classified as a " rare-earth element". Yttrium is almost always found in co ...
can form color-changing sparks, too, although the visibility of both phases of the same spark is less pronounced due to a lower (Tm) or higher (Y, Lu) boiling point of the metal.
Alloy An alloy is a mixture of chemical elements of which at least one is a metal. Unlike chemical compounds with metallic bases, an alloy will retain all the properties of a metal in the resulting material, such as electrical conductivity, ductilit ...
s containing at least one metal with a low boiling point can be used to control the color of the spark. The lower boiling component evaporates and burns in the vapor phase, while the metal with a high boiling point serves as a carrier. In the vapor phase, bright element-specific light emission takes place. For example, a eutectic
ytterbium Ytterbium is a chemical element with the symbol Yb and atomic number 70. It is a metal, the fourteenth and penultimate element in the lanthanide series, which is the basis of the relative stability of its +2 oxidation state. However, like the othe ...
-
copper Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu (from la, cuprum) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkis ...
-alloy forms long green sparks and burning lithium silicide shows long red spark segments. The duration of a spark’s existence is determined by the initial size of the particle, with a larger size leading to a longer-lasting spark. Metals with low
thermal conductivity The thermal conductivity of a material is a measure of its ability to conduct heat. It is commonly denoted by k, \lambda, or \kappa. Heat transfer occurs at a lower rate in materials of low thermal conductivity than in materials of high thermal ...
are especially good at producing sparks.
Titanium Titanium is a chemical element with the Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ti and atomic number 22. Found in nature only as an oxide, it can be reduced to produce a lustrous transition metal with a silver color, low density, and high strength, resista ...
and
zirconium Zirconium is a chemical element with the symbol Zr and atomic number 40. The name ''zirconium'' is taken from the name of the mineral zircon, the most important source of zirconium. The word is related to Persian '' zargun'' (zircon; ''zar-gun'' ...
are especially good in this respect and so are now used in fireworks.
Copper Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu (from la, cuprum) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkis ...
, on the other hand, has a high conductivity and so is poor at producing sparks. For this reason, alloys of copper such as beryllium bronze are used to make safety tools which will not spark so easily.


Flint and steel

Robert Hooke studied the sparks created by striking a piece of
flint Flint, occasionally flintstone, is a sedimentary cryptocrystalline form of the mineral quartz, categorized as the variety of chert that occurs in chalk or marly limestone. Flint was widely used historically to make stone tools and sta ...
and steel together. He found that the sparks were usually particles of the steel that had become red hot and so melted into globules. These sparks can be used to ignite
tinder Tinder is easily combustible material used to start a fire. Tinder is a finely divided, open material which will begin to glow under a shower of sparks. Air is gently wafted over the glowing tinder until it bursts into flame. The flaming tinder i ...
and so start a fire. In colonial America, flint and steel were used to light fires when easier methods failed. Scorched linen was commonly used as tinder to catch the spark and start the fire, but producing a good spark could take much time. A spinning steel wheel provided a good stream of sparks when it engaged the flint, and a tinderbox designed to do this was known as a mill. In a modern
lighter A lighter is a portable device which creates a flame, and can be used to ignite a variety of items, such as cigarettes, gas lighter, fireworks, candles or campfires. It consists of a metal or plastic container filled with a flammable liquid or ...
or
firesteel A fire striker is a piece of carbon steel from which sparks are struck by the sharp edge of flint, chert or similar rock. It is a specific tool used in fire making. History In early times, percussion fire making was often used to start fir ...
, iron is mixed with
cerium Cerium is a chemical element with the symbol Ce and atomic number 58. Cerium is a soft, ductile, and silvery-white metal that tarnishes when exposed to air. Cerium is the second element in the lanthanide series, and while it often shows the +3 ...
and other
rare earths The rare-earth elements (REE), also called the rare-earth metals or (in context) rare-earth oxides or sometimes the lanthanides (yttrium and scandium are usually included as rare earths), are a set of 17 nearly-indistinguishable lustrous silve ...
to form the alloy
ferrocerium Ferrocerium (also known in Europe as Auermetall) is a synthetic pyrophoric alloy of mischmetal (cerium, lanthanum, neodymium, other trace lanthanides and some iron – about 95% lanthanides and 5% iron) hardened by blending in oxides o ...
. This readily produces sparks when scraped and burns hotter than steel would. This higher temperature is needed to ignite the vapour of the lighter fluid.


Metal working

Molten metal sparks can be created when metal is heated by processes such as Bessemer conversion of iron to steel or
arc welding Arc welding is a welding process that is used to join metal to metal by using electricity to create enough heat to melt metal, and the melted metals, when cool, result in a binding of the metals. It is a type of welding that uses a welding powe ...
. Arc welding uses a low voltage and high current electric arc between an electrode and the base material to melt the metals at the welding point, which often creates sparks. To reduce the risk of burns, welders wear heavy leather gloves and long sleeve jackets to avoid exposure to extreme heat, flames, and sparks. In spot welding, metal surfaces that are held in contact are joined by the heat from resistance to electric current flow. It is common for a spray of sparks in the form of molten metal droplets to be ejected from the parts being joined. or the resistance heating of spot welding.


Fires and spark arrestors

Fire Fire is the rapid oxidation of a material (the fuel) in the exothermic chemical process of combustion, releasing heat, light, and various reaction products. At a certain point in the combustion reaction, called the ignition point, flames a ...
s may produce sparks as updrafts carry particles of the burning fuel aloft. This was a great problem with steam locomotives as the sparks might set fire to the adjacent landscape or even to the train itself, especially if the engine burned wood rather than
coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal is formed when ...
. To prevent this dangerous nuisance, a variety of
spark arrestor A spark arrester (sometimes spark arrestor) is any device which prevents the emission of flammable debris from combustion sources, such as internal combustion engines, fireplaces, and wood burning stoves. Spark arresters play a critical role in ...
s were invented and fitted. The chimneys and exhausts of other fuel-burning engines such as steam engines or
internal combustion engine An internal combustion engine (ICE or IC engine) is a heat engine in which the combustion of a fuel occurs with an oxidizer (usually air) in a combustion chamber that is an integral part of the working fluid flow circuit. In an internal c ...
s might also have spark arrestors fitted if there would be a fire risk from their operation. For example, a
trail bike The six main types of motorcycles are generally recognized as ''standard'', ''cruiser'', ''touring'', ''sports'', ''off-road'', and ''dual-purpose''. ''Sport touring'' is sometimes recognized as a seventh category or integrated with the ''touring' ...
might be fitted with a centrifugal arrestor, which will trap glowing hot pieces of
soot Soot ( ) is a mass of impure carbon particles resulting from the incomplete combustion of hydrocarbons. It is more properly restricted to the product of the gas-phase combustion process but is commonly extended to include the residual pyrolysed ...
.


Symbolism

The significance of a spark as a source for a flame or a conflagration shows clearly, for example, in the naming and motto of
Lenin Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov. ( 1870 – 21 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin,. was a Russian revolutionary, politician, and political theorist. He served as the first and founding head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 to 1 ...
's newspaper ''
Iskra ''Iskra'' ( rus, Искра, , ''the Spark'') was a political newspaper of Russian socialist emigrants established as the official organ of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP). History Due to political repression under Tsar Nicho ...
'' he Spark The spark metaphor has often been used in philosophy since Stoicism and, recently, after Jacques Lacan. The “creative spark” has come to be considered as inherent to metaphor itself.
Hasidic philosophy Hasidic philosophy or Hasidism ( he, חסידות), alternatively transliterated as Hasidut or Chassidus, consists of the teachings of the Hasidic movement, which are the teachings of the Hasidic ''rebbes'', often in the form of commentary on the ...
contains a doctrine of holy sparks (''nitzotzot'') from the kabbalism of
Isaac Luria Isaac ben Solomon Luria Ashkenazi (1534 Fine 2003, p24/ref> – July 25, 1572) ( he, יִצְחָק בן שלמה לוּרְיָא אשכנזי ''Yitzhak Ben Sh'lomo Lurya Ashkenazi''), commonly known in Jewish religious circles as "Ha'ARI" (mea ...
in which there is a duty to gather the sundered light of creation. In the Book of Job ( Job 5:7), it is written, "Yet man is born unto trouble, as the sparks fly upward." The use by King James' translators of the word ''sparks'' here is a poetic one rather than a literal one. The sparks of fire are identified by some translators as the sons of Resheph - a Canaanite deity of lightning and pestilence.


In popular culture

Sparks are frequently used in novels, comic books and movies to explain supernatural elements, or are sometimes used in advanced technology. In the
DC Universe The DC Universe (DCU) is the fictional shared universe where most stories in American comic book titles published by DC Comics take place. Superheroes such as Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Robin, Martian Manhunter, The Flash, Green Lant ...
, Spark is an electricity powered metahuman that uses electromagnetic sparks, levitation and fields. In the 2016
Marvel Cinematic Universe The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) is an American media franchise and shared universe centered on a series of superhero films produced by Marvel Studios. The films are based on characters that appear in American comic books published by ...
film '' Doctor Strange'', characters use Eldritch magic to create sparking objects like portals, whips, mandalas. In the Star Wars Universe, a spark projector is a tool carried by military-grade astromech droids of the Galactic Empire. They fire a concentrated bolt of electricity that short-circuits electronics, unlocks binders and electrocutes humans.


See also

*
Electric arc An electric arc, or arc discharge, is an electrical breakdown of a gas that produces a prolonged electrical discharge. The current through a normally nonconductive medium such as air produces a plasma; the plasma may produce visible light. An ...
*
Lightning Lightning is a naturally occurring electrostatic discharge during which two electrically charged regions, both in the atmosphere or with one on the ground, temporarily neutralize themselves, causing the instantaneous release of an avera ...
*
Short circuit A short circuit (sometimes abbreviated to short or s/c) is an electrical circuit that allows a current to travel along an unintended path with no or very low electrical impedance. This results in an excessive current flowing through the circui ...
* Ember


References

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