New Delhi: Rockets are fireworks made up of packed cardboard tubes with a wick. The stick is used for stability during flight, and they can be designed to explode spectacularly at preset times, or contain a whistle that produces a sound as the rocket climbs. Traditionally, these types of rockets used gunpowder, a mixture of charcoal and sulphur with potassium nitrate acting as the oxidiser, that helps with the explosive combustion. Modern firecrackers can use stronger oxidisers, powdered metal fuels and polymer binders with higher specific impulse. These binders and catalysts allows for the climb speed and altitude to be tuned, and such rockets are used for choreographed shows.

The propellant grain or powder inside the tube produces gas and thrust, which is directed by the nozzle, which

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