A bengal light is a mixture of several chemical compounds giving a colored flame by ignition. In ancient India, in the province of Bengal, the priests pressed mixtures containing strontium salts, charcoal, sulfur and potassium nitrate into balls or pyramids and ignited them in the gloom of temples (1). Such mixtures are new used all over the world in pyrotechnic shows. The preparation of bengal lights in practicing laboratories of inorganic chemistry is an attractive way to introduce the solid-phase redox theory.
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