In pyrotechnics

Pyrotechnics

Pyrotechnics is the science of using materials capable of undergoing self-contained and self-sustained exothermic chemical reactions for the production of heat, light, gas, smoke and/or sound...

, black match is a type of crude fuse

Fuse (explosives)

In an explosive, pyrotechnic device or military munition, a fuse is the part of the device that initiates function. In common usage, the word fuse is used indiscriminately...

, constructed of cotton

Cotton

Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective capsule, around the seeds of cotton plants of the genus Gossypium. The fiber is almost pure cellulose. The botanical purpose of cotton fiber is to aid in seed dispersal....

 string fibers intimately coated with a dried black powder slurry.

When black match is confined

Confinement

Confinement may refer to either* Civil confinement for psychiatric patients* Color confinement, the physical principle explaining the non-observation of color charged particles like free quarks* Solitary confinement, a strict form of imprisonment...

 in a paper tube, called quick match or piped match, the flame front propagates much more quickly, many feet per second.

Quick match is often used in model rocket

Model rocket

A model rocket is a small rocket that is commonly advertised as being able to be launched by anybody, to, in general, low altitudes and recovered by a variety of means....

s in the United Kingdom to ignite multiple engines/motors; it is however largely unavailable in the USA due to ambiguous explosives laws.

External links

• A pyroguide on pyrotechnics - more information on black match.