# Fireworks

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fireworks/587900>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [July 5, 2011, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fireworks/587900 "2011-07-05T14:41:39Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 6\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![dauerbach](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c2a13f/32.png) [@dauerbach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dauerbach)\
**Post date:** [July 5, 2011, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fireworks/587900/1 "2011-07-05T14:41:39Z")

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Saw some great fireworks last night, situated about 200 yards from the originating barge. But the question came up: Do fireworks look the same from any location? There were many patterns that seemed to be set up for someone sitting at our exact location. But if we were sitting 90 or 180 degrees from where we were I suspect it would have looked the same. Are fireworks symmetrical and spherical? Or is there a best place to sit?

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**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\
**Post date:** [July 5, 2011, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fireworks/587900/2 "2011-07-05T15:24:53Z")

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Pretty sure they look the same from all directions. Probably vary a bit on how circular they look.  
I’ve seen the newer “smily face” ones that past few years and wondered how they got them to go off right-side-up, until I saw an upside-down one this weekend. Must be dumb luck when they go off just right.

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**Author:** ![Jinx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Jinx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jinx)\
**Post date:** [July 6, 2011, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fireworks/587900/3 "2011-07-06T23:59:17Z")

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No, they do not look the same from all directions. If you look carefully, you can tell when the firework is coming toward you vs. going to the side or away from you. This is most obvious with a light breeze. Also, under ideal conditions, some are designed to radiate outward evenly while others are intentionally built assymetrically for various visual effects.

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**Author:** ![mac\_bolan00](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b3f665/32.png) [@mac\_bolan00](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mac_bolan00)\
**Post date:** [July 7, 2011, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fireworks/587900/4 "2011-07-07T00:15:40Z")

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some are rigged to form 2-dimensional shapes. saw a big smiley once, and a heart-shaped one.

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**Author:** ![Jinx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Jinx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jinx)\
**Post date:** [July 7, 2011, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fireworks/587900/5 "2011-07-07T00:20:42Z")

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> [@mac\_bolan00](#):
>
> some are rigged to form 2-dimensional shapes. saw a big smiley once, and a heart-shaped one.

Yes, these are PERFECT example of both situations! You can tell when the shape is distorted because of your angle to the plane of the shape. So, this is one example where you can tell that fireworks can look different from different directions. Again, with the conventional fireworks, it is harder to detect.

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**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\
**Post date:** [July 7, 2011, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fireworks/587900/6 "2011-07-07T03:04:03Z")

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Ours seemed to be dominated by the two-dimensional shapes like hearts and smileys. We also saw a bunch of spirals and a few stars. Didn’t see any Saturns this year, though.