How high do commercial fireworks displays go?

Question

I was wondering specifically about the Washington, DC event, to see if we might be able to see it from my house.

Answer 1

It was not easy to find the answer to this. The best I found was that mortar-launched shells can "go as high as 1000ft":

http://www.elitepyrotechnics.com/fireworks9.asp

I think 500 to 700 feet is more common. Some go higher than others depending on the charge used in mortar.

Answer 2

If you record the time from launch to explosion and assume the explosion to occur at the point where vertical velocity is near zero (which seems to be the case) then you can get initial velocity from Vf = Vi + at. At four seconds this is 128 ft per second = Vi. Pop that into S= 1/2at^2 + Vt and you get S= 384 ft. If however the bomb is exploded while still on the rise this doesn't work..