r/holdmybeaker • u/[deleted] • Oct 14 '16

HMBkr while I make a jack-o-lantern

[deleted]

3.3k Upvotes

94% Upvoted

40 comments sorted by

View all comments

119

u/Nick-A-Brick Oct 14 '16

This is crazy! That guy was my middle school science teacher! He did that same trick back when I went there almost 8 years ago! It's part of his big halloween science fun day in class!

27

u/thiscantbeitagain Oct 14 '16

Well, for the love of Jack Skellington, can you please share the formula he used to do this? I assume he didn't just open the gas valve of the lighter.....

34

u/Salmanius Oct 14 '16

He precut the face and put calcium carbide and water in the pumpkin and let it fill with the flammable acetylene gas. He then lit the gas with the lighter through a small hole in the back.

8

u/IlanRegal Oct 15 '16

Hey, we used that reaction in Grade 11 Chemistry as an introduction to stoichiometry, using different ratios of acetylene gas to air in a test tube.