Calcium Carbide

[gerkin]

Is it true that if you feed calclium carbide to a duck (or any other of out feathered friends) it reacts so violently with the powerfull stomach acid that the duck physically explodes ?

[NH]

From what I've read on the subject, it's fair to say you'd kill it and burn out its insides. Found one source that said the substance was "incompatible with hydrogen chloride" and "reacts violently with water". So, it almost certainly could.

Bit cruel though. What's wrong with ducks?

[jake-the-peg]

Calcium carbide reacts with water to form acetylene as in oxy-acetylene welders gas and all that.

Really early cars and carridges used to drip water on a rock of calcium carbide and burn the gas to produce lights for their lamps.

I would expect it to react pretty violently in contact with anybody's insides not just a duck.

Suck it and see as they say

[Hamish]

I think gerkin means calcium carbonate? the old urban myth?