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How to Make Your Own Carbide Lamp

Electricity is such a ubiquitous source of energy that most people likely take it for granted. It powers many devices around us, most importantly the lights that help us see what we're working on. But in areas where electricity isn't available, you can make a gas-powered lamp similar to those used by 19th century chemist Petrus Jacobus Kippm. Making a lamp powered by acetylene, the gaseous form of the common chemistry ingredient carbide, takes a few simple lab supplies.

Things You'll Need

Handheld drill with 1/8-inch bit
Cork of a width equal to the bottle's mouth
Ballpoint pen ink tube
Scissors
Glass bottle, four to seven inches tall
1/2 cup water
1/2 teaspoon carbide
Matches

Instructions

- 1
  Drill a hole through the center of the cork or rubber cap. Run the drill slowly so as not to split the cork in half. Then set the cork aside.
- 2
  Cut off the ballpoint end of the ink pen tube and empty its ink into a trash can. Then wash the tube out completely and allow it to dry for 10 minutes.
- 3
  Thread the empty ink tube from Step 2 through the hole you drilled in the center of the bottle cork in Step 1. The tube should slide in so that about one inch sticks out the top of the cork and the rest goes out the bottom of the cork. Then set the cork or cap aside.
- 4
  Pour about one ounce of water into the glass bottle. Then add the one-half teaspoon of calcium carbide. Gas bubbles will begin to form. Wait about one minute for all of the oxygen to leave the bottle to prevent the combustion of the remaining air and the acetylene gas.
- 5
  Cork the bottle with the bottom of the cork facing into the bottle.
- 6
  Light a match and hold it over the end of ink tube that is sticking out of the top of the cork. The acetylene gas going out through the tube should begin to glow.

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