A carbide lamp or acetylene gas lamp is a simple lamp that produces and burns acetylene (C2H2), which is created by the reaction of calcium carbide (CaC2) with water (H2O).[1]
Acetylene gas lamps were used to illuminate buildings, as lighthouse beacons, and as headlights on motor-cars and bicycles. Portable acetylene gas lamps, worn on the hat or carried by hand, were widely used in mining in the early twentieth century. They are still employed by cavers, hunters, and cataphiles.
- ^ Patnaik, Pradyot (2003). Handbook of Inorganic Chemical Compounds. McGraw-Hill. ISBN 0-07-049439-8.