Carbide Cannon 03

Ballistics day is a break from the normal routine for my seniors in physics and features entertaining stories from my father. This video shows my father’s carbide cannon at work with commentary from my father explaining the workings of the cannon. No projectiles are being fired form this cannon and proper safety precautions have been taken. The basic chemisty: CaC2 2H2O → Ca(OH)2 C2H2. The acetylene gas is flammable and then ignited with a sparker, which burns: 2 C2H2 5 O2 → 4 CO2 2 H2O. Side Note: my father belows the exhaust gases out of the cannon at the end of the video and he began to reset the cannon for a second firing but the batteries on the camera died. After getting many requests for directions I had my father type them up and they are available here: