Answer: Acetylene
Notes: More than 60 people, mostly children, were hospitalized in Bhopal due to injuries from makeshift “calcium carbide guns” during Diwali celebrations. Calcium carbide has the chemical formula CaC2. It appears as grayish-black lumps or crystalline powder with a garlic-like odor. It is made by heating a mixture of lime and carbon to 2000–2100°C in an electric arc furnace. Calcium carbide is used to produce acetylene gas through hydrolysis. Acetylene is a colourless, odourless, highly flammable gas. Calcium carbide is also used in steel manufacturing, metal cutting, and as an artificial ripening agent.
