First place I saw this didn’t mention what the combustion reaction was, but via kottke:
If you mix calcium carbide and water, it produces acetylene. Acetylene is extremely flammable and can launch 55-gallon drums into the air when ignited.
swans on tea
Just another SFN Blogs site
http://www.1911encyclopedia.org/Acetylene
“They found that if liquid acetylene in a steel bottle be heated at one point by a platinum wire raised to a red heat, the whole mass decomposes…to 100,000 psi”
Think of it as evolution in action.