Calcium carbide, << KAL see uhm KAHR byd, >> is a hard, brittle, crystalline compound made of calcium and carbon. Calcium carbide is used in industry to make acetylene, a gas used in welding or cutting metal. It also is the source of calcium cyanamide, which is used in the making of fertilizer.
Calcium carbide is produced by heating lime and coke in an electric furnace at a temperature of 2800 °C. This method was discovered in 1892 by T. L. Willson, an American chemist.
