Using a Carbide Lantern To Illustrate General Chemistry Concepts and Introduce Students to Artisanal and Small-Scale Gold Mining

• Published in: Journal of chemical education Vol. 93; no. 4; pp. 687 - 690
• Main Authors: Crawford, Garland L, Kiefer, Adam M
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Easton American Chemical Society and Division of Chemical Education, Inc 12.04.2016; American Chemical Society
• Subjects: Carbides; Chemistry; Gold; Gold mines & mining; Lamps; Lanterns; Miners; Mining; Organic chemistry; Science activities; Science education; Small scale; Students; Thermochemistry; First-Year Undergraduate/General; Applications of Chemistry; Interdisciplinary/Multidisciplinary; Reactions; Demonstrations; Problem Solving/Decision Making; Calorimetry/Thermochemistry; Lewis Structures; Environmental Chemistry
• ISSN: 0021-9584; 1938-1328
• DOI: 10.1021/acs.jchemed.5b00604

Carbide lanterns were once the preferred lighting source for mining operations and are still utilized today in Artisanal and Small-scale Gold Mining (ASGM). These lanterns can be used to demonstrate a wide variety of chemical principles. To this end, an activity was developed to highlight the chemistry of a traditional carbide lamp used by miners. After a brief introduction to the lantern, students were challenged to complete problems that integrate multiple concepts such as balancing equations, unit conversions, limiting reactants, and thermochemistry. Although the activity as written serves as a review of General Chemistry I, the use of these lanterns in ASGM provides an additional opportunity to introduce students to a topic that encourages global engagement and cultural consideration. To make the activity accessible to a wide variety of audiences, a video is provided demonstrating the operation of a carbide lantern and a brief introduction to ASGM.