ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Big-Bang Cannon

Okay kiddo, so imagine if you had a toy that could make a really loud noise like a big explosion. Well, that’s kind of what a big-bang cannon is.

It’s a toy cannon that you can use to make a big bang noise without actually hurting anyone or anything.

How it works is you put some water and calcium carbide inside the cannon. When you light a match and put it in a small hole on the cannon, the calcium carbide reacts with the water to make a gas.

This gas builds up inside the cannon until it gets so big and pressurized that it shoots out a little metal ball that makes a really loud boom sound.

It’s like a pretend explosion that you can play with safely!