[Petronski]

My nephew tells me of a tale of a student at his high school who stole a calcium rod from the chemlab. The perp was caught an hour or so later during another class when his pants pocket caught on fire.

I don't know enough about chemistry to understand it, but damn if that isn't funny, especially at a Catholic High School. Bwa ha ha ha ha....

[TaxRelief]

My guess is that kid was messing with Silver Acetylide which is made by combining 1 g of silver nitrate with 10 g of Calcium carbide (details omitted, do not try this at home). The result is extrememly volatile (sensitive to movement etc.)

[boris]

"My nephew tells me of a tale of a student at his high school who stole a calcium rod from the chemlab. The perp was caught an hour or so later during another class when his pants pocket caught on fire."

Alkali metals (calcium is one) are highly reactive with water. Sodium is even more so. One college trick is to take little slivers of sodium and put them in gelatin capsules (the pull-apart kind); then flip them into puddles while it is raining. Scares little old ladies and pooches.

Richard Feynman, while at Cornell, is reputed to have dropped a pound of sodium metal into one of the gorges...

--Boris