When I was a kid, my family received a mail order catalog from an outfit called Sunset House. You can see an example at this eBay listing. The catalog was full of useful products you couldn’t find anywhere else, and one of them was a little blowtorch. The blowtorch had many uses, but the most practical, it seemed to me, was shown in the accompanying illustration, and that was for melting snow off the sidewalk. It seemed a lot simpler than shoveling, and I begged my parents to buy a blowtorch. They didn’t, and they pointed out one objection that I couldn’t counter–the water would just flow elsewhere and freeze. But still, it seems like a good idea, if you could just work this bug out.
And the idea has been around for at least a century, as shown by the cover of the January 1925 issue of Science and Invention. This one didn’t involve a flame, and the magazine didn’t think that my parents’ objection would be an issue, since it matter of factly stated that the snow would melt, “which runs off in the form of water.”
The magazine didn’t use a blowtorch. Instead, it used a method that might be of interest to young scientists in search of a science fair project. You simply sprinkle calcium carbide on the snow. It sinks in (you start the process by poking a few pieces into the snow) where it mixes with water, creating acetylene gas, which is highly flammable. You strike a match and set the snow on fire. You go forward sprinkling more calcium carbide ahead of the flames, and as the flames catch up, it sets fire to the snow you have sprinkled.
For the science fair, Junior simply finds a patch of snow outside the school, seeds it with calcium carbide, and sets it ablaze. It’s sure to take home the blue ribbon.
Junior does need to be reminded to be careful. The magazine article contained these warnings:
Great care must be exercised in sprinkling calcium carbide upon snow, so that when the gas is evolved and ignited, it will not set fire to shrubbery, trees or the house itself. Under no conditions should such a snow remover be used when a gale is blowing, and the individual drawing the mechanism over the road should always see to it that he heads into any slight breeze which may be blowing, so that his own clothes will not be ignited.
If Junior sets the school, or himself, on fire, then he’s unlikely to get the blue ribbon.
As with everything, Junior can get the calcium carbide on Amazon. If he wants to augment his project, he can explain how this chemical was used in miners’ lamps.
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