Tuesday, September 12, 2006
Time out for some plain old mad science
You may have seen the Mentos and Diet Coke explosion videos going around the Internet. Whenever you drop Mentos into Diet Coke, it seems the Coke goes flat. Instantly. And all that carbon dioxide has to go somewhere - whether it's spraying the soda everywhere, or if you put the lid on, blowing the bottle to smithereens. Well, now someone's done a proper study of this.
The Disgruntled Chemist: Diet Coke and Mentos: An Experimental Study
Namely, they've tried to see how the brand of soda, the container size, and the brand of mints affects the reaction. While the soda brand didn't seem to matter, it seems you need as big a container as you can find, and Mentos work a lot better than anything else. The Disgruntled Chemist also included a link to a very crazy video that shows two British guys horsing around with thermite. At one point, they use it to destroy a derelict car.
(Found via The Road Less Traveled.)
The Disgruntled Chemist: Diet Coke and Mentos: An Experimental Study
Namely, they've tried to see how the brand of soda, the container size, and the brand of mints affects the reaction. While the soda brand didn't seem to matter, it seems you need as big a container as you can find, and Mentos work a lot better than anything else. The Disgruntled Chemist also included a link to a very crazy video that shows two British guys horsing around with thermite. At one point, they use it to destroy a derelict car.
(Found via The Road Less Traveled.)
