Gizmodo: mentos

Update: That Mentos Ice Cubes in Soda Trick Doesn't Work

Adam Frucci — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 15:20:00 EDT

Sorry, would-be pranksters: freezing Mentos in ice cubes and then putting them in soda doesn't cause the soda to fizz up. But why doesn't it work?

It's because when you get the Mentos wet, their pitted candy surface starts to dissolve. And without a surface that's covered with thousands of little pits, there's nowhere for the carbon dioxide to go, which is what creates the fizz. Instead, you just have a gross soda. Too bad! Pretty amazing that it took this long for someone to actually try this prank, eh? [Steve Spangler Science]

Frozen Mentos and Coke Parlor Trick

Andi Wang — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 21:00:00 EDT

You've either seen the Mentos and Coke experiment on YouTube or you've destroyed your kitchen trying it yourself. Wired has come up with a parlor trick that'll surprise your friends with a delayed explosion time: Mentos, frozen in ice cubes.

Admittedly, I don't know many people who let their drinks sit long enough for their ice to completely melt, but Wired suggests using warm Coke to help speed up the process. Next time you get some strange looking ice in your drink, I'd suggest you start chugging. [Wired via Neatorama via BoingBoing]

Turiba University Sets World Record With 1,911 Simultaneous Coke-Mentos Explosions

Jack Loftus — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 10:00:00 EDT

Some people celebrate anniversaries with food, or a little dancing, but Business University Turiba in Latvia decided to have a little fun with a Gizmodo favorite: the ol' Mento in the Coke reaction. For the school's 15th anniversary, the students set out the break the previous world record for this category, which was held by 1,499 Belgian students in the town of Leuven. Last Thursday, they succeeded, and the contents of 1,911 bottles of Coke were sprayed violently upward, and into history.

Guinness World Record representative Erica Attivor was on site and approved the record, which looked messy, to say the least.And then, for some reason, they broke out the flamethrowers. Coke, Mentos, and flamethrowers? Sounds like a Gizmodo-endorsed party if I ever heard of one.[TVNET, Krabjiem, Apollo]

Science Team Explains Why Mentos + Coke = Whoosh!

Kit Eaton — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 10:00:00 EDT

You should, by now, be very familiar with the Mentos and Coke explosion effect. After all, we've even shown how to make your own booby trap version. But did you know that parts of the science behind it were a mystery? Until now, that is. A physics team at Appalachian State University did a whole range of tests, varying the substance dropped in from Fruit Mentos to dishwasher detergent and checking all the Coke types. Serious science stuff.

By filming the resulting jets of foam, and doing some Scanning Electron Microscope analysis, they've ruled out chemical interactions, and have discovered it's to do with the surface roughness of the Mentos, the sugariness of the drink and how quickly the mints sink.

These factors all affect formation of carbon-dioxide bubbles: the spikes on the Mentos aid micro-bubble formation (see mint ones on the SEM image on the left, fruit on the right); non-sugary Diet Coke works best as it's got lower surface tension; and the dense Mentos sink quickly, creating bubbles at the base of the bottle that cause spontaneous formation of other bubbles higher up. All that results in very rapid bubble-formation, and that then causes the satisfying squirt of brown goo from the bottle neck.

So now you know: science is fun. [New Scientist]

Blow Victims Away with Mentos and Coke Booby Trap

Jesus Diaz — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 08:00:00 EDT

That sound you are hearing is thousands of people screaming after falling for this Mentos and Diet Coke booby trap. And the sound you will hear soon will be the screams of the people who did the traps, as the joke victims beat the crap out of them. [Instructables]

Mentos and Diet Coke Explosion at 1200fps: Casio EX-F1 Strikes Again

Benny Goldman — Sun, 04 May 2008 13:30:00 EDT

Giz reader Robert Woodhead combined two things that I just can't seem to get sick of seeing: Stuffing Mentos into Diet Coke bottles and the super-slow-mo action of Casio's EX-F1 camera to create this stunningly beautiful video.

Woodhead compensated for the 1200fps' paltry 336x96 frame size by stitching four different Mentos tests together, and the results are awesome. Globs, ribbons and rings of Coke that are impossible to track in real time come to life when seen in slow-motion.

Watch out later today for another homemade slow-mo video; things will only get messier. [Robert Woodhead]