Day 75: Science experiment fun
I’m about five years late to the party, but my 100 Days of Play inspired me to finally have a go at the Mentos-and-diet-cola trick! If you’ve not heard about this (very serious) science experiment, it involves dropping several of the minty sweets into a family-sized bottle of cola, and watching as a spout of foam fires out. Sorry, I mean taking careful measurements of the thrust potential!
Research indicated that it doesn’t matter the particular brand of cola, but diet works better because the sugar in full-fat makes the liquid ‘stickier’, apparently. You also make much less mess, again by not spraying sticky, insect-attracting liquid everywhere.
The advanced instructions involved drilling small holes in the cap, and hanging the (also drilled) sweets below it. Then screwing it on and running. To be honest, attempting to drill tiny objects sounded both dangerous and an annoying faff, so I didn’t bother, opting for the more playful (my excuse, at least) piling-them-in-the-open-bottle option.
Amazing! Wow! 50 feet in the air! Okay, sadly not. They were a little bit of a damp squib, reaching maybe a foot or two of spouting. But it was still fun, and I enjoyed running-like-hell only to discover I was in no danger whatsoever.
Next time I’ll have to grab that drill!
Some people drink from the fountain of knowledge, others just gargle – Robert Anthony
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