Bellagio Fountains Recreated with Mentos and Coke 220
Trip writes "What happens when you combine 200 liters of Diet Coke and over 500 Mentos mints? It's amazing and completely insane. The first part of this video demonstrates a simple geyser, and the second part shows just how extreme it can get. Over one hundred jets of soda fly into the air in less than three minutes. It's a hysterical and spectacular mint-powered version of the Bellagio Fountains in Las Vegas."
In case of /.'ing (Score:5, Informative)
A number of different groups of people seem to have attempted it [google.com] as the different versions available on Google depict.
According to the site, it's a physical thing (Score:5, Informative)
"These chemists are saying that the primary cause is physical, not chemical. Their explanation: nucleation sites. If you have a liquid that is supersaturated with gas (like soda, which is pumped full of carbon dioxide), a nucleation site is a place where the gas is able to form bubbles. Nucleation sites can be scratches on a surface or specks of dust - anywhere that you have a high surface area in a very small volume. That's where bubbles can form.
Mentos seem to be loaded with nucleation sites. In other words, there are so many microscopic nooks and crannies on the surface of a Mento that an incredible number of bubbles will form when you drop it in a bottle of soda. Since the Mentos are also heavy enough to sink, they react with the soda all the way to the bottom. The escaping bubbles quickly turn into a raging foam, and the pressure builds dramatically. Before you know it, you've got a big geyser happening!"
That... is the coolest thing ever! (Score:5, Informative)
Re:In case of /.'ing (Score:3, Informative)
After watching the video in the story, I have to admit, the effect of the trick performed on the large scale is quite spectacular...much more so than the other videos of a solitary guy with a solitary bottle of Diet Coke in a backyard.
Watch it if you a /.ing so permits.
Re:In case of /.'ing (Score:3, Informative)
http://www.revver.com/video/27335/ [revver.com]
And here are some of their other experiments:
http://www.revver.com/tags/eepybird/ [revver.com]
Re:Name of the song? (Score:2, Informative)
For people who dont want the plugin (Score:2, Informative)
Best coke and mentos experiment [blogspot.com]
Re:In case of /.'ing (Score:4, Informative)
Re:According to the site, it's a physical thing (Score:3, Informative)
Pretty cool, but... (Score:5, Informative)
1: put some hydrocloric acid in an empty (plasic!!) soda bottle, add some aluminum foil, close bottle, throw away.
The bottle will start to expand and blow up making a very loud bang.
2: stack a tealight on top of two other tea lights, making a small pyramid. Light them and wait until the top tea light starts to fume and then the entire surface will burst to flames. Then, carefully throw a small amount of water in the top candle. You'll get a huge ball of fire 2 meters high. Nice way to make clear why you should never throw water in burning deep fryer.
Warning: these experiments are quite dangerous, so be careful, don't put your head above the tea candles, make sure you're at least 10 meters distant from the bottle, never use a glass bottle, think it through before you begin. Use common sense.
Any more cool DIY experiments anyone?
Re:News for Nerds... (Score:4, Informative)
Also apparently diet sodas have a slightly lower viscosity due to the lack of sugar syrups, and so more poorly resist gas coming out of solution than regular sodas.
Before I forget... (important) (Score:5, Informative)
If you want to repeat the experiment with the hydrochloric acid: don't get near to the bottle, even if it doesn't seem to work. The aluminum and the acid produce an exothermic reaction that goes faster and faster as it heats up. So at first nothing much seems to happen, but once the acid gets warm, the reaction goes a lot faster, adding much more heat, making the reaction go faster etc.... You don't want a bottle with steaming hot hydrochloric acid exploding in your face!!!
Also, the gas after the explosion does open up your sinusses, but I don't think it's healthy
Re:Pretty cool, but... (Score:3, Informative)
ACK! Hydrochloric acid? That sounds like a Darwin Award waiting to happen. Liquid Nitrogen [google.com] makes a pretty "cool" bang without having to handle any acids.
Re:In case of /.'ing (Score:3, Informative)
(Might have to copy/paste that, I'm not sure)
Re:Pretty cool, but... (Score:3, Informative)
Nope (Score:5, Informative)
Approximately 10% of aspartame (by mass) is broken down into methanol in the small intestine. Most of the methanol is absorbed and quickly converted into formaldehyde. Some scientists believe that the methanol cannot be a problem because: (a) there is not enough methanol absorbed to cause toxicity, (b) methanol and formaldehyde are already a by-product of human metabolism, and (c) there is more methanol in some alcoholic beverages and fruit juices than is derived from aspartame ingestion. (Wikipedia)
See also: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd
Phenylalanine is an amino acid commonly found in foods. Approximately 50% of aspartame (by mass) is broken down into phenylalanine. I can't see why this would be a bad thing. Phenylalanine is used in living organisms, including the human body, where it is an essential amino acid. Phenylalanine can also be converted into L-tyrosine, another one of the twenty protein-forming amino acids. L-tyrosine is converted into L-DOPA, which is further converted into the neurotransmitters dopamine, norepinephrine, and epinephrine. Research indicates that Phenylalanine can be an effective part of an overall program to fight chronic pain and depression in some cases, including the mood swings of premenstrual syndrome (PMS). Some sources contend that it can increase energy and mental alertness. So it's a natural amino acid that can function as a CNS stimulant. It can't hurt you any more then the caffene already in the pop, as long as you don't abuse it. (Even stronger CNS stimulants like amphetamines are fairly safe as long as you use a small enough quantity of them and maintain a normal sleep cycle).
Aspartic acid is an amino acid commonly found in foods. Approximately 40% of aspartame (by mass) is broken down into aspartic acid. A lot of FUD has been drummed up about aspartic acid being an "excitotoxin". I really is just one of the 20 natural proteinogenic amino acids which are the building blocks of proteins.
"...since aspartame is broken down into these components before it is absorbed into the blood stream, aspartame in its initial form does not have the opportunity to travel to target organs, including the brain, to cause cancer." (American Cancer Society)
Animal studies HAVE found aspartame to be cancer causing, but no major human study has. http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/265559_sod
Free radiation treatment every tuesday! (Score:1, Informative)
It's your body. If you would stand in line for a free, totally unnecessary radiation treatment thinking that it isn't a big deal and could even be healthy, that's fine. I would still go out of my once to tell you that what you're about to do is the worst thing you could do to yourself but if you in turn started citing studies by radiation equipment manufacturers and others that have a vested interest there, then I would just smile politely and walk away. You can do whatever you want to yourself for all I care and you don't have to listen. That's your privilege. However that privilege ends where other people get hurt because you've been proselytizing to them.
Approximately 10% of aspartame (by mass) is broken down into methanol... in the small intestine. Most of the methanol is absorbed and quickly converted into formaldehyde. Some scientists believe that the methanol cannot be a problem because: (a) there is not enough methanol absorbed to cause toxicity, (b) methanol and formaldehyde are already a by-product of human metabolism, and (c) there is more methanol in some alcoholic beverages and fruit juices than is derived from aspartame ingestion. (Wikipedia)
Right! People have been _extremely_ rarely observed going into convulsions and dying on the sidewalk all because of a scant few hundred micro- to milligrams per kilogram of body weight of Formaldehyde, Methanol and all the other wonderful metabolic by products. They die in hospitals after years of consumption and exposure, cancer surgery, radiation and chemical treatment. You (and whover you copied that text from) are patently leaving out the dimension of time here.
See also: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd= [nih.gov] Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=1218049 4&query_hl=2 See also a
Phenylalanine is an amino acid commonly found in foods.[...]Research indicates that Phenylalanine can be an effective part of an overall program to fight chronic pain and depression in some cases, including the mood swings of premenstrual syndrome (PMS). Some sources contend that it can increase energy and mental alertness. So it's a natural amino acid that can function as a CNS stimulant. It can't hurt you any more then the caffene already in the pop, as long as you don't abuse it. (Even stronger CNS stimulants like amphetamines are fairly safe as long as you use a small enough quantity of them and maintain a normal sleep cycle).
Right. As a matter of fact Phenylalanie (Aspartam) does have analgetic (painkilling) properties. I wonder if Paracetamol (Tylenol) tasted just as sweet whether people would be gurgling that instead? As far as the stimulating effect on the CNS (Central Nervous System
Aspartic acid is an amino acid commonly found in foods. Approximately 40% of aspartame (by mass) is broken down into aspartic acid. A lot of FUD has been drummed up about aspartic acid being an "excitotoxin". I really is just one of the 20 natural proteinogenic amino acids which are the building blocks of proteins.
Interesting. Did you know that some of the most deadliest toxines in nature such as the venom of the Black Mamba are really just proteins and building blocks of proteins?[..] Animal studies HAVE found aspartame to be cancer causing, but no major human study has. Lab rats live a maximum of 1.5 - 2 years (provided they are not forcefed with aspartame). Humans have a considerably higher life expectancy
But that's one
Re:According to the site, it's a physical thing (Score:3, Informative)
Back when I was doing chemistry we were told about a lab that was destroyed by a tank of super-heated ultra-pure water (not quite the same as being super-saturated with a gas but similar). The chemists (physical of course) were heating their ultra-pure water in a specially made container. The container was designed not to contaminate the water and had been mirror finished. Of course this lead to a problem when the water was boiled. The container provided no nucleation points and the water, due to its purity, couldn't provide any. At an estimated 105 to 110 deg C the water finally gave up. On small bubble formed which caused the formation of many more and the whole batch of water boiled in one go destroying the lab. I forget how much water exploded but it wasn't much - a few litres.