What do you get if you mix Mentos mint candies and Diet Coke?A. a science experiment
B. a liquid mess
C. a marketing coup
For Mentos, at least, the answer is a resounding C.
The classic Diet Coke and Mentos experiment attracted millions of viewers worldwide with its recent debut on a Google video. The simple Diet Coke and Mentos experiment can be easily coordinated at home by dropping just one roll of Mentos candy pieces
into a 2-liter bottle of Diet Coke. Wait about 20 seconds, and you will witness a physical reaction in action! The Mentos coating reacts with the Diet Coke to create an explosive combustion effect; the Diet Coke will literally shoot straight out like a streaming fountain.
This well-known experiment recently gained public interest thanks to the works of Fritz Grobe and Stephen Voltz. These two created an extreme version titled the ‘Extreme Diet Coke and Mentos Experiment” with a Bellagio fountain recreation. The duo synchronized a series of Diet Coke bottles back to back, stealing worldwide attention on the web to view their video with music. They reportedly used 101 bottles of Diet Coke and 523 Mentos to create their experiment..
So what is the genius behind this experiment? What goes on behind the scenes? Mentos and soda are both composed of sugar, making the Diet Coke and Mentos experiment purely physical. The carbon dioxide gas pumped into each Diet Coke bottle allows a buildup of pressure in between the liquid and top of the bottle. Most of us have experienced the valuable action of shaking a soda bottle, then opening it; the soda and gas are pushed out in a torrential stream, often soaking yourself and passersby.
Without physically shaking the bottle, the same reaction can be caused by adding salt to create foam, ice cream (think root beer floats) to encourage fizz, and now, Mentos to bring forth an explosion. The gelatin and gum arabic that dissolve after the Mentos are dropped into the Diet Coke are the catalyst for the reaction; because each Mentos candy is covered in little indentations, these are perfect areas for carbon dioxide to attach themselves to. The weight of the Mentos candy pieces make it sink to the bottom of the bottle, and so the explosive charge is encouraged.
Hundreds of amateur videos have flooded the Internet in recent months showing an oddball experiment: people dropping the quarter- size Mentos candies into bottles of Diet Coke. The combination results in a geyser of soda that shoots as high as 20 feet into the air.
"It's a funny thing to do," says Sidney Shapiro, a 26-year-old student in Israel, who posted his film on Google Video last month.
Nowadays people have a new way to celebrate their party. Drop Mentos candies into 2-liter bottles of Coke. The Coke will shoot skywards. The two performers from Buckfield appeared in a three-minute Internet video in which they don goggles and lab coats and show the world how to create the geysers. The resulting 20-foot blasts have captured the imagination of millions.
"We told friends we thought it would take a few weeks to catch on," Grobe said. "Literally, within hours we were seeing thousands of hits.
The two began experimenting eight weeks ago after Voltz learned that cola plus candy equals a frothy mess. It's an old trick, but the pair took it to new extremes.
Grobe, a juggler, and Voltz, a trial lawyer, enlisted Mike Miclon, the owner of the theater where they perform, to operate the camera and a friend to create the toe-tapping techno music soundtrack. Miclon said his wife held an umbrella next to the camera just in case.
The result is their video, which features 523 Mentos causing 101 bottles of Diet Coke to erupt.
The geysers have been compared to the dancing fountain at Las Vegas' Bellagio hotel-casino.
Any kind of soft drink will work, Grobe said, but diet soda keeps the men from getting sticky.
Live Vote: Had you heard of the Mentos-soda thing?
The video has had 4 million hits on the Web since it was posted on June 3 and exposure in the mainstream media, including David Letterman's "Late Show" on CBS and NBC's "Today" show.
Coke and Mentos have embraced the phenomenon. Mentos, a subsidiary of Perfetti Van Melle USA Inc., features the video on its Web site, and a Coca-Cola Co. spokeswoman said the Atlanta company is pleased that people are having fun with it.
"You never can tell what's going to capture people's imagination," said Susan McDermott, the spokeswoman. For the record, she noted, people won't suffer harm from chomping Mentos and washing it down with Diet Coke.
Grobe said he and Voltz see a bright future in being madcap scientists.
"The next crazy project is bigger and better and will pack a lot of surprise," Grobe said. "You can look forward to something pretty amazing."
