August 02, 2006
The cap trick for Mentos/Soda experiments

Always curious Mister P. asked how I made the Mentos drop in to the soda bottles. I promised that I woudl draw him a picture. A day late, but here's how I did it.

The trick is to keep the mentos above the soda until you want it to explode. First you drill a hole in the cap of the soda cap. The larger the whole the bigger the stream that comes out, the small the whole, the longer the stream lasts.

Then drill a hole through the center of each mentos wide enough to fit a paper clip through. Feed the paper clip through the cap, then the mentos. Next, bend the end of the paper clip slightly to prevent the mentos from slipping off, but not too much that you can't pull it out.

Carefully screw on the cap/mentos to the full soda bottle and you are ready for action.

Once you pull the paper clip out, move out of the way.

I didn't invent this method. I read about it somewhere, but I don't remember where.

Posted by michael at August 02, 2006 11:38 PM



Comments

Genious... Have to try this weekend...
Any soda?
Any Mentos flavour?

Posted by: Tryphoon [http://www.tryphoon.com] on August 3, 2006 6:18 AM

Here's a video of a "less safe" Mentos rocket:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AkkOUPYNs7I

Posted by: BillB [http://squidly.com] on August 3, 2006 10:26 AM

BTW Mike, I saw Barnyard last night. Overall, it was better than The Ant Bully, but it's still fairly forgettable. A bit scary for some kids. I wouldn't take the under 5 crowd.

Posted by: Jamie [http://rtheygood.blog.com/] on August 3, 2006 12:52 PM

Thanks for the instructions, but you left out one key detail: how does one drill a hole in a Mentos? I never touch the stuff- are they soft enough that you can just jab them with the paper clip? Keep in mind that many condo owners do not own power tools.

Posted by: Mister P. [http://misterp.blogspot.com] on August 3, 2006 3:20 PM

Yes, you drill through the Mentos as well. I used a cordless drill.

Posted by: Michael [http://cruftbox.com] on August 3, 2006 11:03 PM

Did you see that Mentos is running a video contest for the next great Mentos fountain?

www.mentosgeyser.com

Posted by: cybele [http://www.candyblog.net] on August 5, 2006 9:50 PM

I find it hard to believe that it took me this long to realize that you went to Narbonne. I thought you were like the rest of those east coasters but no, you are a local. Locals rule. Locals only.

BTW your fine company has been a long standing client of mine. Can't believe they made you VP+. We are old, very old.

Posted by: Isabel C Balboa [http://www.cantbebothered.fart] on August 6, 2006 10:15 PM

That soda looks kinda jaggedy. Like it'd be painful to drink. Ha.

Posted by: justJENN [http://www.justjennrants.blogspot.com] on August 23, 2006 9:21 PM
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