"geyser" news and stories

Mentos may once have been known as "the freshmaker," but we now know them best for the reaction that occurs when they are submerged in Coke. To cash in on their newfound glory, Mentos has created the Mentos Geyser contest, where entrants will compete to see whose homemade geyser reigns supreme. The videos must be no longer than 2 minutes and have to feature a regular Mentos (not sugar free) being dropped into "a plastic bottle of a carbonated beverage of any brand." There is a video tool kit available to contestants, which contains the Mentos logo, jingle and other graphics that might be useful. Entries must be submitted to YouTube by September 30th, 2006.

Prizes include up to 1000 iTunes downloads, a year's supply of Mentos (320 rolls) and various Mentos merchandise. Not to mention that everyone will have the chance to watch people making soda fountains of their own.

May the best geyser win!

Source

Normally, I'd say that another post about Mentos and Diet Coke soda geyser phenomenon wouldn't be necessary. However, the folks at EepyBird.com have taken the plume of soda to new artistic levels. In a display that they liken to the Bellagio Fountains in Las Vegas, Fritz Grobe and Stephen Voltz let loose 200 liters of Diet Coke with the help of over 500 Mentos. During the roughly three minute display, the lab-coat-clad duo fire off soda from spinning pedestals, swings and arrays that seem better suited to fireworks rigs. EepyBird also has a decent explanation of the forces at work behind the magic. It's not just the gum arabic in Mentos that causes the fierce fizz, it's the texture of the candy that draws out the billions of bubbles.

In much the same vein as the glowing microwaved grapes I posted about a few weeks ago, I recently found several pages dedicated to showing what happens when you combine Mentos with Coca Cola. I first saw this amazing photo on Flickr, uploaded by someone named Undrin. Intrigued, I went to Google and found this video (here's another, just for good measure). According to Undrin's comment, the Mentos cause the surface tension of the liquid to decrease, allowing all of the carbonation to be released at once. More specifically, I learned, it's the arabic gum that causes the surface tension to decrease. It's also what makes Mentos chewy. You can find an explanation here, and more discussion on Snopes.