Gemma, Agnes et al
we hosted Eepybird in the spring for a live presentation of their "Extreme Diet Coke & Mentos" show (much watched on YouTube). Their advance instructions to us give some clues - they use diet coke not for the effect, but because they get covered in it (and would rather avoid getting too sticky). Similarly, any rough-surfaced sweets will probably work. The nozzles they developed for the bottles hold 6 mentos, and have a variety of differently-shaped holes in the top to create different jets. The key element was the temperature of the liquid - in Newcastle in March we had to leave our heating on overnight to raise both the ambient room temperature and the diet coke (to something like 18-20 degrees, if memory serves). That's why the most spectacular amateur videos are usually from kids in Florida!
Have fun!
Andy Lloyd
Centre for Life
________________________________
From: Gemma Hebden [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Sat 7/4/2009 10:41 AM
Subject: Re: Explosion help!
I have just performed the diet coke and mentos experiment with children at a local school and they loved it. It can go wrong though, so I recommend buying a Geyser Tube, which holds the mints (x7) in the plastic tube until you pull out the stopper. It means you can leg it out the way before the coke explodes, but the tube forces the liquid up very high. Ours reached about 7 feet, much the the delight of the screaming children (along with the soaking their poor teacher got). I also recommend buying Coca Cola because the cheap brand I practised with was a big disappointment, but I'm guessing this is because Coca Cola has much more fizz, so perhaps Pepsi would work equally as well.
I found the Geyser Tube in a shop called Hawkin's Bazaar for £5.99 but I suspect you can find them cheaper online. You can create a DIY kit with a smarties tube and a small piece of cardboard, but you forgo the plastic tube for the liquid to rush through. I've not personally tried this version, but better than nothing if you have time/money constraints.
________________________________
Date: Fri, 3 Jul 2009 13:25:55 +0000
From: [log in to unmask]
Subject: [PSCI-COM] Explosion help!
To: [log in to unmask]
Hello,
Does anyone know any safe but impressive explosions a child can make with household products? So far I have tried the following:
1. vinegar and baking powder
2. toilet cleaner and aluminium 'bomb'
3. hydrogen peroxide and yeast 'elephant toothpaste'
None have worked incredibly well. They just foam a little out of the measuring cylinder. The toilet cleaner and aluminium barely worked at all. Even after a whole night of the aluminium balls sitting in the toilet cleaner, it didn't go off!
Please help!
Thanks
Andy Lloyd
Special Projects Manager
Centre for Life
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Tel: +44191 2438283
Fax: +44 191 2438223
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