This article was taken from the December 2012 issue of Wired magazine. Be the first to read Wired's articles in print before they're posted online, and get your hands on loads of additional content by <span class="s1">subscribing online.
In 2006, Stephen Voltz and Fritz Grobe posted a video entitled "The Extreme Diet Coke and Mentos Experiments: Experiment #137" which demonstrated the effect of dropping Mentos sweets into 101 bottles of Diet Coke. It went viral, and exploding Coke became a worldwide phenomenon. But why not improve on it with your own Bellagio-rivalling fountains of soda? You'll need a custom nozzle with a quick-release Mento-dropping mechanism -- Ken Denmead (author of
Geek Dad £12.99, Viking) tells you how to make one.
1. Select your pipe Cut a 5cm-long piece of 2cm-diameter irrigation pipe (you may substitute 1.3cm, or garden hose, so long as you have a cap to fit it).
2. Prepare the cap Take the cap from a Diet Coke bottle and drill a 2cm hole for a 2cm pipe (or a 1.3cm hole for 1.3cm pipe). Aim for dead centre in the top.
3. Glue the cap in place Using an epoxy adhesive such as Super Glue, attach the top side of the bottle cap to one end of your length of pipe.
4. Create a nozzle Select an end cap of a similar diameter to your pipe -- a snug fit is important -- and drill one or more 5mm holes in the end.
5. Seal the end Carefully glue the cap to the other end of your pipe using standard pipe glue or a silicone-based adhesive.
6. Drill the trigger holes About 5mm up from the cap, drill a 15mm-diameter hole directly through one side of the pipe and out the other.
7. Construct your trigger Straighten out a paperclip. Put a loop in one end and tie some string to it so you can trigger the drop from a safe distance.
8. Put the sweets in place Hold the pipe upside down and put three Mentos in the tube. Push the paperclip in the tiny hole and out of the other side to keep sweets in.
9. Add the cola Take a two-litre bottle of Diet Coke, Pepsi or other fizzy cola and replace the cap with your pipe and nozzle, closing it tightly.
10. Keep your distance Set the bottle carefully on the ground. Unreel the trigger string, being careful not to disturb the paperclip, and back away slowly.
11. Ignite the explosion Count down and pull. You should hear and see the sweets fall in. After a moment the cola will erupt in a geyser up to 6m high.
This article was originally published by WIRED UK
