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MoMentos

Mobius mentos that is.
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While watching the Myth Busters episode on Mentos and diet cola, I learned that it is more than the chemical composition of Mentos that causes all of the carbonation in the pop to be released. It turns out that the rough, pitted surface of the candy allows the carbon dioxide to nucleate and release more quickly than if just using gum Arabic itself.

I propose that the reaction could be made more intense by extruding the candy into a Mobius shape when it is first made, thereby increasing its surface area to many times that of the original candy.


Wikipedia: Menger sponge http://en.wikipedia.../wiki/Menger_sponge
How about a fractal shape with infinite surface area? (MengerTos?) And since it has zero volume, it should be relatively cheap in materials to make! [jutta, Apr 29 2007]

[link]






       A mobius strip has a single surface, but that doesn't necessarily make the surface larger than other geometric shapes. Just turning it into a cylinder would have the same benefits.
jutta, Apr 29 2007
  

       Just grind it up into smaller bits. What [jutta] said [-]
coprocephalous, Apr 29 2007
  

       surely a strip shape has more surface than - are these mentos things round like a pill?
po, Apr 29 2007
  

       [po] they are spheroids.   

       A fractal type shape would probably work best.
Galbinus_Caeli, Apr 29 2007
  

       Has anyone tried putting Alka Seltzer into a carbonated beverage? Or would that be like 2 wrongs don't make a right and they'd negate each other?
Canuck, Apr 29 2007
  

       That's kind of what I had pictured, a mobius strip wrapped back through itself many times.
I disagreed with the assumption that a model rocket can not be made from carbonation release. I think that if you were to build a multi-stage rocket using decreasing pop bottle sizes, with enough surface area of mentos, contained separately, within the pop until the separation of each stage, then that last bottle should get quite the altitude.
  

       [Canuck] What do you think of trying for a West Coast Halfcon.   

       I thought of fractal but its hardly practical...
po, Apr 29 2007
  

       west coast? yep Devon's fine with me
po, Apr 29 2007
  

       Sorry, po. I think he means Cascadia, as in North America. You know, the colonies.
Canuck, Apr 29 2007
  

       yes, sending my boss there this month! :)   

       would so love to join her and hug you two!
po, Apr 29 2007
  

       If you want to maximize the surface area, just grind them up into powder.
DrCurry, Apr 29 2007
  

       They tried that [DrC], didn't seem to work as well.   

       I've got some air-miles saved up [Po], maybe you could tag along with your boss.   

       she's using your neck of the woods as a stepping stone to Alaska! I really wish I could 2 fries.
po, Apr 30 2007
  

       raisin shaped.
JesusHChrist, Apr 30 2007
  
      
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