Pop goes the soda
What’s more fun for the kiddies on a Saturday afternoon than a party, complete with lots of soda pop and candies. Sugar madness! Obviously, science. I’m late to the festival, but back before last summer the people over at eepybird.com caught our attention with the fountains of foam from two litres bottles of cheap pop and handfuls of Mentos. Experiment as you will, wherever (except for PEI where this format of soda has been, until a recent change in the law, an illegal importation). On the Island, there’s better things to do with time and money.
Of course, the gang at Mythbusters couldn’t let this one pass, and I now know a lot more about additives and nucleation. I’m never too old to learn some applied science. There isn’t much practical use to the whole thing, unless you want to make a mess in the car; I tried that some years ago when I let pop freeze and thaw unexpectedly during a roadtrip. Did you know that a single can of cheap pop can coat the WHOLE INSIDE of the standard automobile. Don’t take my word for it. Go make a mess of your sedan. Remember that your mileage may vary, and that cleaning up isn’t the better part of the fun, but it does use up the better part of an afternoon. Frozen pop goo is very resistant to cleaning.
Anyhow, back to the candies in the pop bottle. I have to imagine that the conception and practice of the show had to put the sales graphs for the local bottling plant go right off the wall. I’m not willing to spend hundreds of (rapidly devaluating) dollars to recreate this at home, so I’ll live through it vicariously.
