For Steve’s Naked Eggs and Flying Potatoes book signing, we shot off Mentos and Diet Coke Geysers in the parking lot and had a liquid Nitrogen parade at the Tattered Cover Book Store in Highlands Ranch. We have more experiments and surprises for the Fire Bubbles and Exploding Toothpaste book signing this week. Who knows what we will do.
The Tattered Cover is used to authors coming in, reading an excerpt from their book and signing a few books. With Steve Spangler book signings, they must check the smoke detectors, warn the fire department and declare a “wet” and “dry” zone (no soda geysers or other science eruptions near the book shelves).
Come to the Tattered Cover in Highlands Ranch this Wednesday, December 7th at 6 p.m. and see what Steve Spangler and crew will do this time. This will be a kid-friendly book signing like no other. We will have special hands-on activities that are sure to keep the kids engaged and you smiling.
It’s probably the most asked question we get… “How exactly does that experiment with the Mentos and Diet Coke really work?” From the outset (nearly eight years ago), we hypothesized that the exploding soda was a physical reaction, and the key factor in the release of carbon dioxide was the microscopic pits on the surface
of the chewy mint. However, there was no real scientific study that anyone could point to as the definitive answer… until now. In the June issue of the American Journal of Physics, Tonya S. Coffey, an assistant professor of physics and astronomy at Appalachian State University, in Boone, N.C., and her team of fearless physics students reported on the ingredients, temperature dependence, duration, and other parameters of the suddenly famous Mentos-Diet Coke reaction.
There has been considerable debate over gum arabic (found in the coating of the mint) and the role it plays in the physical reaction. Coffey’s group was able to confirm that the surfactant gum arabic is a key component of the reaction: It reduces surface tension, thereby
So, America throws it back to the Europeans… from Louisville, KY to Turiba University in Latvia there is a new Mentos and Diet Coke World record. On June 19th, 1,911 students from Business University Turiba in Latvia launched an amazing geyser eruption and landed themselves in the Guinness Book of World Records, just over a month after students at Male High School in Kentucky launched 1,800 simultaneous geysers to earn their own world record status. The Latvian University students were celebrating the school’s 15th anniversary, and what better way to celebrate than with Mentos and Diet Coke. Check out the video of this monumental occasion. Now, who’s next…
I’ve always been a fan of Apple Computers (now Apple Inc.). From my very first Apple IIe to my current MacBook Pro (and about a dozen in between), these computers and products have helped me and our employees to do some very amazing things over the years. That’s why it was an honor to be invited to visit Apple last week and speak with a group of their employees about my experiences running our business on a Mac platform. During my visit, we also taped some online seminars that will be posted on apple.com/business in the near future.
Okay, the secret is out… we’ve been in business for 16 years and never had a PC in the office. So, I know your next question… “Did you shoot off a few Mentos Geysers during your visit to the Mothership?” While the thought crossed my mind, there were just too many unknowns to haul in a bunch of Diet Coke and Mentos. However, I did give everyone a Mentos Test Tube Geyser to take home. One of the employees shared his “accidental” discovery on his personal blog.Pretty funny stuff.
It was easy to see that this Steve Spangler session at the NAEYC 2006 Conference was going to be a little different. The stage was filled with the usual Spangler stuff… a vacuum cleaner, eggs, a saw, bowling balls, toilet paper rolls, giant bags, an aquarium of water, a violin bow, plenty of Alka-Seltzer, potatoes, Diet Coke and, of course, Mentos. Even before Bobbi finished the introduction, there were Mentos Geysers erupting and people running!
My thanks to everyone who attended my session at the NAEYC 2006 conference in Atlanta, Georgia. You’ll find links to the experiments and activities that I shared during the session as well as a few favorites that didn’t make it into the list of 20 Cool Science Activities Under $20. Click on the link below to download a PDF of the session handout:
For Steve’s Naked Eggs and Flying Potatoes book signing, we shot off Mentos and Diet Coke Geysers in the parking lot and had a liquid Nitrogen parade at the Tattered Cover Book Store in Highlands Ranch. We have more experiments and surprises for the Fire Bubbles and Exploding Toothpaste book signing this week. Who knows what we will do.
