If the words “Diet Coke” and “Mentos” do not immediately bring to mind the image of geysers of soda pop arcing into the air, the latest youth culture phenomenon has passed you by. Until now.
Blame the Internet for one incinerated toaster, a marshmallow-encrusted microwave and a frat house parking lot littered with plastic pop bottles.
“It’s pretty exciting,” said Daniel Abraha, 25, when a gusher of Diet Coke rocketed about 10 feet in the air. “I can see it enthralling kids in elementary, junior high, even high school.”
And college kids, too, apparently. Abraha is a member of the Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity at the University of Akron.
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The Diet Coke and Mentos phenomenon began maybe six months ago when high school science teachers and nerdy pranksters began posting their Mentos-Coke experiments on the Web. The videos showed what happens when a few Mentos candies are dropped into a 2-liter plastic bottle of soda pop. The soda erupts.
Then in May, two Maine men posted a three-minute video on the Internet of a massive Coke and Mentos geyser display reminiscent of the Bellagio Fountains in Las Vegas. Fritz Grobe and Stephen Voltz, who are performance artists, used 101 2-liter bottles of Diet Coke and 523 Mentos tablets in the experiment, which landed them interviews this month with National Public Radio, MSNBC and The Wall Street Journal.
Humans have been playing with their food for eons. We turned to the fraternity guys to find out which were the most impressive and fun. Warning: Do not try these at home.
Cheese racing
The frat guys took to the sport of cheese racing, a goofy Internet-fueled pastime that began in Great Britain. Participants toss plastic-wrapped slices of American cheese onto a hot barbecue grill. The cheese melts, but the plastic does not. Slowly, the plastic sleeves inflate into fat little pillows. The person with the first fully inflated cheese sleeve is the winner.
Precaution: Don’t grab the hot packet with your hands.
Explanation: The cheese absorbs the heat faster than the plastic, so the cheese melts but the plastic doesn’t, said Manfred Kroger, professor of food science emeritus at Penn State University. The cheese emits gas as it turns from solid to liquid, blowing up the plastic wrapper.
Pop-Tart test
Can you catch a Pop-Tart on fire by overheating it in a toaster? A strawberry Pop-Tart was placed in a cheap toaster plugged into an outdoor fixture in the Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity house parking lot. The lever was forcibly depressed for about 5 minutes. The pastry smoked but did not burn.
Precautions: Use flame-proof mitts and a toaster you don’t mind ruining. Or better yet, don’t try this at all. It wasn’t very exciting.
Explanation: Pop-Tarts are indestructible.
Sparkling grape
Cut a green grape in half and place on a paper plate, cut sides up. Microwave on high power for about 30 seconds. The grape may merely lie there. Or it may spark dramatically before igniting in a miniature fireball.
Precaution: Don’t put the grape cut side down–it won’t work. The microwave was not damaged, but there’s no guarantees.
Explanation: Neither Kroger nor University of Pittsburgh chemistry professor Robert Wolke knows why grapes and microwaves are such an exciting combination. Wolke says julienned carrots spark in the microwave too. Kroger says spaghetti sauce explodes in the microwave because it contains sulfur, nitrate and carbon, the three ingredients of gunpowder.
Pooped Peep
A 2-month-old marshmallow Peep was placed on a plate and microwaved for about 1 minute. It slumped appealingly and eventually melted.
Precautions: Don’t eat the hot Peep. Don’t use a foam plate because the hot marshmallow will bore right through it, leaving your microwave a mess.
Explanation: Marshmallow melts when heated. Slumping Peeps are pretty cool, though.