Want to See the Coke and Mentos-Powered ‘Rocket Car’ in Action?
- Posted on December 9, 2011 at 11:18am by
Liz Klimas
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BUCKFIELD, Maine (The Blaze/AP) — The Maine guys known for creating colorful geysers from Diet Coke and Mentos candies say they’ve set a distance record for a vehicle with soda-and-candy-powered propulsion.
Fritz Grobe and Stephen Voltz created a single-seat rocket car powered by 54 bottles of Coke Zero and 324 Mentos. They say the Mark II traveled 239 feet, improving upon last year’s 220 feet with only half the fuel.
Here’s the footage of they posted of a different 209-foot run:
Voltz said Thursday they incorporated a simple piston-and-cylinder mechanism to get the vehicle moving. He says it‘s powerful enough that people shouldn’t try the experiment at home.
(Photo: Eepybird)
Their YouTube posting explains how it works:
The Coke Zero & Mentos Rocket Car uses a piston mechanism: a six-foot long rod sits inside a six-foot long tube attached to each bottle of Coke Zero. When the Mentos drop into the soda, the pressure tries to push the rod out of the tube. With 54 rods all pushing at once, that gives us a lot of power.
All that power is pushing against a solid wall that’s attached to a sheet of plywood that runs under the rocket car itself — so the wall won’t move, the rocket car will. We get one big push for six feet, and then it’s all coasting from there.
The Buckfield-based entertainers shot to fame five years ago when they wore lab coats and goggles during their online videos demonstrating elaborate geysers set to music.
Here is one of those demonstrations:
While these men give instruction of how to set off Diet Coke and Mentos as a “try at home” experiment, sometimes even those can go horribly wrong, as reported on The Blaze last year.
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Comments (54)
fugetaboutit
Posted on December 9, 2011 at 2:28pmI can‘t believe these guys actually said that the jets were pushing against the plywood and that’s why the car moved. Completely clueless about action/reaction. I suppose they think the Space shuttle takes off because the thrusters are pushing against the earth. It was fun to watch but scientifically quite ignorant.
Report Post »Rational Man
Posted on December 9, 2011 at 3:57pmWhat I want to know is, how many miles per Mentos.
Report Post »I might be more economical than a Volt!
jetblast3500
Posted on December 9, 2011 at 4:02pmActually the jets were, in a way pushing against the plywood. The soda was pushing againt rods that were pushing against the plywood which increased the thrust and allowed the car to go farther than if the rods weren’t in the tubes
Report Post »sockcone99
Posted on December 9, 2011 at 4:17pmI can‘t tell if you’re trolling, or if you just didn’t read the story nor watch the video. Either way, your comment has nothing to do with their car.
The moving pistons pressing against the stationary wall is a big part of their thrust generation strategy. Pretty clever way to increase the efficiency of a very short duration impulse engine.
I love the way these guys are smart enough to make something that’s fun to watch, whether you want to draw a free body diagram, or just like seeing the Coke blow all over the place.
Report Post »Seeker of Truth
Posted on December 9, 2011 at 6:01pm@Rational Man
Report Post »5280 feet in 1 mile. 5280/209 mentos you would have to reload approx 25 times to go one mile. 25×209=5225 mentos to the mile. 14 mentos to a roll, 373 rolls to a mile. 54 cokes 25 times is 1350 cokes to a mile. Now to figure avg cost of 373 rolls of mentos and 1350 cokes to a mile, at least we can make the energy here in the U.S.
Rational Man
Posted on December 9, 2011 at 10:36pmThanks Seeker Of Truth!
Report Post »That would be a real boom to Coke and the candy company.
I think we need bigger fuel tanks and a better delivery system though.
We need money too! Coke is pretty friendly with Obama, right?
This sounds like something Obama would spend our money on……………..
RossPoldark
Posted on December 10, 2011 at 6:10amYou can do the same thing with baking soda and vinegar. Smelly though, but it would not leave the sticky mess mentos would.
Report Post »Gorp
Posted on December 10, 2011 at 6:53amOK. I’m stupid but am wondering, why not build a “gas tank” that all the coke/mentos pressure build up would go into and then power some sort of piston engine like a steam engine. Wouldn’t the pressure stay built up for a long enough time to power the car further down the track? It would be something like a compressed air tank and run down as the piston drives the car down the track. It just might work? HUH?
Report Post »THX-1138
Posted on December 9, 2011 at 2:01pmAlmost as much fun as the spudguns I used to build.
Report Post »JustJP
Posted on December 9, 2011 at 1:52pmLOL! That was awesome
Report Post »Stoic one
Posted on December 9, 2011 at 1:21pmTHAT was hilarious. Now we know why Home Depot is doing well ; all those pvc parts. And clean fun, no ants, no corn syrup, wonder how aspartame affects the grass.
Report Post »Reload
Posted on December 9, 2011 at 1:20pmThis just in from the “I’ve got way too much ferking time on my hands” dept.
Report Post »Labeling
Posted on December 9, 2011 at 1:09pmGive these guys 6-months and they’ll have a longer travel distance between refill/recharge than the silly Chevy Volt.
Added side benefit: The Coke Zero & Mentos powered car won’t burn anything down!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Report Post »aaronkcmo
Posted on December 9, 2011 at 1:03pmLame. They should consider a large pressure vessel and a fluid motor.
Report Post »Freedomtothink
Posted on December 9, 2011 at 1:03pmThis is like the ultimate man cave ****, a total waste of time and money and totally insane, so I really, really like it. Good job.
Report Post »banjarmon
Posted on December 9, 2011 at 12:55pmBig kids having good fun!!!! I would be right there with them!
Report Post »1 Corinthians 15
Posted on December 9, 2011 at 12:50pmThey should drag race the Volt.
Report Post »Southernsoul
Posted on December 9, 2011 at 12:39pmWonder if that would qualify as a ‘green vehicle’ and if so, how many billions in funding Obama would give them?
Report Post »bigfatslob
Posted on December 9, 2011 at 12:45pmI’m afraid not, this vehicle emitts CO2, the creators of this vehicle may be fined by the EPA !
Report Post »aeosman
Posted on December 9, 2011 at 12:57pmWon‘t the exhaust draw Ant’s?
Report Post »scrapadapolis
Posted on December 9, 2011 at 12:20pmPlease give me the money you spent on soda and mentos to but food I can eat..
Report Post »dnewton
Posted on December 11, 2011 at 11:30pmTurning Coke and Mentos into energy is a variation on turning corn into ethanol Does this have something to do with keeping kids from being fat or is it more goofy energy policy? Didn’t they do something like this in the last depression? It seems like livestock was killed to try and boost the price of meat. If you kill enough Cokes with Mentos, it would theoretically create a shortage of Coke and upward price pressure.
Report Post »MTCOWBOY711
Posted on December 9, 2011 at 12:18pmTwo more “green” jobs Obama created.
Report Post »Xavier_Holden
Posted on December 9, 2011 at 12:13pmAt least they are helping the economy by spending the loot to perform these experiments.
Report Post »aaronkcmo
Posted on December 9, 2011 at 1:04pmThat may not be true. They credit both Coke and Mentos, so we may have just watched a commercial.
Report Post »Mandors
Posted on December 9, 2011 at 12:10pmWe should get these guys to run our stealth drone missions.
Report Post »Cincy-Prototyper
Posted on December 9, 2011 at 11:56amObviously, someone has way way too much time on their hands!
Report Post »Looked like it would be fun to try…maybe a project for the kids this weekend.
Harry Assenback
Posted on December 9, 2011 at 11:48amReminds of the last time I took Exlax………sorry.
Report Post »MTCOWBOY711
Posted on December 9, 2011 at 12:19pmI know a taco-truck that yields similar results.
Report Post »SREGN
Posted on December 9, 2011 at 1:51pmMy colonoscopy prep yielded similar results.
Report Post »Harry Assenback
Posted on December 9, 2011 at 2:08pmSome may say the reading of the Teleprompter by our President produces the same results……..
Report Post »Champ
Posted on December 9, 2011 at 3:28pmadding to the ” … yields similar results” thread : Eating ice cream (I’m lactose intolerant) without lactaid yields similar results.
Report Post »ChiefGeorge
Posted on December 9, 2011 at 11:48amWhat fun and what a mess.
Report Post »Brents Torts
Posted on December 9, 2011 at 11:43amLOL I like it.
Report Post »sWampy
Posted on December 9, 2011 at 11:38amWhile the mentos geysers are cute, this is a waste of time, energy, and seems the kind of waste that someone truly concerned about the environment would frown at, where are the greenies?
Report Post »Gonzo
Posted on December 9, 2011 at 11:41amThey’re busy trying to figure out how to make a windmill spin using coke and mentos when the wind stops blowing.
Report Post »SUPPLY_SIDE
Posted on December 9, 2011 at 11:33amThe Mark II version has a nifty horn – nice!
Report Post »CtznRespondent
Posted on December 9, 2011 at 11:31amFurther proof that it has become way too easy for humans to obtain calories. Lol
Report Post »chips1
Posted on December 9, 2011 at 11:30amFirst you drink a diet coke, swallow a mento and there you have a Guiness record of puking for distance. Jackass!!!!!!!!!!
Report Post »hightide
Posted on December 9, 2011 at 2:14pmnope. They tried that on Myth Busters and no puking…
Report Post »Gonzo
Posted on December 9, 2011 at 11:24amObama will be forcing GM to put that in to production in 2012.
Report Post »cyclops
Posted on December 9, 2011 at 11:23amLMAO……..yuck….getting sprayed by sticky soda syrup? No thanks……
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