The Coke Zero and Mentos Rocket Car By Eepy Bird

Just when we think that the Mentos & Coke Zero experiments have reached their limit, Fritz Grobe and Stephen Voltz come up with an even better, more powerful idea. This time around the guys from Eepy Bird are using the power generated from the reaction, to power a rocket car!

To perform the experiment, the duo created a 'rocket' car with a piston mechanism, by inserting a six-foot long rod inside each of six-foot long tubes attached to the 108, 2-liter bottles of Coke Zero. When the 648 Mentos were dropped in the soda the pressure from the gas tries to push the rods out - generating immense power.

To harness the power, the two conducted the experiment, against a wall built with 3,600 pounds of cement blocks. As you will see in the video, this is the reason the car darted out at a 'rocket' speed for the first six feet - After that, it simply coasted over, completing a total of 239 feet before coming to a halt. What's next? Well if you watch the pair closely you may notice that they are looking at the moon - Now wouldn't that be something?

In case you are wondering why Coke Zero and Mentos are a lethal combination, here is a short explanation. According to the folks at Eepy Bird, the pressure is caused by nucleation, which surprisingly is not a chemical, but a physical reaction.

The carbon dioxide that helps create the fizz in colas is always looking to escape, and is drawn to tiny bumps or nucleation sites, to which the gas attaches and starts forming bubbles. Mentos provides the perfect nucleation site thanks to its 40 microscopic layers of liquid sugar that result in thousands of bumps. It is therefore not surprising that when the two combine in large quantities, miracles happen!

Have fun watching the amazing video and if you have 3-D glasses, be sure to check out the second one too. Don't fret if you can't find a pair, the Mentos and Coke Zero guys will teach you how to make one, in less than five minutes.

sources:eepybird.com,socialtimes.com