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Most
Mentos and Soda Fountains-world record set by
Belgian students
[April
24] LEUVEN, Belgium--Students in the Belgian city of Leuven,
some 30 km (18.6 miles) east of Brussels, have set the new
world record for most Mentos and Soda fountains by launching
1,360 simultaneous geysers.
A Mentos candy 'mint flavored' added to
a bottle of Diet Coke causes a reaction resulting in a foam
fountain up to nine meters (29 feet) high.
(enlarge
photo)
Films of the Mentos-Diet Coke mix have been posted
on Internet entertainments sites attracting at least 10 million
viewers.
The previous World Record was set in the U.S.,
when 973 Cola bottles were launched simultaneously.
The craze has developed into an advertiser's
dream with a 20% increase in U.S. sales of Mentos Mints last
year. (enlarge
photo)
The candy maker estimates the craze is worth
$10 million free advertising a year.
Coca-Cola has also signed deals with leading
Internet video celebrities and even ran a Diet Coke-Mentos
video on its website for three months. Although there is no
exact scientific explanation for the phenomenon, scientists
agree that the reaction is physical, not chemical.
The most popular cause is believed to be the thousands
of tiny pores on each Mentos Mint, which act like nucleation
sites allowing carbon dioxide bubbles to form in the drink.
(enlarge
photo)
The bubbles form all over the candy and when
its sink to the bottom it causes the carbon dioxide to whoosh
out of the bottle.
There are reports that eating Mentos and drinking
Cola simultaneously can result in death caused by the reaction,
but no fatalities have been reported so far.
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