For our Power Generation Midterm project Mindy and I decided to use Diet Coke and Mentos as our power source. Our initial tests showed the reaction power promising.
Diet Coke and Mentos Power from Russell de la Torre.
We piped the explosive reaction through garden hoses to a water wheel. The water wheel was connected to an old tape deck. We used the tape deck because it already had a series of pulleys and a motor for power generation. The pulleys converted the torque from the water wheel into higher RPMs for the connected motor.
We used the power generated to heat a USB soldering iron that melted marshmallows.
We also put a lego pirate beach scene inside the tank for eye candy.
Here is video of our presentation to the class of our Diet Coke and Mentos power generator.
Unfortunately, we didn’t get enough power to turn the water wheel. The loss of power was due to a leak in one of our Diet Coke bottles. The second problem was the Mentos pod in the other Coke bottle failed to drop into the soda.
Diet Coke and Mentos Take 1 from Russell de la Torre on Vimeo.
Due to a lousy first attempt we wanted to take another shot at it. Here’s what happened.
Diet Coke and Mentos Take 2 from Russell de la Torre on Vimeo.
