05.28.08
Posted in Life, the Universe and All that Jazz at 10:00 pm by Meg
I know you love watching the videos and maybe you’ve tried it yourself…
Now someone has studied the reaction.
From the Chronicle of Higher Education:
Diet Coke and Mentos: Why the Reaction?
By JJ HERMES
It’s been well documented, both by David Letterman and in thousands of YouTube videos, that combining Mentos breath mints with Diet Coke produces a thrilling eruption. But why?
Tonya S. Coffey, an assistant professor of physics and astronomy at Appalachian State University, had her sophomore-level physics students answer that question, and she has published their findings in the June 2008 issue of the American Journal of Physics.
The students measured how far different concoctions sprayed and how much mass they shed in the reaction. They mixed Diet Coke and Fruit Mentos, Diet Coke and Wint-O-Green LifeSavers, Diet Coke and rock salt, and a dozen other combinations.
Ms. Coffey also trained a scanning-electron microscope and an atomic-force microscope on the mints, observing the minute patches of surface roughness that contribute to the explosive reaction.
The students confirmed that the ingredients most responsible for the physical reaction are potassium benzoate and aspartame, which reduce the amount of work required to form bubbles in the carbonated soda. Those bubbles help carbon dioxide rapidly escape in the do-it-yourself eruptions. They also found that, while Mentos cause Diet Coke to spray twice as far as do LifeSavers, both mints cause about as much soda to leave the bottle.
“We were very low budget,” says Ms. Coffey, who now faces a different problem. Since her students have figured out why the Diet Coke-Mentos cocktail is so volatile, she says, “I’ve got to think of a new experiment” for them.
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05.26.08
Posted in Life, the Universe and All that Jazz at 9:16 pm by Meg
Got your attention, didn’t it?
Well, it’s not what you’re thinking.
We’re talking about hosting another foreign exchange student for next year.
Actually, Girl wants us to. I think it’s mostly that she doesn’t want to end up doing all the chores around here.
So, we’re looking over the options.
Now, our first student came to us with a week’s notice. She was already coming and needed a home. A friend was hosting and I mentioned that we’d talked about doing it at some point. Next thing I know, she’s here in our spare bedroom.
Our second student came with more notice, but we really didn’t have any choice. We wanted a girl and our local contact had 3 kids coming in the fall and only one girl. End of story.
This time we get to go through the website and FIND someone. There are 57 girls listed on the website.
It just feels funny, trying to pick and choose.
‘Do we want Sally who is 17 from Sweden and has interests in basketball, listening to music, and movies, or Jennifer from Japan who is 18 and has interests in books, running, and ballet.’
‘Then there’s Ginny from Germany who is 16 or Maria from Mexico who is 15…’
And all you get is a handful of facts - first name, age, country, interests, and religion. For a person that’s going to live in our house for a year.
At this point, Girl would like someone closer to her own age, and we’re thinking of steering away from someone from Germany or Columbia - since we’ve hosted from those two countries before. But that still leaves a lot of choices!
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05.25.08
Posted in Life, the Universe and All that Jazz at 10:07 pm by Meg
Hmmmm, I’m kind of lacking of energy.
Whether it’s end-of-year let down, general overload, or what - I don’t know.
But keeping it simple:
The Ren Fair thingy was rained out. It was drizzling like crazy and they were predicting thunder storms moving through the area. We’re going to try again on Thursday evening.
I now have a ceiling fan I need to replace ASAP. We have two in our livingroom and we’ve been describing them as infested with ghosts for the last 5ish years. Once they are turned on, they will flicker on and off intermittently.
Annoying, but the electrician that checked them out when it started said that the remote control receivers in the lights were the problem and he recommended putting in new fans. It wasn’t a hazard, but there wasn’t any way to really fix them.
The other day, one them gave a sizzle and all the lights (there are 5 on each) stopped working. And the fan just goes faster and faster when you turn it on.
So, it’s time to finally get them down and put up new ones.
But thats the problem, these are really nice ceiling fan/lights that when I priced the same brand and all online, priced out at nearly $1000 at a discount place - OW!
So, I wanted Hubby to go with me to find new ones.
The other problem is that their remote controls are mounted into the wall with this funky 6 switch control panel set up. The wall that is covered by wood paneling, so if I remove the switches - there’s a hole. If we go and get the same brand, then the new switches can go replace the old ones.
But, of course, keeping with the same brand, brings me back to $1000 for the set. So, I’d like Hubby’s input before getting new ceiling fans.
I still haven’t touched the faucets - see the lack of energy above. Maybe Wednesday or Thursday.
And that’s all I’ve got.
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05.23.08
Posted in Life, the Universe and All that Jazz at 12:58 am by Meg
For my friend Frankie.
Live each day,
Each of them is a jewel to cherish and enjoy.
Each sunrise begins a new adventure.
Each drop of dew is different in some little way.
Love your family,
Each face is written in your mind.
Each voice is heard as you tell their stories.
Each person has a special place in your heart.
Learn to accept,
Each day must end with sundown.
Each adventure most come to a close.
Each story must end before the next can begin.
Living, Loving, and Learning
makes it possible to make sense
makes it possible to grow
makes it possible…
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05.22.08
Posted in Life, the Universe and All that Jazz at 11:22 pm by Meg
All year, T has been doing the Renaissance period with the kids that were in co-op. She really, really wanted to end it with a Ren Fair.
The hassles of finding a space and dealing with liability issues quashed that idea, especially when she found out that we could do a little Ren Fair-like mini thing as part of the community arts festival. So, Friday evening the kids will be inviting visitors back a few hundred years.
This last Wednesday was a dry run through setting up and fiddling with details…including putting a May Pole together
The kids haven’t had time to truly practice a “dance” with it, but hopefully they can have a fun ‘wrap’ during the evening.
In addition, they’ll be doing a scene from Comedy of Errors, a jester show, another little skit, constructing foam swords, and doing a little alchemy demonstration. There’s also a “jousting” area and they’ve put together some exhibits.
I’m hoping the weather holds and they get an audience!
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