[meteorite-list] OT: Summer fun with Bubbly - New Launch Vehicle

From: Paul Harris <paul_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Fri Aug 11 20:56:29 2006
Message-ID: <7.0.1.0.2.20060811172047.029b2858_at_meteorite.com>

Rob's message reminded me of the new launch vehicle that
my wife developed. We call it the Ragu Rocket. We have
not compared other pasta sauces so feel free to experiment.

Background...
While working in the back yard I found an empty Ragu bottle
next to the fence. We have nice neighbors on the other side
so the idea of them tossing it over the fence was out of the
question. We have squirrels, raccoons and possums that
go through the back yard so I figured one of them needed a
little Italian snack and dragged it over from the trash. I walked
across the yard to throw it in the trash can and discovered 2
interesting observations upon approaching the trash can.

1. The trash can was close to full with an upside down plastic
bag on the top with a rounded hole in it (vs an animal clawing
or chewing it open).

2. There were splatters of sauce inside the trash can and on the
cement on the side of the can opposite from the wall I found the Ragu bottle.

My hypothesis is that my wife:
1. Threw away a partial bottle of Ragu with the cap on.
2. The capped Ragu bottle was positioned upside down in the trash can.
3. The bacteria in the sauce produced enough gas to eventually blow
the lid off.
4. The force was enough to launch the Ragu bottle across the yard.

Question? How much Ragu is needed to reach escape velocity?

Paul


At 04:32 PM 8/11/2006, Matson, Robert wrote:
>Sterling wrote:
>
> > But if you're dropping the flag right now, I'm breaking out the
> > champagne! (Whoops, no champagne in the fridge. How about Ginger
> > Ale? That looks kind of champagnesque, well, if you mix it with
> > 7-Up, it does, then add some Baccardi Gold... Hey! it's a
> > SCIENCE experiment, that's all.
>
>And if you're into doing some crazy science experiments, try
>dumping an entire pack of Mentos into a newly opened 2-liter
>bottle of soda -- OUTDOORS! (Diet soda is usually better --
>the resulting mess is less sticky.) For the most impressive
>results, you need to design a delivery system that will smoothly
>dump the entire stack of Mentos in less than a second. (Like
>the yield on a fission bomb, bad timing leads to a bit of a
>fizzle.) ;-) --Rob
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Received on Fri 11 Aug 2006 08:56:14 PM PDT