post-work headache.

This week, I had to go through numerous reading and research journals forced on me assigned by the boss.

OMG, this feels like uni all over again.

Only worst - I have to learn all sorts of mechanical-related terms and equations and having the core background of chemical really doesn't help. I'm used to memorizing chemical terms, chemical reaction equations, etc - but NOT THIS!

But it's really cool, having the advantage of learning new things. For instance, I get to learn a lot about nucleation - which is a crucial process to know if you're in gas production and all those thermodynamic stuff; they ain't come easy on you and the process.

In nucleation, basically I have to learn how liquid is formed; the transition of phase, the reaction, etc. Which is a new thing to me. So Wikipedia, being the awesome guru it is, led me to this interesting video on understanding the concept.

In this "test", Mentos is being put into a bottle of Diet Coke, causing the fountain of bubbles coming out of it in high speed. This is caused by nucleation process as studied by the Tonya Coffey, a physicist at North Carolina university.

Basically the surface of Mentos which contained gum arabic, a surfactant that creates a low surface tension in the liquid, hence encouraging the bubble growth of CO2 gas - and Diet Coke is proved to be producing the most spectacular explosion of the bubbles.

It's a very good way to teach the kids about science, but I'm sure all the students were thinking "darn, all those candies and Coke wasted". Haha.

Thought it'd be cool to share with you guys.