Devil’s toothpaste: The world’s most colorful explosion

Sept. 25, 2020

In a recent video, YouTuber Mark Rober illustrates the enormous power of devil’s toothpaste while reclaiming his world record title.

What do you do when someone breaks your world record for the largest elephant’s toothpaste experiment? If you’re engineer/inventor/YouTuber Mark Rober, you devote 18 months of your life to regaining your title. In his quest for perfection, Rober conducted over 150 experiments to ensure the perfect chemical ratio, and, with a little help from his friends and a ton of Flex Tape, overengineered a vessel to send elephant’s toothpaste rocketing into the sky. He also, inadvertently, create a new mixture that is much stronger and more explosive than traditional elephant’s toothpaste which he dubbed devil’s toothpaste. The resulting explosion of food coloring and foam is more impressive than any special effect from a Hollywood movie. Warning: The chemical reactions in this video are highly exothermic, causing the foam to reach temperatures of 200 °F and higher. Please, don’t try this at home. In a recent video, YouTuber Mark Rober illustrates the enormous power of devil’s toothpaste while reclaiming his world record title.

About the Author

Alexis Gajewski | Senior Content Strategist

Alexis Gajewski has over 15 years of experience in the maintenance, reliability, operations, and manufacturing space. She joined Plant Services in 2008 and works to bring readers the news, insight, and information they need to make the right decisions for their plants. Alexis also authors “The Lighter Side of Manufacturing,” a blog that highlights the fun and innovative advances in the industrial sector. 

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