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To put Draco's comment into context. Stomach acid has a pH of around 1 or 2, Cola around 6 to 7. If you poured a can of cola on a car roof you'd end up with a stain that could be washed off. Pour the same amount of stomach acid on a car and you'll strip the paint off the roof, and quite possibly etch the underlying metal as well.

In other words anything that can survive stomach acid isn't going to be worried by the acid in cola.

That said the acid in cola is Phosphoric acid, which is used in many soft drinks. This can bind with magnesium and calcium in the digestive system, and it is possible that some of the salts produced may be similar to salts in stomach powders. This, at least, is what I'd suspect.

ok ty.

False as far as acidity goes. The pH of your stomach is much lower than Coca Cola, which is closer to a neutral pH.

Colas tend to help stomach aches, as do clearer sodas like Sprite, 7up and Gingerale. It has much more to do with the carbonation than the pH level.

The myth goes that cocacola is so acidic that it cures stomache aches as well as paracetimol. Now i got this of my chemestry teacher as 1 of her "handy tips". The logic behind is basicaly is the acidity kills the germs relieving you of your pains.

I wonder if the hard candy might have a slow sag rate under pressure with a horizontal load. It would be something that would need some testing.

I think, thanks to JM's suggestion, that Jolly Ranchers (and lots of the things) would make for ideal beams, at least in a vertical plane. I don't have any to play with at the moment, but I remember them being good under compression. (Not that it should surprise anyone, but I managed to chip a tooth while trying to eat one ). That said, I don't know if they'd survive very well in a horizontal plane. I think they would behave something like concrete, strong under compressive loads (hence my suggestion for using them as vertical beams) but not good under tension, so it wouldn't do well under horizontal loading. Of course it could be reinforced somehow. Or I could be completely wide of the mark and have it all wrong, and Jolly Ranchers could be useless as a structural material all together.

I had the same thought. In fact I think the earliest 'hinges' were basically ropes.

In the Idea Thread there was discussion over hinges and such for doors and shutters. There was a type of candy we're forgetting about--Licorice Ropes! These come in various thicknesses and could be used as a flexible/bungee like wrapping in places where that is essential.

Testing; The first question to be answered, and therefore the first tests needed, will be what materials to use. Mythbusters would need to pick a number of viable confections that could be used for the build, then make and test these materials to get an idea as to how easy these are to work with as well as their strength and hence practicality.

The next is to settle on a design for the house. Because of all the possible permutations the best thing to do here is to build a number of smaller 'models' to test out different designs. This would both allow them to see which structures are the strongest, and get a better idea as to how difficult it would be to build up such a structure at full scale. This stage of testing could be turned into a challenge between team members, with each member building one or two potential structures and the best design being picked for the final build.

The last stage is to build the full-sized house. This would be most practical to do in a large indoors location where some steps can be taken to limit or remove the risk of animals and insects eating the building overnight. Such a location would also remove the risk of unsuitable weather during construction, and allow them to run weather related tests regardless of what the real weather was doing.

Seeing how the building stands up to weather can be done indoors using a rain-rig, heaters and large fans.

Notes; The small scale buildings can be made from materials bought from the local supermarket, and of course eaten afterwards. The full scale building would probably best be made from condemned foods, which should not only be cheaper but also avoid accusations about MB wasting food.

If 'bricks' are used MB could hire a local bakers or restaurant to bake them for the build. This would save a lot of time and hassle.


I think that this could be a silly, but very fun and messy myth. It is also a surprisingly complex build, as considerable thought will be needed both for the design, the techniques used in construction and how to build it - the roof in particular will require some thought as no matter how they build the roof supports they will not be capable of taking the weight of a person.

Reposted from Ideas Breeding ground; http://forum.mythbustersfanclub.com/index.php/topic,15721.0.html

The myth; It is possible to make a house out of candy

Origin of myth; The fairy tale Hansel and Gretel where a cannibalistic witch builds a house out of cake and gingerbread in order to entice children into her home for later eating.

Points about the myth and build; In the story the house is clearly edible, since the witch catches the children eating part of the roof. This means that any water-proofing used on the outside of the building would also have to be edible in itself.

The approximate date of the story, and the location of the house gives us some idea as to what sort of structure Mythbusters would be attempting to build. At this date a 'house' in the middle of a forest, or in a lot of places in fact, would have been a single storied structure with a single large room. This room would have been the kitchen, bedroom and living area all on one. There would have been no bathroom or other rooms inside the house.

Evidence for; While there is no evidence that the story had any basis in real events. People have made houses from gingerbread before. To give just three examples provided by member Berley;

http://www.wsbtv.com/travelgetaways/21773635/detail.html
http://gonewengland.about.com/od/ctcasinos/ig/Mohegan-Sun-Holiday-Photos/Mohegan-Sun-Christmas-2.htm
http://www.wtsp.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=95325

In all three cases however it is not clear if the structures are constructed entirely from candy, or if they have inedible materials inside them (eg wood) providing structural support. The house in the last link appears, at least to me, to be an entirely solid structure which would make it a gigantic cake, and not a building.

In short without more information it appears that modern 'candy-shacks' are either solid structures or are getting structural strength from something other than candy.

Questions; Can a 'house' be built using candy alone? Even with edible support beams?

How long would such a structure last outdoors? How well would it stand up to the elements?


The build; There is considerable discussion in the original thread as to how such a structure could be made. Making the walls is probably the easiest part, as the current feeling seems to be that the simplest way would be to make 'bricks' from cake or similar with 'mortar'. In effect building up the walls exactly how you would normally do. The mortar would need to be chosen with care, since anything with too much water or oil in it would result in the bricks absorbing it, which would soften them and could lead to failure of the walls.
Setting out the walls might best be done on a large platform, with wooden beams screwed onto it to set out where the walls will be. The beams would be high enough to allow the first few rows of 'bricks' to be pushed against them, to make sure that they were all level, and would act as a form of support for the lowest level of the walls. The beams could also help map out features, such as the door and windows, either though leaving a gap or by having markings on them.
This 'tray' would remain in place, as it would prove helpful when it comes time to remove and dispose of the remains. It might also be useful should the walls start to bulge outwards. If this happens MB could put vertical beams in place for extra support, using the 'tray' either as attachment points or as a guide to show how far out the walls should be.

Waterproofing the structure might be simple, the thinking is to spray the outside of the structure (and possibly the inside as well) with edible wax.

The roof and structure are different matters. Roofing tiles should be easy, as tiles could be baked from a variety of potential materials. Structure is something else.
If 'bricks' are being used then it might be possible to create arches for the roof structure, as well as the door and windows. However beams made from candy-cane might be possible as well. There is debate over this, both in terms of the potential strength of the candy and the techniques to create them. (The list of possible solutions is in the original thread.)