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Researcher analyzes the chemistry behind grog's corrosivity in Monkey Island
Key points
- Grog from The Secret of Monkey Island corrodes metal mugs rapidly.
- Researcher analyzed the chemical requirements for this corrosivity.
- Used an inverse problem approach to estimate proton supply.
- Analysis based on a simplified corrosion model.
The Corrosive Nature of Grog
The Secret of Monkey Island, a classic point-and-click adventure game released in 1990, features a fictional beverage called grog. This drink is known for its extreme corrosivity, capable of rapidly deteriorating metal objects, specifically pewter mugs, as part of a game puzzle. The game describes grog as a mixture potentially containing kerosene, propylene glycol, sulfuric acid, rum, acetone, and battery acid, among other ingredients.
Chemical Investigation
Patrizio Raffa from the ENTEG Institute at the University of Groningen conducted a semi-quantitative analysis to understand what chemical properties grog would need to exhibit such rapid corrosion. Instead of formulating grog, the research approached the problem inversely, using the observed rate of mug deterioration in the game to estimate the necessary proton supply for a simplified corrosion model.
Implications for Game Chemistry
The objective of this work was not to create a reproducible grog formulation but to chemically explain the game's mechanics. The study focuses on the remarkable corrosivity of grog, which forces players to transfer the liquid between multiple mugs to complete a puzzle, ultimately using it to dissolve a prison cell lock.
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Reporting from
A researcher from the University of Groningen investigated the chemical properties required for the fictional beverage grog, from the game The Secret of Monkey Island, to corrode metal mugs as depicted. The analysis treats the game's observation as an inverse problem, estimating the proton supply needed for rapid corrosion based on a simplified model.