The M&Ms in a Jar calculator computes the approximate number of M&M sized candies that can be found in a cylindrical 
jar.
INSTRUCTIONS: Choose units and enter the following:
- (d) Diameter inside Jar
- (h) Height of Candy in Jar
- Choose the type of candy. M&Ms are the default candy, but the user can choose Jelly Beans, M&Ms, Gum Balls, Candy Corn, Candy Pumpkins or Skittles.
M&M's in a Jar (JB): The calculator returns a very good estimate of the number of candies in the container. This is useful to guess how many jellybeans are in a jar.
The Math
People are not good a making estimates of the number of small objects in a volume, such as in this example. This calculator goes about it scientifically. First, the input parameters are used to compute the volume of the container holding the candies. This is a straight forward computation of the Volume of a Cylinder (CLICK HERE). Then the volume is divided by the number of candies that fit into a standard size volume. To get these numbers, a large number of the different kinds of candies were emptied into a half gallon measuring cup. Then they were counted to see how many Jelly Bellys, regular jellybeans, jumbo jellybeans, M&Ms, Peanut M&Ms and finally gumballs fit in the half gallon container. From there, it's just math.
The Candies in a Container calculator uses the following densities of candies:
- Mini Jelly Beans: 3,500 mini Jelly Bean candies in a gallon.
- Jelly Beans: 930 Jelly Beans in a gallon
- Jumbo Jelly Beans: 736 Jumbo sized Jelly Beans in a gallon
- M&Ms: 3991 plain M&Ms in a gallon.
- Peanut M&Ms: 1248 Peanut M&Ms in a gallon
- Gum Balls: 1264 Gum Balls in a gallon.
- Candy Corn: 1524 kernels of candy corn in a gallon
- Candy Pumpkins: 378 pumpkin candies in a gallon
Candies in a Container Calculators
The following calculators let you enter the dimensions of the container and return the number of candies for a list of different types of candies including: mini Jelly Bean, Jelly Beans, Jumbo sized Jelly Beans, M&Ms, Peanut M&Ms, Gum Balls, candy corn, pumpkin candies, Skittles, Tootsie Roll Midgees.
Candy Bowl Shape Calculators
- Candies in a Jar
- Candies in a Rectangular Container
- Candies in Spherical Container
- Candies in Tapered Rectangular Container
- Candies in Tapered Round Bowl
- Candies in Mason Jar
- Candies in Curved Bowl
- Candies in Irregular Container
Specific Candies
- Mini Jelly Beans in a Jar - Jelly Bellies are mini jelly beans.
- Jumbo Jelly Beans in a Jar
- M&M's in a Jar
- Peanut M&M's in a Jar
- Gum Balls in a Jar
- Jumbo Jelly Beans per Gallon
- M&M's per Gallon
- Peanut M&M's per Gallon
- Gum Balls per Gallon
- Candies in a Mason Jar
- Jelly Beans in a Mason Jar
- Mini Jelly Beans in a Mason Jar - Jelly Bellies are mini jelly beans.
- Jumbo Jelly Beans in a Mason Jar
- M&M's in a Mason Jar
- Peanut M&M's in a Mason Jar
- Gum Balls in a Mason Jar
References
- Light and Matter(Dr. Benjamin Crowell) Chapter 1.4 Order of magnitude estimates
- vCalc Blog: Counting Jelly Beans. It's not cheating, just math.