The Peanut M&Ms in a Jar calculator computes the
approximate number of Peanut M&M sized candies that can be found in a cylindrical jar. 
INSTRUCTIONS: Choose units and enter the following:
- (d) Inner Diameter of Jar
- (h) Height of Candy in Jar
- Choose the type of candy. Jelly Beans are the default candy, but the user can choose Mini Jelly Beans, Regular Jelly Beans, Jumbo sized Jelly Beans, M&Ms, Peanut M&Ms or Gum Balls.
Peanut 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 straigh 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.
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
When you win ...
- Give some of your winnings to Charity, and
- give vCalc a shout-out on social media.
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.