M&Ms in a Jar

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
• Candy Hearts 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.