Unfortunately, the method for dropping the Mentos was never consistent. Once you drop the Mentos into the coke, stand back, it’s VERY explosive. Relevance. The Geyser Tube removes the inconsistency because it makes the drop the same every time, letting you focus on the tr… The experiment involves dropping a piece of Mentos candy into a liter of diet Coke. A Mentos mint causes a bottle of Diet Coke to fizz over because the irregular surface of the mint provides numerous nucleation sites for the carbonation in the Diet Coke. The Science Behind the Fun Scientists aren’t sure exactly why the Mentos cause such an explosive reaction, but they think that the sweetener and other chemicals in the Mentos react with the Diet Coke to cause lots of carbon dioxide bubbles to form on the surface of the mints very quickly. 12 Answers. Coke and Mentos Experiment. Answer Save. 01:18. Coke/Mentos reaction using a pH meter with a 2 point calibration. brownfreckles1977. If you crush the Mentos, so it doesn’t sink much at all, you won’t get nearly the dramatic reaction. When tempers flare during a particularly complicated myth, Jamie offers up a simple solution. By the time it's finished, the soda will be … The Diet Coke and Mentos geyser is the result of a physical process rather than a chemical reaction. The surface of mentos acts as a nucleation site for the dissolved carbon dioxide in soda, allowing the gas to come out of solution quite rapidly. This science experiment using Mentos candy and diet coke is a classic. Their explanation is this process called nucleation. By HAZEL MUIR. Yet another factor that can affect the size of the Mentos / Coke geyser is the temperature of the soda itself. 01:17. Once you do your own research, we can start to explain why that is. That’s rubbish.You’ll get fresh breath and a quenched thirst is all. A two-liter bottle of diet soda (diet soda makes for a much better reaction, but you can use regular soda if you like. • But you can make a fun acid/base reaction, by adding baking soda to Diet Coke. Favourite answer. June 13, 2008, 9:05 PM • 4 min read. If you eat mentos and drink diet coke at the same time will your stomach explode? The eruption you get when you mix Mentos and Coke is generated by the rough coating of the candy, which causes lots of bubbles to form rapidly on its surface when it’s placed in a carbonated beverage. Why does coke explode when mentos is added? As the Mentos candy sinks in the bottle, the candy causes the production of more and more carbon dioxide bubbles, and the rising bubbles react with carbon dioxide that is still dissolved in the soda to cause more carbon dioxide to be freed and create even more bubbles, resulting in the eruption. The mentos react with the sodium in the carbon in the soda and cause it to explode. It was the same, 3.0. You might have used the test tube method while someone else made a tube out of notebook paper. When you drop a Mentos into the soda, tiny bumps on the candy surface give the carbon dioxide molecules a nucleation site or place to stick. • Also, none of the ingredients in Mentos are basic: sugar, glucose syrup, hydrogenated coconut oil, gelatin, dextrin, natural flavor, corn starch, gum arabic. The Mentos drops to the bottom of the bottle, forming lots and lots of bubbles on its pitted surface along the way. It is a physical reaction, not a chemical one. Q: Heard about the pop rocks/ pop theory and the mentos and diet coke and was wondering since mentos + diet coke in bottle = explosion if the same would happen in your stomach. As the Mentos candy sinks in the bottle, the candy causes the production of more and more carbon dioxide bubbles, and the rising bubbles react with carbon dioxide that is … by Benjamin Loke 1. 3. does the amount of mentos added affect the explosion? All those Mentos in a lot of soda make a lot of bubbles that rise to the surface and push the soda out in a big woosh! Question:How does the number of Mentos affect the amount/rate of CO 2 being released from soda? One roll of Mentos candies. The temperature was 52 F. In this experiment, mentos caused a eruption in a 2-liter bottle of Diet Mountain Dew erupted, thus we concluded that diet Mountain Dew did have Phosphoric Acid because it caused eruption with mentos being dropped in. You need to start one step at a time. Theindependent variablein this experiment is the number of Mentos put into a soda can.. You can also increase the effect by adding more surfactants to the soda before you add … Mentos is a candy that made by spraying it with layers of liquid sugar. Introduction Diet Coke and Mentos, when mixed, will produce a violent reaction. Water molecules strongly attract each other, linking together to form a tight mesh around each bubble of carbon dioxide gas in the soda. After a lot of debate, scientists are now saying that the primary cause of Coke & Mentos geysers is a physical reaction, not a chemical reaction. Some people speculated that the geyser was the result of an acid base reaction, given the low pH of soda. It is fun and can be used as an experiment or science fair project. It needs to be wide enough to use as loader for the Mentos. As Louise said, this is hard to do well with Diet Coke and Mentos. When all of this gas is released it forces the liquid up and out of the bottle in a giant whooshing geyser of sticky soda. This is due to a combination of a rough surface area, the density of Mentos candies and their coating. The reason Coke and Mentos explode in a frothy fountain of bubbles is due to the process called nucleation. Diet Coke is best for this activity because the caffeine, sodium benzoate and aspartame each contribute to the Mentos reaction. Mentos are fairly dense objects and so tend to sink rapidly in the liquid. However, none of the ingredients in mentos are elemental, and the experiment works to some degree with any type of soda and any type of candy. 2. The Fairness Factor Before the invention of the Geyser Tube, everyone had a different method for dropping Mentos into the bottle of soda. ? 1 decade ago. Please read the web site and think of what question you would like to answer involving Coke and Mentos. It just won’t be nearly as awesome.) The surface of the Mentos is uneven and has tiny microscopic holes called nucleation sites. Grant Imahara explains to Kari Byron why the MythBusters won't take on the viral video in which a series of cell phones cause popcorn to pop. An index card (picture below) The Mentos And Coke Volcano Experiment Cell Phone FAIL. A: No. Do you know when you put Mentos in your mouth, this rough surface quickly dissolve. Bubbles and soda will quickly shoot out of the bottle in a high fountain. Science Experiment Mentos Fun. What causes the chemical reaction?? There's a lot of carbon dioxide dissolves in the soda, which gives it its fizz. When you add Mentos to the group of chemicals that you find in diet soda, the chemicals seek out the holes and try to go into the holes causing a bigger carbon dioxide buildup. I used the cheapest brands available in our local supermarket. A tube the width of the Mentos. The trick is to drop the mento in as fast as you can. MythBusters. It's actually not a chemical reaction, but a physical reaction. Why do Mentos explode in soda? Combine Diet Coke and Mentos, and the result is explosive—Diet Coke shoots out of the bottle like a miniature, sticky Old Faithful. This rapid release of gas is what causes the coke geyser. Science of Mentos-Diet Coke Explosions Explained A study reveals why Mentos and Coke can be a dangerous combination. why does diet coke and mentos explode? Is the chemical reaction harmful?? The soda will shoot up like a geyser and fizz out. It is so popular that it … The sugar contained in the mentos dissolves into the water contained in the coke, causing quick launch of carbon dioxide that replaced into dissolved formerly the sugar were given … The addition of the Mentos leads to the quick nucleation of carbon dioxide gas bubbles precipitating out of solution. Mentos makes soda fizz due to the Mentos breaking the bonds in water molecules and encouraging the growth of more carbon dioxide gas, which is used to carbonate sodas. As to why diet sodas like Diet Coke produce such a bigger reaction, it’s because aspartame lowers the surface tension of the liquid much more than sugar or corn syrup will. We dropped two Mentos into a bottle of normal Cola and Diet Cola. Why the Fizz? The carbon dioxide molecules attach to the surfaces of the Mentos like they did in the cup of soda. 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