You want the candies going in the bottle and not falling over the side. How does the flavor of Mentos affect the explosion? Why is the Coke and Mentos Experiment important? However, the importance of the presence of surfactants in the Mentos cannot be denied. A study in the US has identified the prime factors that drive the fizzy plumes from Coke bottles: the roughness of the sweet and how fast it plummets to the bottle's base. Muir, H. (2008, June 12). The bottom line was that we needed to find a way to standardize the drop of those Mentos mints. WebWhen Mentos candies are dropped into a bottle of Diet Coke, a foamy fountain jets out of the beverage container. It truly is the perfect chemistry kit for kids who want to explore. WebWith the Coke and mint mentos experiment, coke and fruit mentos were very similar as the coke and mint mentos took 31 seconds to complete the reaction while coke and fruit mentos took 22 seconds to complete in total. So when a bottle of soda is opened, the partial pressure drops, and the molar concentration of the gas must also drop, which is why sodas go flat over time after they are opened. In conclusion the hypothesis that the diet coke will have the greatest explosion because of the high level of CO2 gas contained in it was correct. [2], The nucleation reaction can start with any heterogeneous surface, such as rock salt, but Mentos have been found to work better than most. What is the conclusion of Mentos and Coke experiment? Line up a row of 10 soda bottles against a brick wall. After this, two interested scientists from the entertainment company EepyBird, Fritz Grobe and Stephen Voltz decided to post a Youtube video demonstrating this experiment and it went viral, gaining 120 million views. This will help you make an informed guess as to what will happen. Today, all of that will be answered in our article down below! Average mass lost during the reaction. Conjure a magical genie inside a root beer bottle, awaken a thirsty ghost, use your amazing brainpower to read minds, and more. half a roll) in the test tube. In the Mentos and Diet Coke experiment, Arnold was trying to prove that the Diet Coke would explode if he put The seltzer water and tonic water trials were 1l bottles with 16g of Mint Mentos added; all other trials were 30g of solid material added to a 2l bottle of liquid. Dont forget to look back at the amazing eruption of soda. Before you get started, youll need to find a location suitable for the experiment. A search on Google for Diet Coke and Mentos will return millions of hits, and YouTube has many home videos of this reaction. There is not always a direct correlation between the mass lost and the distance traveled for the reactions. All Rights Reserved. Carbonated beverages are full of dissolved carbon dioxide gas (CO2) which makes bonds with the water molecules. The question in the The diet coke erupted like a volcano. The activation energy for the release of carbon dioxide from Diet Coke by the addition of Mentos is 25 kJ mol1. [Full Guide]. Afterwards, Grobe and Voltz appeared on many renowned television programs, such as Ellen, HBOs The Comedy Festival to talk about their viral video and they were even invited to other countries like France, Turkey and Belgium. 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. June 15, 2008 -- The startling reaction between Diet Coke and Mentos sweets, made famous in thousands of YouTube videos, finally has a scientific explanation. This chemistry science kit includes activities for solo and group experiments, making it a fantastic addition to your classroom or for fun at home. It proved challenging to get away from that bottle before it exploded. If we assume that LV is similar for Diet Coke and Caffeine Free Diet Coke, then the work required for bubble formation for Diet Coke is 90% of the work required for bubble formation for Caffeine Free Diet Coke. The quantitative roughness information detailed in Table V was taken from this image. If you want to examine the volume of the geyser, note the volume of a full bottle of soda before you drop the Mentos into it. American Crystallographic Association, Inc. AVS: Science and Technology of Materials, Interfaces and Processing, www.stevespanglerscience.com/experiment/00000109, Paragliders' launch trajectory is universal, On the bifurcation behavior of a folded notebook page, Rosalind Franklin's X-ray photo of DNA as an undergraduate optical diffraction experiment, Introducing quantum mechanics through its historical roots: The hydrogen Rydberg atom viewed through the lens of the old quantum theory, The discovery of a supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way galaxy, Sensory evaluation and electronic tongue analysis for sweetener recognition in coke drinks. Use this worksheet to help you record your observations after doing this experiment. The lower magnification images show large surface areas and small volumes, especially when compared to samples such as a Mentos, which is 12cm in diameter. Regular Coke does not work with Mentos because the Diet Coke uses Aspartame instead of sugar, which regular Coke uses. As strange as it might sound, the Mentos Geyser Experiment never actually started out using Mentos chewy mints. EepyBird.com Entertainment for the Curious Mind. The Diet CokeWint-o-Green reaction loses more mass and the spray travels farther than the Diet Cokerock salt reaction. Grobe, F., & Voltz, S. The Science of Coke and Mentos. Originally it was thought that the colossal fountain of soda spraying out of the bottle was caused by the caffeine in Coke. This science demonstration was popular among chemistry teachers back in the 1980s. Its time to put your favorite soda to the test in this fun experiment. Something else to consider about diet sodas is that they tend to be less sticky when released out in the open. So, if you want some quick and easy fun, get some paper towels becausewere about to make a sweet mess. Hall, Jonathan Hearing, Leander Hutton, Kelly Izlar, Cully Little, James Lugenbell, Michael Mace, Bonnie Myers, Carla Penders, Zach Russell, Shane Shields, Adrian Steffen, Tony Sturtzel, and Zach Yokley. The reaction has been performed numerous times on television and the Internet, but has not been systematically studied. Observe the eruptionheight, trajectory, duration, etc. Mentos Conclusion: The more mentos you put in a bottle of pop does not necessarily mean a larger explosion. 5 Research Drive, Suite 150Shelton, CT 06484. From Table III we see that higher temperatures lead to larger eruptions. What did you observe when you put Mentos candy into the soda bottle? The scale bars represent the following lengths: (a) 2.0mm; (b) 100m, (c) 50m, and (d) 20m. [3][11][12] In March 2002, Steve Spangler, a science educator, did the demonstration on KUSA-TV, an NBC affiliate, in Denver, Colorado. There are two reasons Mentos work so well for this experiment. Diet Coke and Coke Zero react better with Mentos than regular Coke does because of the absence of sugar. What is the independent variable in the Mentos and Diet Coke experiment? Remember, when youre doing an experiment, you can only change one variable. Part of his assignment Is to ask a professional about his experiment. Finally, we have shown that hotter beverages result in a more explosive reaction. This size image was chosen for comparison between samples because the samples imaged were quite rough and had significant curvature, and images larger than 100squarem often resulted in a z range larger than 24m. WebConclusion Conclusion: The Diet Coke reacted to the Mentos, which means the hypothesis was correct. Which is the best 150 Ah inverter battery? 5 and 6. Lee Marek and "Marek's Kid Scientists" were the first to publicly demonstrate the experiment on the Late Show with David Letterman in 1999. Keep everything else the same, even the brand of soda. Parts of science investigatory project. Science Investigatory Because Mentos are heavy and sink to the bottom of the bottle, the gas released by the Mentos pushes the soda up and out of the bottle in an incredible and amazing blast. The video was titled Extreme Diet Coke & Mentos Experiments. As they say, the rest is history. American Journal of Physics 1 June 2008; 76 (6): 551557. The sand and the table salt grains were roughly the same size, so we assume that the fall times for the sand and table salt would be comparable. The participant got it right for $8,000, saying: I saw it on TV, and I bought Mentos and a 2-liter bottle of Diet Coke. I must admit, however, that even with the Baby Soda Bottle method, the results were not very consistent. (Compare the volcanic explosions of Mt. 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. This study began as a project for physics majors enrolled in a sophomore level physics lab course. Did what you hypothesize happen? It needs to be wide enough to use as loader for the Mentos. Sample contact angle images for (a) deionized water, (b) deionized water with added aspartame, and (c) deionized water with added potassium benzoate. When the candy hits the bottom of the bottle, the gas is released and pushes the soda from the bottle up in the air in an amazing eruption! The moment the pin was pulled, a slider ring resting above the pin fell into place and covered the holes where the trigger pin once was. The independent variable was the altering of each Mento. WebKids TV Yenu and Sanu is home to gaining knowledge & entertain toddlers. Make comparisons, create a chart with your data and draw some conclusions. The seltzer and tonic water were not Coca-Cola products, and it was not possible to find seltzer and tonic water with the same expiration date as the Coke products. Team students up and have them collaborate to figure out chemistry experiments or give your own kids a fun, rainy day activity that will get them excited about learning. Retrieved from https://easyscienceforkids.com/diet-coke-and-mentos-video-for-kids/. What is it with this experiment with soda and Mentos that causes this explosion to shoot so far into the air? And you may not have a friend for a day or two until they forgive you. What happens when you put Mentos in soda? Their explanation is this process called nucleation. Pull the index card away swiftly, dropping the candies into the soda. Coke has a pH of 2.3 and it made intuitive sense that an acid-base reaction could explain the sudden explosion of sugar. Its what happens when you put nothing in the soda. You want the bottle to be stable before conducting the experiment. What would happen if you had Coke and Mentos? The seltzer and tonic water trials had the same expiration date and were manufactured by the same company. What is the conclusion of the Coke and Mentos experiment? Most importantly, the author would like to thank the students of PHY2210 for their hard work and great ideas, including Will Beuttell, Jason Burch, Blake Clark, Robert Duke, Jama Greene, A.J. In fact, its not really a reaction at all or at least its a physical reaction rather than a chemical one. Youve probably heard that you shouldnt eat Mentos while you drink Coke, but why is that? What is the fastest way to level up pickpocketing in Skyrim? roll of Mentos candies (any flavor) 2-liter bottle of soda (diet soda is less sticky; diet cola seems to produce the best fountain) index card or sheet of paper. Instead of Mentos mints candy, however, they used a roll of Wintergreen LifeSavers and a pipe cleaner. With everything you need to set up your own science lab anywhere, the Amazing Scientist Chemistry Kit is a fantastic introduction to the world of science. Bubble nucleation and growth in carbonated beverages almost always occur by heterogeneous nucleation: diffusion of carbon dioxide into pre-existing bubbles within the beverage. Surface roughness has often been cited as the most important cause of the Diet CokeMentos reaction.13 Increased surface roughness implies a higher surface area to volume ratio, meaning that more growth sites should be present on per unit volume. Metastable Liquids: Concepts and Principles. Do a little bit of research about the ingredients of Mentos and soda. You could use abeakeror agraduated cylinderto measure the remaining soda in milliliters. Its also a lot less work than your classic paper mache volcano. Try dropping an object, like a raisin or a piece of uncooked pasta, into a glass of soda. Pepper has the strongest reaction. It has also been shown that a wide variety of beverage additives such as sugars, citric acid, and natural flavors can also enhance fountain heights. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/bring-science-home-coke-mentos/. Set up 16oz coke bottle and attach geyser tube and launch. Although mentos look smooth, they are in fact covered with layers upon layers of bumps and rough edges, making them filled with nucleation sites. The Diet Cokeliquid gum arabic and Diet CokeDawn/water mixture trials demonstrate that even without any surface roughness, the introduction of a surfactant into the soda causes a reaction. However, scientists are finding that theres more to this spectacular demonstration than meets the eye. Measure the height of the geyser by counting the number of bricks that are wet once the geyser stops. Mentos and Coke Experiment How to Do It! The independent variable to this experiment is the Mento because it could stand alone and it does not depend on. [22] The foaming is aided by the presence of food additives such as potassium benzoate, aspartame, sugars, and flavorings in Diet Coke,[20] all of which influence the degree to which water can foam. An impressive acid-base reaction can be generated by adding baking soda to Diet Coke. Pre-existing bubbles provide a way for the reaction to occur without requiring bubbles to form within the liquid itself (homogeneous nucleation). This must been coined as the Pepsi Paradox. Drop one Mentos candy into the first bottle and record the height by counting the wet bricks or by using your own scale. It is difficult to find beverages containing aspartame that do not contain a preservative such as potassium benzoate. Stack the Mentos candies (approx. Learn more about how plants work with this cool celery experiment! The speed with which the sample falls through the liquid is also a major factor. Their surfactant properties then lower the surface tension of the Coke, which breaks apart the water molecules and, in doing so, allows carbon dioxide bubbles to form more readily. Heres the question we came up with: In an experiment popularized online, what candy creates an explosive geyser when dropped into a 2-liter Diet Coke bottle? The diet coke erupted like a volcano. If spectators were watching your exploits, someone is bound to yell out, Do it again! Thats exactly what youre going to do. WebSince which invention of cola, the gegner between Pepsi and Coca-Cola (i.e., Coke) has had in existence. 2023 Cool Kid Facts. All the carbon dioxide in the soda all that fizz is squeezed into the liquid and looking for a way out. All of our results seem to contradict the aforementioned Mythbusters experiment. Position the bottle on the ground so that it will not tip over. Mentos Geyser Experiment Mentos & Coke Experiment. Does the amount of Mentos affect the height of the explosion? Better yet, if we could trigger the drop of the Mentos from a distance, we wouldnt get as wet. Hall, Magdalena Jaramillo, Cully Little, and Zach Russell, and my graduate research assistant, Jon Jones. What is a good hypothesis for Mentos and Diet Coke? We constructed a bottle stand (roughly 10 off vertical) to prevent the bottles from tipping over and the liquid from falling back into the bottle. Try placing the soda bottle next to the wall of a brick building, after getting permission from the buildings owner, of course. The Mentos And Coke Volcano Experiment. Diet Coke and Mentos: What is really behind this physical reaction Why does the coke react to Mentos? Today Room 1 and 5 did a science experiment together. It is very simple to do and requires minimal tools and equipment to execute correctly. What is the independent variable in Coke and Mentos experiment? [21][29], Additional explanations for why diet sodas outperform regular sodas in this experiment have been proposed. The amount 54020g of mass was lost from the diet tonic water, 43020g of mass was lost from the tonic water, and 945g of mass from the seltzer water. The images were acquired with a beam energy of 12.5kV and a spot size of 5.0nm. Well, its probably not pretty. The uncertainty is approximately 10%. These calculations are approximate, but are consistent with our results reported in Tables I and II. A soda geyser is a reaction between a carbonated beverage, usually Diet Coke, and Mentos mints that causes the beverage to be expelled from its container. At the time, my solution was to load the Mentos candies into something called a Baby Soda Bottle a test tube-like container that held an entire roll of Mentos perfectly. Later on in the experiment, youll be invited to compare the geyser power of diet versus regular soda, but for now well start with a 2-liter bottle of diet soda. For the temperature dependent trials one of the Diet Coke 2l bottles was refrigerated for several hours prior to the experiment. Diet Coke While I had performed variations of the Mentos Geyser Experiment on television many times from 2001 to 2004, my performance of the demo in the backyard of Denvers NBC affiliate KUSA-TV in September of 2005 proved to be the tipping point. [17] This record was afterward beaten in November 2014 by another event organized by Perfetti Van Melle and Chupa Chups in Len, Guanajuato, Mexico, where 4,334 Mentos and soda fountains were set off simultaneously. This hands-on experiment is easy to do and simply involves dropping Mentos into a bottle of diet soda and running away. Some helpful comments were made by the anonymous referees. Why Do Flight Attendants Hate Serving This Drink to Passengers in Flight? From after-school activities and science classroom activities to STEM club experiments, our website is one of the most trusted resources for fun, age-appropriate experiments for kids of all ages. The Mythbusters correctly identified potassium benzoate and aspartame as key ingredients in the Diet CokeMentos reaction. The answer is yes. (As discussed, part of the reason that the Wint-o-Green reaction took more time is due to the increased fall times.) Adding salt to soda also causes it to foam because thousands of little bubbles form on the surface of each grain of salt. He would like to know why does the shape and size of the mentos affect the outcome of the project. What do your results reveal about the effect that the number of Mentos has on the height of the geyser? Mentos and Coke Experiment How to Do It! [Full Guide] - Cool The students designed the experiment, did almost all of the data acquisition, and disseminated their results in a poster session at our spring Research and Creative Endeavors Day at Appalachian State University. The experiment became a subject of the television show MythBusters in 2006. Toll Free: 800-223-9080 Copyright 2023 Education.com, Inc, a division of IXL Learning All Rights Reserved. Using any more than seven Mentos mints is just a waste, according to these soda-soaked science enthusiasts. View the Mentos Geyser Experiment here! normal, unaltered Mento. You might need to put down something flat, like a small piece of wood, to hold it up. What effect does temperature have on the height of the geyser? Now, its time to run away. (4) next and Le Chateliers principle.6. Its true that putting Mentos into a bottle of Coke will cause an impressive geyser of soda to erupt from the bottle. Making science accessible and fun for youth. We found that the max amount of mentos with the largest explosion was 4 mentos, it went 350 cm high. The contestant ended up doing really well, going all the way to the $250,000 question; however, he walked away with $125,000. How do Coke and Mentos Work? - Medium ), Vampire Slime Light Sensitive Color-Changing, STEM Science Kit: Amazing Scientist Chemistry Kit, Big Bucket of Science Test Tube Experiments, A roll or box of Mentos chewy mints (stick with the standard mint flavor for now), 2-liter bottle of diet soda (either diet or regular soda will work for this experiment, but diet soda is not sticky when youre cleaning it up, and it will usually create a bigger blast). Youll need a thermometer to record the temperature of the soda just before you launch it so that your data are accurate. The trigger pin at the bottom of the tube prevented the Mentos from falling into the bottle until you pulled the string attached to the pin. Only one trial was performed for each temperature. Never use a stove or a microwave to heat a bottle of soda. Diet Coke 280 8.6 Conclusion: The more mentos you put in a bottle of pop does not necessarily mean a larger explosion. Why does Diet Coke and Mentos explode more than regular Coke? Alternatively, dispense the soda into a vase or pitcher. Lets start with seven Mentos for our first attempt. The simplest method is to let the unopened bottle sit in the sun for several hours. Carbon dioxide creates the bubbles in soda. Today Room 1 and 5 did a science experiment together. 1 So the relatively small amount of caffeine in a 2 l bottle of Coke doesnt significantly affect the reaction. Also thanks to my undergraduate summer research assistants for their hard work, including A.J. Write down what you think will happen when placing the Mentos in the soda. Everyone wants to know how many Mentos make the highest shooting geyser. In a sealed bottle of soda pop, the gas above the liquid in the bottle has a high partial pressure of carbon dioxide compared to the air we breathe. This experiment can be visually displayed with photos or videos of the event and a graph of the tables results. Because of this, the addition of Mentos candies to a carbonated beverage provides enormous numbers of pre-existing bubbles into which dissolved carbon dioxide can escape. The quantitative roughness information detailed in Table V was taken from this image. Tonya Shea Coffey; Diet Coke and Mentos: What is really behind this physical reaction?. SEM images of playground sand acquired at a beam energy of 20kV and a spot size of 5.0nm. 1(d) is a magnified view of the top of a salt grain. Do they make motorcycle helmets for kids? The question in the hypothesis was answered too, with the answer being no. In colder liquids, the gas molecules move very slowly, causing them to diffuse out of the solution much more slowly, leaving more gas in the solution. Dropping something into the Diet Coke speeds up this process by both breaking the surface tension of the liquid and also allowing bubbles to form on the surface area of the Mentos. Just mix the two liquids and get more than 300 feet of Instant Worms. [1], Lee Marek and "Marek's Kid Scientists" performed the Diet Coke and Mentos experiment on the Late Show with David Letterman in 1999. Compare these times to the mass lost and distance traveled results in Tables I and II. The thing that makes soda bubbly is invisible carbon dioxide, which is pumped into bottles at the factory using lots and lots of pressure. Primarily, the sugar, aspartame and potassium benzoate included in the candy shell reduce the work it takes to form bubbles in the soda, causing a rapid creation of carbon dioxide bubbles. How does generic soda stack up against the name brands? Introduce the concepts of chemical bonding, cross-linking of molecules. Subtract the remaining amount of liquid from the original volume of the bottle to calculate the volume of the geyser. Conclusion: The Diet Coke reacted to the Mentos, which means the hypothesis was correct. This all boils down to the presence (or lack thereof) of sugar. When you open the container, the bubbles quickly rise to the top, pushing the liquid out of the way, so liquid sprays everywhere. Some people fashioned a tube out of paper; others used a piece of plastic tubing to load the Mentos. Well even provide all the seeds and dirt you need for your exploration into the world of plants. Then send your curated collection to your children, or put together your own custom lesson plan. We found that the Diet CokeMint Mentos reaction lasted 3.8s, the Diet CokeFruit Mentos reaction lasted 3.6s, and the Diet CokeWint-o-Green reaction lasted 4.9s. What Will I Need For The Mentos And Coke Volcano? This bread mold experiment will help your child learn about mold, and he'll develop important hypothesis-making and experiment-designing skills. 13, contact angle images are shown in Fig. The child who died from combining Mentos and Coca-Cola story is an updating of an older legend that began in 1979. The average times were 0.7s for the Mentos, 1.0s for the rock salt and the Lifesavers, and 1.5s for the sand. Longer lasting carbonation bubbles, therefore, increases the height of the bubble geyser that forms a mentos and coke reaction. We knew the Mentos Geyser Experiment was a popular experiment when a producer from ABCs Who Wants to Be a Millionaire called for help when writing a question. This procedure prevented the explosion of the bottle during heating, but the early release of some of the carbon dioxide gas may have caused these reactions to be less explosive than the cold or room temperature trials. They both ended up having 1 oz out of 8 oz ounces leave the beaker and into the air around too. Dog Diets: Will a Dog Prefer Homemade Dog Food? 1 and 3 reveal jagged edges, pores, and seemingly rough surfaces (excellent growth sites for the carbon dioxide bubbles) for both table salt and sand grains. Fortunately, the maker of Mentos (Perfetti Van Melle) also liked our Geyser Tube design. What evidence did the team find that the reaction between the Mentos and soda was a physical change? Can I use clear bottom plates for fluorescence? The Diet Coke and Mentos reaction was the subject of a 2006 Mythbusters episode1 and first shown in 1999 on the David Letterman Show, and has become a popular in-class physics and chemistry demonstration from elementary school to college level classes.

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