The scientific method is an important way scientists make observations and come to conclusions. What do your results reveal about the effect that the number of Mentos has on the height of the geyser? You could use abeakeror agraduated cylinderto measure the remaining soda in milliliters. The Diet Coke and Mentos reaction is a popular experiment or demonstration in part because it inspires students to wonder, and inquiry-driven labs and active-learning demonstrations on this reaction have been implemented.3 I recently led a large group of undergraduate physics students in a cooperative research project to answer some of the debate on this reaction. The contestant ended up doing really well, going all the way to the $250,000 question; however, he walked away with $125,000. Better yet, if we could trigger the drop of the Mentos from a distance, we wouldnt get as wet. The physical characteristics of Mentos (surface roughness) have the effect of drastically reducing the activation energy for carbon dioxide bubble formation so that the nucleation rate becomes exceedingly high. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/bring-science-home-coke-mentos/. Given the ingredients listed on Diet Coke, there is more aspartame than potassium benzoate in Diet Coke per unit volume. It is difficult to find beverages containing aspartame that do not contain a preservative such as potassium benzoate. Does Colorado have a defensive driving course? No matter which brand of soda you tested, the warm bottle probably produced the highest shooting geyser. Drop one Mentos candy into the first bottle and record the height by counting the wet bricks or by using your own scale. Drinks sweetened with aspartame, such as diet Coke or the diet tonic water, are more explosive than drinks sweetened with sugar (corn syrup), which is likely due to a reduction in the work required for bubble formation when aspartame is added. The Mentos candy gelatin and gum arabic create an energy that breaks the surface tension of the soda. St. Helens and Mt. WebWhen Mentos candies are dropped into a bottle of Diet Coke, a foamy fountain jets out of the beverage container. All fizz shooting out in one strong plume. Hopefully, this article can help you finally place a scientific explanation behind this iconic and messy science experiment. To compare two systems, we calculate a ratio of the works required for bubble formation: We used this technique to compare the work required for formation of a bubble in deionized water to other liquids, as summarized in Table IV. In Table IV we assumed that LV was reduced by 5% for the second system compared to the deionized water (system 1). Average horizontal distance traveled by the spray during the reaction. The activation energy for the release of carbon dioxide from Diet Coke by the addition of Mentos is 25 kJ mol1. The pressurized conditions of the bottle and the surface tension of the water keep the gas in solution, even though it wants to escape (the gas that escapes makes the fizzy sound you hear when you open the bottle) (Science Buddies, 2012). Its time to return to your launching site. Carbonated sodas contain elevated levels of carbon dioxide under pressure. 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. Science teachers started experimenting (as they like to do) with other candies and mints that would have the same effect when dropped into a bottle of soda. The basic science of the Coke and Mentos reaction is fairly straightforward. Dog Diets: Will a Dog Prefer Homemade Dog Food? [21][29], Additional explanations for why diet sodas outperform regular sodas in this experiment have been proposed. Pre-existing bubbles provide a way for the reaction to occur without requiring bubbles to form within the liquid itself (homogeneous nucleation). This bubbling process is called nucleation. Each bottle tested had a two-litre capacity, and eleven Mentos were introduced to each bottle. Within the next 12 months, over 800 Mentos Geyser Experiment-related videos were posted on YouTube, making the demo one of the most popular pop-culture science experiments in recent history. 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. However, you wont get the same effect from eating Mentos after drinking Coke. 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. . We report on an experimental study of the Diet Coke and Mentos reaction, and consider many aspects of the reaction, including the ingredients in the candy and soda, the roughness of the candy, the temperature of the soda, and the duration of the reaction. (2019, December 18). It needs to be wide enough to use as loader for the Mentos. It doesnt matter what your variable is, it just has to be one concrete thing that you can change. Conclusion Hypothesis: In the experiment I expect the Pepsi and Mentos reaction to be at least 30cm in height, however, I expect it to be short lived due to the fact that the sodium level of the beverage is only 10 mg. The Amazing Scientist Chemistry Kit is designed to get your young scientist interested in chemistry. 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. So, if you want some quick and easy fun, get some paper towels becausewere about to make a sweet mess. This easy at-home experiment is a great way to "see" science. American Journal of Physics 1 June 2008; 76 (6): 551557. The Mentos Geyser Experiment became one of my featured demonstrations both on television and during my live stage presentations. Finally, we have shown that hotter beverages result in a more explosive reaction. Metastable Liquids: Concepts and Principles. [25] These results suggest that additives serve to enhance geyser heights not by decreasing surface tension, but rather by decreasing bubble coalescence. Introduce the concepts of chemical bonding, cross-linking of molecules. The color combined with the small size of the salt grains made it too difficult to see, and therefore difficult to determine the time of fall for the table salt. Only one trial was performed for each temperature. The question in the hypothesis was answered too, with the answer being no. Does one brand produce higher geysers? We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. This is what happens when you combine 200 liters of Diet Coke and over 500 Mentos mints! The answer is a process called nucleation (Grobe & Voltz, n.d.). Do a little bit of research about the ingredients of Mentos and soda. half a roll) in the test tube. WebFInally, the average height of the hot bottles' geysers was 19.5 inches and was the greatest. The blend of Coke Zero and Mentos just works out the strongest. Mentos are heavy and can travel the entire volume of the bottle, breaking many bonds and building a lot of pressure that is released in the form of a geyser of soda (Grobe & Voltz, n.d.). However, as more experiments were done, some using Diet Coke which has zero caffeine, this theory was ruled out. Mixing Coke and Mentos looks like a chemical change, but since the gas released is carbon dioxide AND it was present before the foaming happened, it is actually a physical change. The uncertainty of the fall times was roughly 10%. The majority of us have probably experimented with dropping multiple sugary, round mentos into a bottle filled to the brim with coke. This chemistry science kit includes activities for solo and group experiments, making it a fantastic addition to your classroom or for fun at home. Does the amount of Mentos affect the height of the explosion? This will work on any drink that is carbonated. The blend of Coke Zero and Mentos just works out the strongest. This work was supported in part by the College of Arts and Sciences at Appalachian State University, the Petroleum Research Fund, Grant No PRF# 44936-GB5, and an NC Space Grant, New Investigations Award. WebMentos and Soda Experiment | Eepy Bird The Extreme Diet Coke & Mentos Experiments About The Extreme Diet Coke & Mentos Experiments This is the video that started it all: a backyard experiment became a cultural phenomenon. We enable strictly necessary cookies to give you the best possible experience on Education.com. Load seven Mentos into your paper roll or yourGeyser Tubeand drop them into the soda and immediately record the data. Thank you so much. students used this simple device to monitor the kinetics of foam production in the Diet Coke and Mentos experiment and to draw conclusions about the system. WebThis product walks you through the scientific method using two different experiments: -- How different types of soda react when Mentos is added to them- How Coke reacts to Mentos vs. how it reacts to baking sodaStudents will make an observation, ask a question, create a hypothesis, conduct an experiment, record results, and write a conclusion. https://doi.org/10.1119/1.2888546. (Gruber, 2019). Set up 16oz coke bottle and attach geyser tube and launch. The liquid samples, including the gum arabic, the baking sodawater mixture, and the Dawnwater mixture, were administered by injection using a 10ml syringe with an 18-gauge needle. Their explanation is this process called nucleation. To make any of these tests meaningful, youll need to find a way to measure the height of the eruption. Turns out that diet coke, which gets its sweetness from artificial sweeteners such as aspartame, is more commonly used than its regular counterpart. The coating of the Mentos contains gum arabic, a surfactant that reduces the surface tension of water. The colder the liquid, themoregas can be dissolved in that liquid. One method for doing this is to roll a piece of paper into a tube just big enough to hold the loose Mentos, like a roll of coins. 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. eleanorrigby-movie.com 2023 As the mentos candy sinks in the bottle, the candy As they say, the rest is history. [2], The nucleation reaction can start with any heterogeneous surface, such as rock salt, but Mentos have been found to work better than most. The higher magnification images shown in Figs. A one gallon bucket containing test tubes of over 10 Spangler Labs originals, Features favorites like Insta-Snow, Energy Beads, Jelly Marbles, & Magic Sand. The Amazing Scientist Chemistry Kit is designed to get your young scientist interested in chemistry. We have shown here via contact angle measurements that these ingredients reduce the work required for bubble formation, allowing carbon dioxide to rapidly escape from the soda. If the reaction occurs over a longer time, more mass can be lost with a smaller explosion. Of these three highly eruptive reactions, the Wint-o-Green reaction lasted the longest and lost a comparable amount of mass to the others, but traveled a much shorter distance than the Fruit and Mint Mentos reactions. When you pull your finger out of the way, all seven Mentos should fall into the bottle at the same time. Everyone wants to know how many Mentos make the highest shooting geyser. You want the candies going in the bottle and not falling over the side. 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. They both ended up having 1 oz out of 8 oz ounces leave the beaker and into the air around too. 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. students used this simple device to monitor the kinetics of WebSince which invention of cola, the gegner between Pepsi and Coca-Cola (i.e., Coke) has had in existence. Why does the reaction happen? Repeat the same procedure for the bottle of soda at room temperature and then again for the bottle of warm soda. Record the temperature. 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. Lee Marek and "Marek's Kid Scientists" were the first to publicly demonstrate the experiment on the Late Show with David Letterman in 1999. There are two reasons Mentos work so well for this experiment. 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. If the bubbles must travel farther through the liquid, the reaction will be more explosive. The pits on the candy coating act as conduits for carbon dioxide bubbles that form immediately when the candy hits the soda, increasing its fizziness. Amazing Facts About Diet Coke And Mentos Experiment. Its what happens when you put nothing in the soda. We also showed that samples which encounter less viscous drag and hence fall more quickly through the soda will cause a more explosive reaction. Learn more about how plants work with this cool celery experiment! 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. height We even played with ways to use the Geyser Tube to trigger multiple soda geysers in a method similar to a Rube Goldberg machine. During the commercial break, I told Kim what was going to happen and reminded her to pull her hand out of the way of the erupting geyser and to run backward. 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. WebThis is a fun and exciting experiment designed for 3rd-6th graders. Does the flavor of Mentos affect the explosion? 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 Thanks also to Guichuan Hou and Phil Russell for their help in acquiring the SEM images, and to Donovan Leonard for his help in acquiring some of the AFM images. What is the dependent variable of Coke and Mentos? 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. Superabsorbent giant growing polymer beads that absorb 150 times their weight in water! 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. 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. It is clear from Table V that the roughness of the sample is a major contributor to the explosiveness of the reaction. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it. And you may not have a friend for a day or two until they forgive you. SEM images of table salt, acquired with a beam energy of 5.0kV and a spot size of 5nm. However, the larger rock salt pellets fall quickly to the bottom of the 2l bottle, while the much smaller table salt grains fall more slowly due to their smaller weight and size. How Does Diet Affect Your Body Temperature? Stir up some enthusiasm for experimentation with this candy-cracking science experiment! A more dramatic effect is the rate of the reaction. 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. The author would like to thank the Dewel Microscopy Facility for their donation of the time on the SEM. Unfortunately, Kim got so caught up in the fun that she forgot to do both and got soaked in Diet Coke on live television! Nucleation sites are the regions where the carbon dioxide gas gathers and forms bubbles. To get the best results in a science experiment, you will need to standardize the test conditions as much as possible. This makes the cleanup process after the experiment easier, and less gross, as nobody would want to be all covered in sugary goop, especially on a hot summer day! Its true that putting Mentos into a bottle of Coke will cause an impressive geyser of soda to erupt from the bottle. What is the independent variable in Coke and Mentos experiment? All Rights Reserved. Soda is made of sugar or artificial sweetener, flavoring, water and preservatives. These calculations are approximate, but are consistent with our results reported in Tables I and II. The results in Table II are comparable to results from previous studies.3 Two to four trials were done for each sample-soda combination. Because Mentos mints didnt have holes in the middle like LifeSavers, getting them into the bottle was a little tricky. Make sure your scale is in place, whether youre measuring by counting bricks or using an alternative method. This low temperature allows the maximum amount of carbon dioxide to dissolve into the soda, keeping the carbonation levels as high as possible. Write down what you think will happen when placing the Mentos in the soda. Measure the height of the geyser by counting the number of bricks that are wet once the geyser stops. Steve Spanglers Geyser Tube toy (optional . [18], The eruption is caused by a physical reaction, rather than any chemical reaction. In this project, you'll create Oersted's experiment, which relates to how electric currents create magnetic fields. What is the hypothesis for the Diet Coke and Mentos experiment? By the end of the 1990s, however, the manufacturer of Wintergreen LifeSavers increased the size of the mints (no one was ever certain why). All the carbon dioxide in the soda all that fizz is squeezed into the liquid and looking for a way out. normal, unaltered Mento. The mass 41020g was lost from the aspartameseltzer water mixture and 36020g of mass was lost from the potassium benzoateseltzer water mixture. Toll Free: 800-223-9080 The bubbles then act as growth sites, where the carbon dioxide still dissolved in the solution moves into the rising bubbles, causing even more liberation of carbon dioxide from the bottle. Due to the small amount of caffeine in a 2l bottle of Diet Coke, we do not agree that the caffeine in Diet Coke contributes significantly to the reaction. The goal of this project is to explore the eruption of carbon dioxide when the candy Mentos dissolves in Diet Coke. What is inside Mentos and cola that reacts with each other causing the eruption? Science of Mentos-Diet Coke explosions explained. A Diet Coke and Mentos eruption (also known as a soda geyser) is a reaction between the carbonated beverage Diet Coke and Mentos mints that causes the beverage to be expelled from its container. 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. We found that the max amount of mentos with the If youre not using the Geyser Tube, make sure to come up with your own method for dropping the Mentos into the soda exactly the same way each and every time. From Table III we see that higher temperatures lead to larger eruptions. What soda has the biggest reaction to Mentos? 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. The hands-on experiment involves dropping several Mentos Chewy Mints into a bottle of Diet Coke, which can cause a stream of the diet cola to shoot many feet This conclusion is supported by our contact angle measurements showing a reduced contact angle for aspartame and water in contrast to pure water or sugar water (see Table IV). Today Room 1 and 5 did a science experiment together. http://www.eepybird.com/featured-video/coke-and-mentos-featured-video/science-of-coke-mentos/. The pH of the diet Coke prior to the reaction was 3.0, and the pH of the diet Coke after the mint Mentos reaction was also 3.0. The enthusiasm for dropping mints into soda bottles continues to grow today. What is the independent variable in the Mentos experiment? Why does Diet Coke and Mentos explode more than regular Coke? [3] Steve Spangler's televised demonstration of the eruption in 2005 became popular on YouTube,[4][5][6] launching a chain of several other Diet Coke and Mentos experiment viral videos. What factors made dabbawala system successful? This activity is probably best done outside in the middle of a field or on a huge lawn where a little bit of mess wont be a big deal. [1], Lee Marek and "Marek's Kid Scientists" performed the Diet Coke and Mentos experiment on the Late Show with David Letterman in 1999. The quantitative roughness information detailed in Table V was taken from this image. Explore the science of building polymers by cross-linking long chains of molecules. What happens if you combine soda and Mentos? What Will I Need For The Mentos And Coke Volcano? The lower magnification image of the Fruit Mentos has smooth patches in contrast to the lower magnification image of the Mint Mentos, but the candy coating is not uniform. Easy Science for Kids. ", "Orchestrated Chaos: A Mentos Tribute to Eepybird.com", About.com Chemistry page with instructions, "Watch Scientists Conduct the Mentos and Diet Coke Experiment at 14,000 Feet", "Diet Coke and Mentos: What is really behind this physical reaction? 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. Use this worksheet to help you record your observations after doing this experiment. This experiment investigates if small changes in your diet can alter your basal body temperature. Why does the coke react to Mentos? First, we learned that the massive buildup of pressure occurs when carbonation causes bubbles to accumulate on the surface of the Mentos. This is a great topic for a science project. Record your observations in a logbook. Hypothesis: If a certain amount of Mentos are dropped into a container of soda, then the container with the most Mentos dropped into it will produce the most CO2 at the fastest rate. It should not introduce any new information, but rather summarize the key points made in the discussion section. There really arent that many supplies you need to make a mentos and coke volcano. Does the amount of Mentos affect the height of the explosion? This was the original inspiration behind the Geyser Tube. According to our experiment, however, the SEM images show that the shiny, brightly colored coating on the Fruit Mentos is not uniform and rough patches are exposed (see Fig. The experiment became a subject of the television show MythBusters in 2006. Put the index card on top of the tube loader and turn the tube upside down. Does warm Diet Coke create a greater geyser explosion than cold Diet Coke does? The Diet Coke and Mentos experiment results from an increased rate of nucleation. The Diet Coke and Mentos experiment results from the nucleation of carbon dioxide from liquid to gas. Sticking a finger into a glass of soda will result in the formation of tiny bubbles full of carbon dioxide that stick to the skin. Teachers threaded the roll of Wintergreen LifeSavers onto a pipe cleaner as an easy way to drop all of the LifeSavers into the soda at the same time. Invert the test tube, holding the cover in place. So aspartame causes the most mass lost. Originally it was thought that the colossal fountain of soda spraying out of the bottle was caused by the caffeine in Coke. If the partial pressure of the gas above the liquid is higher, then more gas can be dissolved in the liquid. Diet Coke Its a fascinating experiment that can get young students interested in science, but we over here at Quantum Outreach have long pondered about the science behind this phenomenon. Hall, Magdalena Jaramillo, Cully Little, and Zach Russell, and my graduate research assistant, Jon Jones. Do they make motorcycle helmets for kids? Temperature of a 2l bottle of Diet Coke and mass lost during the reaction when 30g of Mint Mentos is added to the Diet Coke. Kilauea, for example. [20][12][14][17] It has been claimed that gelatin and gum arabic in the Mentos candy enhance the fountain,[12][14][26] but experiments have shown that these candy additives do not affect the fountain. Carbon dioxide is the chemical compound that consists of two oxygen atoms bonded to a carbon atom. The goal is to drop all seven Mentos into the bottle of soda at the same time, which is trickier than you might think. As soon as the Mentos hit the soda, bubbles cling to the surfaces of the candies and then quickly rise to the surface of the liquid. 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. As long as there is a high surface area to volume ratio, that area can be classified as a nucleation site (Grobe & Voltz, n.d.). 1 So the relatively small amount of caffeine in a 2 l bottle of Coke doesnt significantly affect the reaction. Although this conclusion seems to refute the claims made by the Mythbusters, remember that in their experiments, Jamie added enough caffeine to kill you to the seltzer water.1 So the relatively small amount of caffeine in a 2l bottle of Coke doesnt significantly affect the reaction. WebPut 5 room temp Mint Mentos in a geyser tube. Adding salt to soda also causes it to foam because thousands of little bubbles form on the surface of each grain of salt. He will be performing the crushed vs whole candy in a diet coke. The popular Diet Coke and Mentos reaction occurs when new Mentos are dropped into a fresh bottle of Diet Coke and results in a jet of Diet Coke spray shooting out of the mouth of the bottle. This in turns means that the carbon dioxide gas is more rapidly released. 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. Remember that 1 liter is equivalent to 1000 milliliters. Contact mode AFM image of Mint Mentos. The Mythbusters also correctly identified the roughness of the samples as one of the main causes of the reaction. Start by opening the cold bottle and dipping the thermometer into the soda. The beloved coke and mentos experiment is a perfect opportunity for young children interested in science to learn about the basics of acid and base reactions. If you decide to create an account with us in the future, you will need to enable cookies before doing so. 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. [27][28] Thus, the geyser reaction will still work even using sugared drinks, but diet is commonly used both for the sake of a larger geyser as well as to avoid having to clean up the stickier residue left by a sugared soda. Conclusion: The more mentos you put in a bottle of pop does not necessarily mean a larger explosion. This was demonstrated in an experiment that tested 15 types of carbonated beverages with Mentos. Thus, adding Mentos candies to a carbonated beverage introduces millions of nucleation sites into the drink, which allows for degassing that is rapid enough to support a jet of foam out of a bottle. Bookmark this to easily find it later. This will help you make an informed guess as to what will happen. Diet Coke 280 8.6 Conclusion: The more mentos you put in a bottle of pop does not necessarily mean a larger explosion. Youve probably heard that you shouldnt eat Mentos while you drink Coke, but why is that? Then send your curated collection to your children, or put together your own custom lesson plan. 4). Carbon dioxide creates the bubbles in soda. What are the variables of the soda and Mentos experiment?
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