What kind of mentos coke

Key concepts Chemistry Physics Materials science Carbonation Physical reactions Explosions Introduction Have you ever seen the Diet Coke and Mentos experiment that is all over the Internet and wondered what makes the reaction work? You might think that there is some ingredient in a Mentos candy that causes a chemical reaction with the soda pop, like the way baking soda reacts with vinegar. But the amazing eruption that takes place when Mentos are dropped into Diet Coke or other brands of diet soda pop is not a chemical reaction at all!

Instead it is a physical reaction. That means that all of the pieces of the reaction are there, but that they are simply rearranged. It also means changing some factors may cause a larger or smaller physical reaction to take place.

Background A carbonated beverage is packed full of dissolved carbon dioxide gas, which forms bonds with water. While the soda is in the bottle, the gas is kept in solution by the bottle's pressurized conditions. When you pour some soda into a glass, some gas escapes and forms foam, but most stays trapped by the surface tension of the water.

But all those gas bubbles want to escape, making it no wonder that soda makes you burp! To create bubbles, the carbon dioxide needs to interact with itself, which means that the carbon dioxide's bonds with water in the Diet Coke must be broken.

A Mentos candy can help with this. Although the candy may look smooth, if you looked at it under a microscope you'd see tiny bumps coating its entire surface.

This rough surface allows the bonds between the carbon dioxide gas and the water to more easily break, helping to create carbon dioxide bubbles and cause the classic eruption. The speed at which the Mentos falls through the soda can affect how large the eruption is, and this can be tested by comparing whole with crushed Mentos, the latter of which are less dense. On the wax paper, carefully use a knife to crush and cut four Mentos candies into many small pieces. An adult may help you cut up the candies.

What does the inside of the candies look like? Tape the tube together on the side. Make sure that the bottle is on a level surface and stably standing straight. Why do you think all of this is important? Line up where the opening of the bottle is with the opening of your cartridge.

Quickly pull out the flat index card, releasing the Mentos candies into the bottle. Have you ever noticed that when you put a straw in soda pop, the straw gets a lot of bubbles on it? Why does that happen?

And will it happen if you put other stuff in soda pop? Place a straw in the soda and look at the straw from the side. What to expect.

Bubbles will form on the straw and very quickly and completely cover the pipe cleaner. What's happening in there? Why do the bubbles form on the different things you put in the soda? The carbon dioxide molecules collect on these places and form bubbles which rise to the surface.

Make a Mentos-and-Soda Fountain! First, make a tube for the Mentos. Cut a piece of paper so that it is as wide as a roll of Mentos. These pits, peaks, and craters are referred to as nucleation sites. They provide a surface for the carbon dioxide bubbles to form on, and allow them to form much more rapidly. That paltry fifteen grams of carbon dioxide in the bottle might not sound like much, but as it comes out of solution in the bottle it can expand to take up up to 8 litres in volume.

Science teachers are well aware that some types of carbonated drinks work better than others for this demonstration; for example, Diet Coke usually gives a higher fountain than regular Coke.

Previously, scientists have tried to investigate why this is , and they suggest that the artificial sweeteners in diet forms of carbonated drinks, specifically aspartame and benzoate, might be responsible. Their suggestion was that these compounds lower the surface tension of the liquid, which allows bubbles to form quicker. Sugar-sweetened drinks tend to be more viscous, which likely slows bubble formation, leading to smaller fountains than for their diet counterparts.

More recently, chemists at Spring Arbor University in the United States tested a range of different carbonated drinks and found that the height of fountains varied between different products. Generally, they found that carbonated water gave the smallest geysers, with sugar-sweetened beverages giving better results, and diet beverages better still.

They suspected other compounds dissolved in the drinks might be affecting fountain height, so they carried out further tests on these compounds in isolation. By dissolving quantities of the compounds in carbonated water, they were able to test each compound individually. Five common compounds in carbonated beverages were tested: aspartame, benzoate, linalool, citral, and citric acid.