Why do mentos cause soda to explode

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A soda geyser is a physical reaction between a carbonated beverage, usually Diet Coke , and Mentos mints that causes the beverage to be expelled from its container. The candies catalyze the release of gas from the beverage, which creates an eruption that pushes most of the liquid up and out of the bottle. The tubes of candies were threaded onto a pipe cleaner and dropped into the soft drink to create a geyser. At the end of the s, the manufacturer of Wintergreen Lifesavers increased the size of the mints, and they no longer fit in the mouth of soda bottles. Science teachers found that Mentos candies had the same effect when dropped into a bottle of any carbonated soft drink. The experiment became a subject of the television show MythBusters in

Why do mentos cause soda to explode

Forgot password? New user? Sign up. Existing user? Log in. Already have an account? Log in here. The chemical reactions involved in dropping mentos candies into a bottle of diet coke make quite the spectacle! Soda geysters, which can reach as high as ten meters, were a popular subject for viral videos in the early 's, but the science behind the spectacle remained a mystery until Many people speculated that the geyser was the result of an acid base reaction , given the low pH of soda. However, none of the ingredients in mentos are basic, and the experiment works to some degree with any type of soda and any type of candy. Mentos candies are not as smooth as they appear to the naked eye. They are covered in bumpy craters, which increases the total surface area.

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?

What causes Coke to explode when Mentos are added to it? One would think that there must be a chemical reaction that causes the Coke and Mentos reaction to be so attractive and satisfying. The gas tries to escape and form bubbles around any irregular surface, called a nucleation site. Mentos also have nucleation sites because they are not as smooth as they appear. When added to Coke, the dissolved gas pushes the liquid out of the container at a super-fast speed in the form of bubbles.

Drop a few Mentos into a two-liter bottle of soda, and a geyser of foam erupts rapidly, sometimes reaching heights of 15 feet or more. First made famous by chemistry teacher Lee Marek on the Letterman show in , the phenomena sparked hundreds of homed videos and an episode of Discovery Channel's "Mythbusters. The bubbles in a bottle of soda are caused by molecules of dissolved carbon dioxide. Generally, water molecules like to stay next to each other, which prevents any dissolved gases from collecting. However, when offered a surface, called a nucleation site, dissolved gases such as carbon dioxide can gather, eventually forming a bubble. The sides of a bottle serve this purpose. When the bubble gets big enough, it breaks surface tension with the side of the bottle and floats up.

Why do mentos cause soda to explode

Love fizzing and exploding experiments? All you need are Mentos and Coke. Put the scientific method into practice with two easy-to-set-up Mentos science experiments. Record your results with a video camera so you can enjoy seeing the exploding fun up close and over and over again! Learn all about the Mentos and Coke reaction!

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There is an urban legend that eating mentos while drinking soda could cause a person's stomach to burst. Archived from the original on March 3, The carbon dioxide molecules attach to the surfaces of the Mentos like they did in the cup of soda. Does temperature affect the eruption height? What is the most reasonable hypothesis to explain the difference? Retrieved June 22, Additional explanations for why diet sodas outperform regular sodas in this experiment have been proposed. Existing user? Retrieved November 8, — via YouTube. Archived from the original on October 6, Diet Coke and Mentos. The exploding water in the garbage can demonstrates what happens when a gas, which is confined by pressure, is released suddenly: it expands very rapidly, blowing out everything in its way. The two biggest factors affecting the geyser are the roughness of the candy used and the rate at which it sinks to the bottom of the soda bottle. Naperville Sun.

This causes pressure to build in the bottle and send a spectacular jet of bubbles shooting into the air.

S2CID 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. Scientists are interested in the details of how volcanoes erupt, so they analyze temperature, pressure, and the chemistry of magma. Tilt the cup and slowly pour the soda down the inside of the cup to make as few bubbles as possible. Log in here. These ready-made bubbles which are nucleation sites exist in things such as tiny fibers or non-wettable crevices on the sides of the bottle. However, none of the ingredients in mentos are basic, and the experiment works to some degree with any type of soda and any type of candy. On supporting science journalism If you're enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing. Surfactants are compounds that lower the surface tension or interfacial tension between two liquids or between a liquid and a solid. The nucleation reaction can start with any heterogeneous surface, such as rock salt, but Mentos have been found to work better than most.