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Mentos and Coke Experiment – How to Do It! [Full Guide]

Have you ever taken a can of soda, shook it up, and given it to your friend?

What happens?

Well, it’s probably not pretty. And you may not have a friend for a day or two until they forgive you.

But making soda explode is fun. And there is a way to make it really go boom if you have a few pennies and a bit of time on your hands.

Note – be sure to only try this experiment with a responsible adult!

It really only takes a few minutes to setup the mentos and coke volcano experiment. And it’s a great way to learn about chemical reactions.

It’s also a lot less work than your classic paper mache volcano. So, if you want some quick and easy fun, get some paper towels because we’re about to make a sweet mess.

What Will I Need For The Mentos And Coke Volcano?

There really aren’t that many supplies you need to make a mentos and coke volcano.

But here’s the list:

An outdoor area with no ceiling or roof

One roll of Mentos candies

A two-liter bottle of diet soda (diet soda makes for a much better reaction, but you can use regular soda if you like. It just won’t be nearly as awesome.)

A tube the width of the Mentos . It needs to be wide enough to use as loader for the Mentos

An index card (picture below)

The Mentos And Coke Volcano Experiment

Now it’s time to actually run the experiment, but first, we need to make a hypothesis.

The Hypothesis

The scientific method is an important way scientists make observations and come to conclusions.

Part of the scientific method is making a prediction called a hypothesis .

Write down what you think will happen when placing the Mentos in the soda bottles.

Do a little bit of research about the ingredients of Mentos and soda.

This will help you make an informed guess as to what will happen.

Now You Test The Hypothesis

In an experiment, you have two groups: an experimental group, and a control group.

Open the soda bottle, set it down and write down what you observe about it.

This will count as your control group. It’s what happens when you put nothing in the soda.

Now take the Mentos in your tube loader.

Put the index card on top of the tube loader and turn the tube upside down.

The candy should not fall out.

Be ready. The reaction happens fast, so don’t have your face over the bottle.

Place the index card and candies over the mouth of the bottle. Make sure the candies are in line with the mouth of the bottle.

You want the candies going in the bottle and not falling over the side.

Now remove the index card and let candies fall in and step away from the Mentos and coke volcano.

Write down what happened when you dropped the Mentos in the coke.

Did what you hypothesize happen? Compare your notes on the experiment to the control group.

Let us know what you observed in your science experiment!

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTION

1. can i use any type of mentos candy for the experiment.

Yes, you can use any type of Mentos candy for the experiment. The most commonly used Mentos candies are the original mint-flavored ones, but you can also use fruit-flavored or other varieties. The key factor is the rough surface of the Mentos candy, which helps to create nucleation sites for the carbon dioxide bubbles in the Coke. This happens because Coke contains dissolved carbon dioxide gas.

2. What happens if I use diet Coke instead of regular Coke?

If you use cold diet Coke instead of regular Coke in the Mentos experiment, you can still expect an explosive reaction. However, the reaction may not be as vigorous as with regular Coke. Diet Coke contains artificial sweeteners like aspartame, which may slightly affect the reaction. Nonetheless, the combination of Mentos and diet Coke can still produce a notable geyser, so it’s worth giving it a try. SO it will be the mentos geyser experiment.

3. Is the Mentos and Coke experiment suitable for children to try at home?

The Coke and Mentos experiment can be a fun and engaging activity for children to try at home. However, ensuring proper adult supervision and following safety precautions is important. Conducting the mentos experiment outdoors or in a well-ventilated area is recommended to avoid any potential mess or accidental spills. Additionally, remind children not to consume the Coke or Mentos mixture, as it is unsafe for ingestion. By taking these precautions, the Coke and Mentos experiment can provide children an educational and entertaining experience.

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Classic Science | Mentos and Soda Experiment

Welcome back for another STEM Saturday ! I can’t tell you how excited I am to finally be sharing some of our favorite science experiments. Each of the experiments are classics but are experiments we think every kid should try at least once! Have you ever heard of the mentos and soda experiment ? I am sure you have! Well, we did this one but we did it with a twist! In fact, we did it 3 different ways and can’t wait to tell you about it!

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3 Variations of Mentos and Soda Experiment

Setting up the experiment.

Did you know the classic “mentos & soda” experiment is actually a demonstration. What this means, is that it usually does not involve problem solving or predictions. Instead, it simply demonstrates the reasoning behind the explosion of soda. Turning this classic demonstration into a science experiment is as easy as one, two, three.

Basically you want to involve the children. What do they think? How do they think you should do the demonstration. What variables do they think they could manipulate to change the outcome of the experiment?

You will need: Soda (depending on how many variables you want to adjust, you might want several kinds) Mentos

Optional: Yardstick or measuring tape Mentos dispenser (we wish we had this)

Conducting the Experiment

We made three variations to this simple and classic experiment. The boys wanted to test size of the bottle, type of soda, and number of Mentos. They also wanted to explore type of Mentos but they ran out of steam before we could get to it.

The important thing to remember is that you only want to test one variable at a time. You will also want to have the children determine HOW they will judge the various experiments.

How many Mentos Do You Need?

The first experiment the boys wanted to was to test the amount of Mentos we needed. We chose to use a smaller bottle for this experiment, while we figured out the best Mentos to Soda Ratio. Trying to fit 2 packs of Mentos into a bottle was near impossible.

What Size Soda Works Best with Mentos?

This one was really fun! As you can see the large bottle had the best results! We had a little mishap with getting the Mentos in at one time, which is why I think we would love the Mentos dispenser . The boys noticed that the smallest bottle didn’t have room for the Mentos and soda to react, resulting in a smaller reaction. Now we were ready for the big experiment!

What Kind of Soda is Best?

This was the mother of all mothers! I mean look at their faces! We tested several sodas including Soda Water!

We had so much fun doing this experiment and the kids ask to do it over and over again! What variable would you try changing?

Do you have a favorite Classic Science Experiment ? I would love to know! Connect with me on Facebook , Twitter , Google+ , Pinterest , Instagram or subscribe by email . I can’t wait to hear your ideas.

TIME FOR STEM SATURDAY BLOG HOP!

Every Saturday we will get so many wonderful ideas linked up from around the web that we have decided we want to feature some of these great ideas. That’s why every Saturday, I will pick from the posts linked up and feature my absolute favorites. This might be a hard choice to make, luckily you can always head over to last week’s post and check out more great science resources!

This Week’s Feature:

Fizzing Science by The Practical Mom Blog

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5 thoughts on “Classic Science | Mentos and Soda Experiment”

Love this experiment! Pinning it for this summer!

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Thanks for featuring our Eno Explosion! Reminds me we need to do more science experiments at home! Shall try the mentos soda one soon 🙂

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June 14, 2012

Spurting Science: Erupting Diet Coke with Mentos

A carbonated challenge from Science Buddies

By Science Buddies

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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. Materials •    Wax paper •    Cutting board •    Knife •    One roll of Mentos (at least eight candies) •    Two index cards •    Tape •    Two two-liter bottles of Diet Coke •    An outdoor area at least two meters from buildings •    Eye protection (safety goggles or glasses) •    Video camera with either a tripod or a helper to take the images (optional) Preparation •    Place a piece of wax paper on top of the cutting board. 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? •    Make a Mentos cartridge to hold the candies for you before you drop them into the Diet Coke bottle by rolling an index card into a tube, slightly larger than the diameter of a Mentos candy. Tape the tube together on the side. •    Be sure to wear eye protection when putting the candies into the cola! •    Wear clothes that you would not mind if they get splashed with a little soda pop—this activity can get a little messy! Procedure •    Place a Diet Coke bottle in an outdoor area, at least two meters from any buildings or anything hanging above the area, such as eaves, overhangs or wires. Make sure that the bottle is on a level surface and stably standing straight. Why do you think all of this is important? •    If you want to videotape the reactions, set up the video camera so that it has in its viewfinder the bottle and a height equivalent to at least the first story of a building. •    Carefully remove the cap from the bottle and place the flat index card on top, covering the hole. •    Add four whole Mentos candies to your cartridge, put on your eye protection, and start the video camera. •    Place your full cartridge on top of the flat index card. 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. Then step back without tipping the bottle over or disturbing the reaction. •    How quickly did the reaction start to happen, and how quickly did it stop? About how high did the eruption go? How much cola is left in the bottle? •    When the bottle stops spouting, stop recording. •    Remove the spent cola bottle and place a new full bottle in the same position, again making sure that it is level and stably standing straight. As with the first bottle, remove the cap and place the flat index card on top, covering the hole. •    Add your four crushed Mentos candies to your cartridge, pouring them in from the wax paper. Put on your eye protection and start the video camera. •    Like you did before, place your full cartridge on top of the flat index card, then line up where the opening of the bottle is with the opening of your cartridge. Quickly pull out the flat index card, releasing the crushed Mentos into the bottle, then step back without tipping the bottle over or disturbing the reaction. •    How quickly did the reaction start to happen, and how quickly did it stop? How high did the eruption appear to go? How much liquid is left in the bottle? Is it more or less than the amount that was left when you used whole candies? •    When the bottle stops spouting, stop recording. If you videotaped the reactions, you can watch your videos now. What do you notice from the videos? •    Which reaction went higher, the whole or the crushed Mentos? •    Extra : Find an exterior wall of a building with no windows and set a Diet Coke bottle at the base of the wall. Use a tape measure and blue painter's tape to mark off the height from the top of the bottle in meters. Then repeat this activity three times, with the bottle in front of the tape-marked wall, video taping it each time. When you review the recordings, use slow motion and pause the recording when the spout is at its maximum height. Using the tape marks in the background, estimate the height of the spout. Calculate the average height of the fountains for the whole and for the crushed Mentos . What is the difference in height of the eruptions? •    Extra: What other factors affect the size of the Mentos and Diet Coke eruption? You can try testing different kinds of carbonated beverages, different kinds of candies with different shapes and textures or using other things to start the reaction, like rock salt, pennies or dice. Which beverages, candies or other things cause the largest and smallest fountains? Why do you think this is? •    Extra: Do this activity again but instead of testing whole Mentos versus crushed, compare warm versus cold Diet Coke. Does temperature affect the eruption height? Observations and results Was the eruption higher when whole Mentos candies were used compared with crushed candies? Was less Diet Coke left in the bottle after the reaction with the whole candies compared with the crushed ones? In the Diet Coke bottle the Mentos candy provides a rough surface that allows the bonds between the carbon dioxide gas and water to break more easily, helping to create carbon dioxide bubbles. 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. Because Mentos candies are rather dense, they sink rapidly through the liquid, causing a fast, large eruption. The crushed Mentos candies, however, are not as dense as the whole ones, which causes them to sink more slowly, creating a relatively small cola fountain, which should also leave more liquid in the bottle than the larger eruption with whole Mentos candies did. Cleanup Hose off any part of a building that was splashed with Diet Coke. If you try this project with regular Coke, the eruption should still happen but its sugary content may make cleaning more difficult. More to explore Physicists Explain Mentos–Soda Spray from Scientific American Science of Mentos–Diet Coke explosions explained from New Scientist The Science of Coke and Mentos from EepyBird.com Why do Mentos mints foam when you drop them into soda pop? from General Chemistry Online Coke® & Mentos®—Nucleation Goes Nuclear! from Science Buddies

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Diet Coke and Mentos Soda Geyser

The Diet Coke and Mentos soda geyser, also known as the soda and candy fountain or volcano, is a physical reaction between candy and carbon dioxide that instantaneously releases the gas so it shoots into the air. There is a lot of science behind this deceptively simple project! Here are instructions for performing the original project, tips for getting the tallest eruption, options for material substitutions, and a look at how the Diet Coke and Mentos geyser works.

All you need is a packet of Mentos candies and a 2-liter bottle of Diet Coke:

• Roll of Mentos candies
• 2-liter bottle of Diet Coke

Make sure the candy is fresh and the bottle of soda is unopened. Freshness matters!

You also need a way of delivering the candies into the soda. One method is just dropping the column from your hand, but rolling them into a paper or index card tube is more reliable. Stacking them into a test tube is another option.

Substitutions

While Mentos and Diet Coke work best, you have other options:

• Any carbonated beverage
• Any candy that stacks neatly into a column
• Coins, shot, or other small items that fit through the bottle opening
• Sand or salt instead of candy (which work quite well)

In general, diet carbonated beverages produce higher fountains than sugary ones. Also, they don’t produce a sticky mess. Uncarbonated beverages, like juice or water, do not work at all. Objects with smooth, flat surfaces (like coins) do not work nearly as well as other options.

How to Make the Diet Coke and Mentos Soda Geyser Erupt

The project is messy. You might want to step outdoors.

• Open the Mentos candies and stack them into a single column.
• Open the bottle of soda.
• Drop the column of candy into the bottle, all at once.

If you have more candy, you can repeat the eruption using the same bottle of soda. It won’t be quite as dramatic, but still works.

Tips for Getting the Biggest Eruption

• Diet Coke or other diet colas outperform any other drinks. There are a lot of potential reasons for this, mainly involving the effects of aspartame, potassium benzoate, and other ingredients on the surface tension and foaming capacity of the beverage. The worst carbonated beverages for this project are carbonated water and sparkling alcoholic drinks.
• The blue Mentos candies work better than other flavors. The fruity Mentos are reportedly the worst flavor. Freshly unwrapped candies are best. Old candy is not very effective, probably because humidity changes the candy surface.
• A 2-liter plastic bottle works better than any smaller bottle, whether it is plastic or glass.
• You get a better eruption at high altitude or low atmospheric pressure compared with sea level or other high pressure situation.
• Warm soda produces a higher fountain than cold soda.

How the Diet Coke and Mentos Experiment Works

The Diet Coke and Mentos eruption is a physical process more than a chemical reaction. The candy surface has many tiny imperfections and cavities, each only a micron or so in size. When you drop the Mentos into the soda there are numerous minute air bubbles stuck onto them. These little bubbles act as nucleation sites for rapid de-gassing of the soda:

CO 2 (aq) → CO 2 (g)

Because the nucleation sites lower the activation energy for bubble formation, you can say they catalyze the reaction.

The candies are dense enough that they sink to the bottom of the soda bottle, interacting with dissolved carbon dioxide as they fall. As carbon dioxide bubbles form, the gas is lighter than the liquid and the bubbles rise. As they rise, they expand. The pressure of the gas results in a quick release of pressure, making a geyser out of the soda. Ingredients in the partially-dissolved candy help the bubbles keep their shape and form a foam as the liquid ejects from the bottle.

Numerous investigations into why diet soda (especially cola) works better than sweetened soda or why Mentos works better than other candies answer some questions, but not all of them. The ingredients in the soda make a difference. However, which ones enhance bubble formation and which suppress it are unclear. The chemical composition of the candies likely contributes to bubble formation, but it’s really their surface structure that matters the most.

Turn the Science Project Into an Experiment

Performing the Diet Coke and Mentos project is easy, but turning the project into an experiment is also simple. Just find a variable under your control, predict the outcome from changing it, conduct an experiment that tests this hypothesis , and then analyze your results and see if your prediction was correct. Here are some ideas of variables you can explore:

• Is there an optimal number of candies for the best eruption?
• Compare different types of carbonated beverages. Do you think, for example, that Coke Zero performs as well as Diet Coke? Do other brands of diet cola perform as well?
• Explore the effect of soda temperature on fountain formation. If you see a difference, comparing chilled and warm soda, can you explain it ?
• Are there any candies that work as well as Mentos? In general, is there a way of predicting whether or not a particular kind of candy produces an eruption?
• What effect do you expect, if you add a bit of bubble solution or dishwashing liquid to the soda before adding the candy?
• Design different “candy delivery” systems. What are the pros and cons of each of them?
• Can you make a nozzle that reduces the diameter of the bottle? If so, what effect does this have on the height of the eruption?

Fun Facts About the Diet Coke and Mentos Project

• The original soda and candy fountain project, circa 1910, used Wint-O-Green Lifesaver candies (which as also great for the “spark in the dark” triboluminescence project ). However, the company changed the candy diameter in the 1990s and it no longer fits into most bottles.
• Scientists estimate the eruption releases between 2.4 and 14 million bubbles per liter of Diet Coke. Regular Coke produces a lot less bubbles.
• A single Mentos candy contains 50,000 to 300,000 nucleation sites, although the reaction does not utilize every one of them.
• Coffey, Tonya Shea (2008). “Diet Coke and Mentos: What is really behind this physical reaction?”. American Journal of Physics . 76 (6): 551–557. doi: 10.1119/1.2888546
• Kuntzleman, Thomas S.; Imhoff, Amanda M. (2021). “How Many Bubbles Are in the Foam Produced during the Candy-Cola Soda Geyser?”. Journal of Chemical Education . 98 (12): 3915–3920. doi: 10.1021/acs.jchemed.1c01001
• Kuntzleman, Thomas S.; Annis, Jezrielle; Anderson, Hazel; Kenney, Joshua B.; Doctor, Ninad (2020). “Kinetic Modeling of and Effect of Candy Additives on the Candy–Cola Soda Geyser: Experiments for Elementary School Science through Physical Chemistry”. Journal of Chemical Education . 97 (1): 283–288. doi: 10.1021/acs.jchemed.9b00796
• Kuntzleman, Thomas S.; Johnson, Ryan (2020). “Probing the Mechanism of Bubble Nucleation in and the Effect of Atmospheric Pressure on the Candy–Cola Soda Geyser”. Journal of Chemical Education . 97 (4): 980–985. doi: 10.1021/acs.jchemed.9b01177

The Infamous Coke and Mentos Experiment

September 11, 2014 By Emma Vanstone 1 Comment

The science experiments my children talk about for months afterwards are generally the messy ones, like our splatter patterns , glow in the dark oobleck ,  baking soda experiments and the well known coke and mento experiment .

If you try this classic chemis t ry experiment definitely do it outside as it’s VERY messy and sticky. Sometimes you’ll see it called a coke and mento geyse r, as the eruption looks like a geyser!

Coke and Mentos Experiment

You’ll need:.

Coke or other fizzy soda

Instructions

We dropped two Mentos into a bottle of normal Cola and Diet Cola. I used the cheapest brands available in our local supermarket.

Once you drop the Mentos into the coke, stand back as it’s VERY explosive. The trick is to drop the mento in as fast as you can. If too much of the fizz escapes before you add the mento the reaction won’t be as good.

What happens when Coke and Mentos mix?

There are several theories, but it’s thought that the many small pores on the surface of the mento speed up the release of carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) gas from the soda as they give a larger surface area for the reaction to occur over, causing foam to erupt at a super fast rate.

Which soda works best with Mentos?

Any fizzy drink will produce a similar effect, but diet drinks seem to work best, as we found in our investigation. This is most likely due to the particular chemicals in diet drinks.

The reaction isn’t a chemical reaction but a physical reaction! The molecules haven’t been chemically changed, just re-arranged!

See Steve Spangler for a much more thorough explanation of this very cool experiment .

Does the number of mentos affect the height?

More Mentos candies should mean a better explosion, but there is a limit to how many will actually make a difference. We found 7 to be the maximum number we could drop in at once.

More Coke and Mentos Eruption Ideas

Investigate to find out if the type of fizzy drink matters. Does diet soda make a taller geyser?

Try lots of different sodas and diet sodas.

Test fruit-flavoured Mentos instead of mint flavoured.

Find out if the number of mentos affects the height of the geyser.

Investigate to discover what would happen if you left the top off the Cola for a few minutes before adding the Mento.

Use the reaction to power something? Maybe a LEGO car?

Design a device to drop several mentos into the bottle at the same time. Can you find out what the optimum number of mentos for a 2-litre bottle of soda is?

Last Updated on April 9, 2024 by Emma Vanstone

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December 17, 2019 at 7:20 pm

It will also work better the warmer the soda is

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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?

    1. Very slowly and carefully, open a new bottle of colorless soda.

    2. Tilt the cup and slowly pour the soda down the inside of the cup to make as few bubbles as possible.  

3. Place a straw in the soda and look at the straw from the side.   

4.  Take the straw out of the soda and put a pipe cleaner in. Look from the side to see if bubbles also form on the pipe cleaner. 

5. Now take the pipe cleaner out and place a Mento in the soda. Watch the Mento from the side to see what happens.

 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 bubbles are made of a gas called carbon dioxide. The soda company puts carbon dioxide in the soda to make the soda fizzy.

Also, the things you put in the soda aren’t really as smooth as they look with just your eyes. If you could look at the straw, pipe cleaner, and Mento with a super-strong microscope you would see that they have tiny dents, scratches, and bumps on them. 

The carbon dioxide molecules collect on these places and form bubbles which rise to the surface.

Make a Mentos-and-Soda Fountain!

There is a pretty cool thing you can do with a bottle of soda pop and a packet of Mentos. Let’s try it!

First, make a tube for the Mentos.

1. Cut a piece of paper so that it is as wide as a roll of Mentos.

2. Wrap the paper around the pack of Mentos to make a tube. Use masking tape to tape the tube closed. Remove the pack of Mentos from the tube.

3. Close off one end of the tube by cutting a little circle or square of paper and taping it to one end of the tube.

4. Open the pack of Mentos and place all of them in the tube.

Now, make a Mentos-and-soda fountain!

1. Slowly and carefully open a new bottle of Diet Coke.  

2. Place it on a flat area outside where it is OK to get wet with soda.

3. Put the open end of your tube of Mentos on the card and place it directly over the opening of the soda bottle.

4. When you are ready, remove the card and let all the Mentos drop into the soda at once and quickly move out of the way.

Bubbles and soda will quickly shoot out of the bottle in a high fountain.

The carbon dioxide molecules attach to the surfaces of the Mentos like they did in the cup of soda. 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!

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Erupting Mentos and Coke Experiment

Love fizzing and exploding experiments? YES!! Well, here’s another one the kids are sure to love! 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!

Grab Some Mentos and Coke

Our Mentos and soda experiment is a fun example of a physical reaction. Read on to learn more about how this Mentos and Coke reaction works.

We love fizzing experiments and have been exploring science for kindergarten, preschool, and early elementary for over 8 years now. Make sure to check out our collection of simple science experiments for kids.

Our science experiments are designed with you, the parent or teacher, in mind! Easy to set up, and quick to do, most activities will take only 15 to 30 minutes to complete and are heaps of fun! Plus, our supplies lists usually contain only free or cheap materials you can source from home!

Grab a packet of Mentos and some Coke as well as assorted soda flavors, and find out what happens when you mix them together! Do this activity outside to make clean-up a breeze. Make sure to put it on a level surface so the cups don’t tip over.

ALSO CHECK OUT: Pop Rocks and Soda

NOTE: This experiment is a less-mess version and more hands-on for younger kids. See our Mentos Geyser version for a bigger eruption!

Coke and Mentos Reaction

You might be surprised to know that the Mentos and Coke reaction is an example of a physical change ! It’s not a chemical reaction like how baking soda reacts with vinegar and a new substance, forming carbon dioxide. So how does it work?

Inside the Coke or soda, there is dissolved carbon dioxide gas, making the soda taste fizzy when you drink it. Usually, you can find these gas bubbles coming out of the soda on the sides of the bottle, which is why it becomes flat after a while.

Adding Mentos speeds up this process because more bubbles form on the Mentos’s surface than on the bottle’s side, pushing the liquid up. This is an example of a change of state of matter . The carbon dioxide dissolved in the Coke moves to a gaseous state.

In the first experiment, if the size of the Mentos is the same, you will notice no difference in the amount of foam produced. However, when you make the pieces of Mentos smaller it will cause more bubbles to form and speed up the physical reaction. Give it a go!

In the second experiment, when you test out Mentos with different sodas, the soda that produces the most foam will likely have the most dissolved carbon dioxide or be the fizziest. Let’s find out!

Mentos and Coke Experiment #1

Do Coke and Mentos work with fruit Mentos? You can do this experiment with any Mentos! This first experiment uses the same soda to test which variety of candy creates the most foam. Learn more about independent and dependent variables.

TIP: Mentos and coke at room temperature generally produce the best results.

• 1 sleeve Mentos Chewy Mint candy
• 1 sleeve Mentos Fruity candy
• 2 (16.9 to 20 ounce) bottles of soda (diet sodas tend to work the best.)
• Video camera or smartphone with video (for replay)

HOW TO SET UP MENTOS AND SODA EXPERIMENT #1

STEP 1. To analyze the results, set up a video camera or smartphone with video capabilities to capture the experiment.

STEP 2. Prepare the candy by removing the different types from their sleeve and placing in separate cups.

STEP 3. Pour equal amounts of the same soda into two other cups.

STEP 4. Make sure the camera is recording, and drop the candy into the soda simultaneously. One variety of candy goes into one cup of soda, and the other variety goes into the other cup of soda.

STEP 5. Analyze to see which variety of Mentos creates the most foam. Was there any difference? 

Mentos and Coke Experiment #2

What type of Coke reacts best with Mentos? In this second experiment, use the same variety of Mentos and instead test to find out which kind of soda creates the most foam.

• 3 sleeves Mentos Chewy Mint candy OR Mentos Fruity candy
• 3 (16.9 to 20 ounce) soda bottles in different varieties (diet sodas tend to work the best.)

HOW TO SET UP COKE AND MENTOS EXPERIMENT

STEP 2.  Choose one variety of Mentos candy to use for the experiment. Prepare the candy by removing it from the sleeve and placing one sleeve of candy into each cup.

STEP 3. Pour equal amounts of the different sodas into cups.

STEP 4. Simultaneously, drop the candy into the soda.

STEP 5. Look at the video and analyze which variety of soda creates the most foam.

Expand the Mentos and Coke Experiments

• Test cups, bottles, and vases of different shapes (wide at the bottom but narrow at the top, cylindrical, or directly in the soda bottles) to test whether the width of the cup makes a difference in how high the foam will shoot.
• Design unique ways for dropping the candy into the soda. For instance, create a tube that fits around the mouth of the soda bottle. Cut a slit into the tub that runs ¾ across the width of the tube. Slide an index card into the cut slit. Pour the candy into the tube. Remove the index card when you are ready to release the candy into the soda.
• Add different ingredients to the soda to test whether the amount of foam changes. For instance, we have tested adding food coloring, dish soap, and/or vinegar to the soda while adding baking soda to the cup with the candy.

TIP: Want to try the more traditional Mentos and Coke Rocket, see it here!

Turn It Into A Mentos and Coke Science Fair Project

Science projects are an excellent tool for older kiddos to show what they know about science! Plus, they can be used in various environments, including classrooms, homeschool, and groups.

Kids can take everything they have learned about using the scientific method , stating a hypothesis, choosing variables , and analyzing and presenting data.

Want to turn this Coke and Mentos experiment into a cool science project? Check out these helpful resources below.

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Here are a few resources to help you introduce science more effectively to your kiddos or students and feel confident when presenting materials. You’ll find helpful free printables throughout.

• Scientific Method For Kids
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• 8 Science Books for Kids
• All About Scientists
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More Fun Science Experiments to Try

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• Lava Lamp Experiment
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• Magic Milk Experiment
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Why Do Mentos Explode in Coke?

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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 2000's, but the science behind the spectacle remained a mystery until 2008.

Chemistry and Physics

Applications.

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. A Mentos dropped into a bottle of soda acts as a surfactant , meaning it reduces the surface tension of the soda. Water molecules are polar and attracted to each other. Anything that breaks them apart allows for bubbles of carbon dioxide gas to form in the solution. A rougher candy surface translates to more places for bubbles to grow, or more nucleation sites . Surfactants are compounds that lower the surface tension (or interfacial tension) between two liquids or between a liquid and a solid. Surfactants may act as detergents, wetting agents, emulsifiers, foaming agents, and dispersants.

This is essentially speeding up the process that makes sodas fizzy. Bottled sodas are kept under pressure so that more carbon dioxide can be forced into solution. When the pressure is released, the carbon dioxide is forced out of solution and makes little gas bubbles. So, if you open a bottle of soda gently, you get a pleasant beverage. If you shake the can first, you disrupt the solution and get a face full of soda. And if you add a big enough surfactant, you get a geyser. It's the same chemistry, but a different magnitude.

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. [1] Other factors that affect the growth rate or total number of carbon dioxide bubbles also changed the geyser's height, such as temperature and the original surface tension of the soda. Diet Coke makes a better spectacle than regular Coca-Cola because both aspartame and benzonatate (a preservative used in artificially sweetened drinks) lower surface tension more than sugar does.

Mixing mentos and soda makes a great science demonstration for students studying gases, thermodynamics, fluid dynamics, surface science, and the physics of explosions among other chemistry and physics concepts. [1]

Tonya Coffey, a professor at Appalachian State University, used the experiment to give her undergraduate physics class a real-world research experience as one of their laboratory assignments. The project was eventually published in the American Journal of Physics . Though the manuscript is behind a paywall, a presentation that Dr. Coffey made about the experience is available on the schools website. [2]

The force exerted by the soda stream can be harnessed to do work. One enterprising group made a mentos and diet coke-powered rocket. However, the practical applications of this reaction are limited by the sticky mess it makes.

The engineer explains that the yellow nose cap is full of mentos, while the body is full of pressurized diet coke. Watch the full video for a more detailed explanation. [3]

There is an urban legend that eating mentos while drinking soda could cause a person's stomach to burst. However, most of the carbonation is released from the soda as it is being drunk, so the pressure is lower and carbon dioxide is less likely to nucleate. Additionally, the stomach has a couple ways of expelling excess gases.

A mint-flavored mentos makes a geyser 5 meters high and a fruit-flavored mentos makes a geyser 2 meters high when the two candies are put into identical bottles of soda under identical experimental conditions. What is the most reasonable hypothesis to explain the difference?

• Coffey, T. (2008). Diet Coke and Mentos: What is really behind this physical reaction?. American Journal of Physics , 76,551 .
• Coffey, T. Diet Coke and Mentos . Retrieved from http://www.appstate.edu/~coffeyts/DietCokeandMentos.pdf
• Milleaccendini, Y. Youtube . Retrieved March 18, 2016, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mb6neBVtvsE

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Mentos and Coke Experiment: How-To Plus Free Worksheet

This explosive experiment teaches kids about physical reactions.

Adding Mentos candy to Coke is the stuff of legend. Every kid has heard the rumors about the explosive combination that results, but how many have actually tried it? While science teachers have been performing this experiment for years, it was first popularized in September of 2005 thanks to a viral video from Steve Spangler Science . The several-foot-high geyser that shoots from the soda bottle is a fun and awe-inspiring hands-on activity that any scientist in the making can perform. Be forewarned though: You’ll probably want to perform this experiment outside.

Read on to learn more about the Mentos and Coke experiment, and fill out the form on this page to grab your free recording sheet for the experiment.

How does the Mentos and Coke experiment work?

In this experiment, you drop Mentos mints into a 2-liter bottle of Coke. Make sure your bottle of soda is on a flat surface in a location where it is OK to make a mess. You then load the Mentos into your paper roll or geyser tube . Once the Mentos are dropped into the soda, they sink to the bottom, which causes the gas to expand and pushes the soda out of the bottle. This creates an exploding geyser effect.

What does the Mentos and Coke experiment teach?

Although you can’t see it, dissolved carbon dioxide is the invisible substance that makes soda bubbly and fizzy. As long as the soda remains in the bottle, the gas is kept in place through the pressurized conditions. When you shake a bottle of soda, some of that gas is released and the bubbles stick to nucleation sites or tiny defects on the inside of the container. If you open the shaken bottle, the bubbles will rapidly rise and push the liquid up and out of the bottle.

Aside from shaking the soda, another way to help the carbon dioxide escape is to drop an object into the bottle. Mentos are the perfect objects, since each candy has many little pits on its surface that serve as nucleation sites. Once the Mentos are dropped into the soda, the bubbles stick to those sites and quickly rise to the surface. The weight of the Mentos drives them to the bottom of the bottle. Then, the gas that is released by the Mentos forces the soda to shoot out of the bottle in a powerful geyser.

Is there a Mentos and Coke video?

This video shows how to do the Mentos and Coke experiment using just a few simple ingredients and supplies.

Materials Needed

To do the Mentos and Coke experiment, you will need:

• A roll or box of mint-flavored Mentos
• 2-liter bottle of Coca-Cola (aka Coke)
• Sheet of paper to roll into a tube OR pre-made geyser tube

Our free recording sheet is also helpful—fill out the form on this page to get it.

Mentos and Coke Experiment Steps

1. make a paper tube by taking a piece of paper and wrapping it around a roll of mentos, then taping it in place. pull the mentos out. alternatively, you can use a premade geyser tube available from amazon or other retailers..

2. If using a geyser tube, load the Mentos. If using a homemade paper roll, drop the Mentos into the roll while holding the bottom closed with your finger.

3. Placing a 2-liter bottle of Coke on a flat surface, remove the cap, and drop the Mentos into the open Coke bottle.

Grab our free Mentos and Coke experiment worksheet!

Fill out the form on this page to get your worksheet. The worksheet asks kids to guess the correct order of the steps in the experiment. Next, kids must make a prediction about what they think will happen. They can use the provided spaces to draw what happens before and after they add the Mentos. Did their predictions come true?

Additional Reflection Questions

• What happened when we added the Mentos to the Coke?
• What difference do you think the temperature of the Coke makes?
• What do you think would happen if we used different-flavored Mentos, like fruit?
• What do you think would happen if we used a different soda other than Coke?
• What do you think would happen if you use Diet Coke?

Can the Mentos and Coke experiment be used for a science fair?

Yes! If you want to do the Mentos and Coke experiment for a science fair, we recommend switching up some of the variables. For example: Does the temperature of the Coke matter? Does the brand of soda matter? Will generic soda produce the same results as the brand-name soda? What happens if you use fruit-flavored Mentos? What happens if you use Diet Coke instead of regular? Form a hypothesis about how changing the variables will impact the experiment. Good luck!

Looking for more experiment ideas? Check out our  big list of experiment ideas here.

Plus, be sure to  subscribe to our newsletters  for more articles like this., you might also like.

61 Wet and Wild Outdoor Science Experiments and Activities

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How to Make a Mentos & Diet Soda Chemical Volcano Eruption

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Chemical volcanoes are classic projects for science fairs and chemistry demonstrations. The ​ Mentos and diet soda volcano is similar to the baking soda volcano , except the eruption is really powerful, capable of producing jets of soda several feet high. It's messy, so you might want to do this project outdoors or in a bathroom. It's also non-toxic, so kids can do this project. This simple  chemical volcano takes a few minutes to set up and erupts for a few seconds

What You Need

• Roll of Mentos candies
• 2-liter bottle of diet soda
• Test tube or sheet of paper
• A mop for cleanup

Making the Mentos and Soda Erupt

• First, gather your supplies. You can substitute another candy for the Mentos, such as M&Ms or Skittles, but ideally, you want candies that stack into a neat column with minimal space between them, have a chalky consistency, and barely fit through the mouth of a 2-liter bottle.
• Similarly, you could substitute normal soda for diet soda. The project will work just as well, but the resulting eruption will be sticky. Whatever you use, the beverage has to be carbonated!
• First, you need to stack the candies. The easiest way to do this is to stack them in a test tube narrow enough to form a single column. Otherwise, you can roll a sheet of paper into a tube just barely wide enough for a stack of candies.
• Place an index card over the opening of the test tube or end of the paper tube to hold the candies in the container. Invert the test tube.
• Open your full 2-liter bottle of diet soda. The eruption happens very quickly, so set things up: you want the open bottle/index card/roll of candies so that as soon as you remove the index card, the candies will drop smoothly into the bottle.
• When you're ready, do it! You can repeat the eruption with the same bottle and another stack of candies. Have fun!

How the Mentos and Diet Soda Experiment Works

The Diet Coke and Mentos geyser is the result of a physical process rather than a chemical reaction. There's a lot of carbon dioxide dissolves in the soda, which gives it its fizz. 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. As more and more carbon dioxide molecules accumulate, bubbles form. Mentos candies are heavy enough they sink, so they interact with carbon dioxide all the way to the bottom of the container. The bubbles expand as they rise. The partially dissolved candy is sticky enough to trap the gas, forming a foam. Because there's so much pressure, it all happens very quickly. The narrow opening of a soda bottle funnels the foam to make a geyser.

If you use a nozzle that makes the opening at the top of the bottle even smaller, the jet of liquid will go even higher. You can also experiment using regular Coke (as opposed to the diet versions) or tonic water (which glows blue under a black light).

• Safe Science Experiments
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• Easy Chemistry Experiments to Do at Home
• Does the Mentos and Soda Trick Work With Regular Coke?
• Top Chemistry Projects for Bored Kids
• Science Projects Photo Gallery
• Kitchen Science Experiments for Kids
• Mentos and Soda Project
• Baking Soda Science Projects
• Bottle Balloon Blow-Up Experiment
• Frankenworms Dancing Gummy Worms Science Experiment
• Science Experiments and Activities for Preschoolers
• Have a Vinegar and Baking Soda Foam Fight
• Grade School Science Fair Project Ideas
• How to Make a Yeast & Hydrogen Peroxide Volcano
• The Antacid Rocket Experiment

Advertisement

Science of Mentos-Diet Coke explosions explained

By Hazel Muir

12 June 2008

Scanning electron microscope images show the roughness of mint Mentos (top and bottom left) and fruit Mentos (top and bottom right), the scale bars representing lengths from 20 to 200 micrometres

(Image: T Coffey/Dewel Microscopy Facility/AAPT)

The startling reaction between Diet Coke and Mentos sweets, made famous in thousands of YouTube videos, finally has a scientific explanation. 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.

“If you drop a pack of Mentos into a bottle of Diet Coke, you get this huge fountain of spray and Diet Coke foam coming out,” says Tonya Coffey , a physicist at Appalachian State University in Boone, North Carolina. “This was a good project for my students to study because there was still some mystery to it.”

When mint or fruit Mentos are dropped into a fresh bottle of Diet Coke, a jet of Coke whooshes out of the bottle’s mouth and can reach a height of 10 metres. Theories abound as to why this happens, with some bloggers speculating that it is an acid-base reaction because Coke is acidic.

Experiments in a 2006 edition of the Discovery Channel programme Mythbusters suggested the chemicals responsible for the reaction are gum arabic and gelatine in the sweets, and caffeine, potassium benzoate and aspartame in the Coke. But there have been no rigorous scientific studies of the reaction until now.

Fizzy liquids

To find out more, Coffey and a team of students tested the reactions between Diet Coke and fruit Mentos, mint Mentos, and various ingredients such as other mints, dish-washing detergent, table salt and sand. They also compared reactions using other fizzy liquids such as caffeine-free and sugary colas, as well as soda water and tonic water.

All the reactions took place in a bottle angled at 10° off vertical and the fountain trajectories were recorded on video. The team also investigated the total mass lost in the fountain and the influence of the sweet’s surface roughness.

The results showed that Diet Coke created the most spectacular explosions with either fruit or mint Mentos, the fountains travelling a horizontal distance of up to 7 metres.

But caffeine-free Diet Coke did just as well, suggesting that caffeine does not accelerate the reaction, at least at the normal levels in the drink.

Measurements of the pH of the Coke before and after the experiments showed that its acidity did not change, ruling out the idea that a simple acid-base reaction drives the fountains.

Instead, the vigour of the jets depends on various factors that affect the growth rate of carbon dioxide bubbles.

The rough, dimply surfaces of Mentos encourage bubble growth because they efficiently disrupt the polar attractions between water molecules, creating bubble growth sites.

Rough candy

“Water molecules like to be next to other water molecules, so basically anything that you drop into the soda that disrupts the network of water molecules can act as a growth site for bubbles,” Coffey told New Scientist . “And if you have rough candy with a high ratio of surface area to volume, then there’s more places for the bubbles to go.”

Low surface tension also helps bubbles grow quickly. Measurements showed that the surface tension in water containing the sweetener aspartame is lower than in sugary water, explaining why Diet Coke creates more dramatic fountains than sugary Coke.

Another factor is that the coatings of Mentos contain gum arabic, a surfactant that further reduces surface tension in the liquid. Rough-surfaced mints without the surfactant did not create such large fountains.

Mentos are also fairly dense and sink rapidly, quickly creating bubbles that seed further bubbles as they rise. Crushed Mentos that fell more slowly created puny fountains that only travelled about 30 centimetres.

“Middle-school teachers are getting their students out onto the baseball field next to their school and doing this reaction, and their students love it,” says Coffey. “It’s a great way to get students excited about science and learn something new.”

Journal reference : American Journal of Physics , DOI: 10.1119/1.2888546

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Soda and Mentos Geyser Experiment: Creating a Fizzy Explosion

The Soda and Mentos geyser experiment is a classic and exciting demonstration of the interaction between carbon dioxide gas and liquid. In this experiment, you’ll create a dramatic geyser by dropping Mentos candies into a bottle of soda. This experiment is both fun and educational, providing a hands-on way to explore gas release and nucleation.

Materials Needed for this science experiment:

• Two-liter bottle of soda (diet soda works best due to lower sugar content)
• Mint Mentos candies (other flavors might work, but mint is recommended)
• Outdoor space (preferably grassy area)
• Safety goggles (recommended)
• Protective cover for the ground (optional, to contain the mess)

1. Choose an Outdoor Space: This experiment can get messy due to the rapid fizzing and spraying of soda. Perform it outdoors on a grassy area to avoid damaging surfaces or making a mess indoors.

2. Put on Safety Gear: Wearing safety goggles is recommended to protect your eyes from any splashes. Although the reaction is safe, it’s better to take precautions.

3. Open the Soda Bottle: Remove the cap from the two-liter bottle of soda. To prevent immediate fizzing, it’s a good idea to let the soda sit out for a little while to reach room temperature.

4. Prepare the Mentos: Open the package of Mentos candies. You can use a small piece of tape to create a tube-like structure by attaching multiple Mentos candies together. This will make it easier to drop them all at once into the bottle.

5. Position the Bottle: Place the opened bottle of soda on a flat and stable surface. Make sure it’s positioned in an upright manner.

6. Drop the Mentos: Hold the Mentos tube above the opening of the soda bottle and quickly drop them all in at once. Be prepared for a rapid and powerful reaction!

7. Step Back: Immediately step back to a safe distance to avoid getting splashed as the geyser shoots out from the bottle.

8. Observe the Geyser: Watch in amazement as a tall and fizzy geyser shoots up from the soda bottle. The reaction occurs due to the release of carbon dioxide gas from the Mentos candies, which forms bubbles and causes the soda to foam up and spray out.

9. Record Observations: Observe the height and duration of the geyser. You can compare results with different types of soda or different brands to see how they affect the reaction.

10. Discuss the Science: After the geyser has subsided, discuss the science behind the experiment. The rough surface of the Mentos candies provides nucleation sites for carbon dioxide gas bubbles to form rapidly, leading to the explosive reaction.

11. Safety and Clean-Up: Make sure to clean up the area after the experiment, as the sprayed soda can attract insects. Also, avoid consuming any soda or candies involved in the reaction.

The Soda and Mentos geyser experiment is a classic example of a simple reaction with fascinating results. It provides a hands-on experience of chemical reactions and gas release, making it an exciting and memorable experiment for both kids and adults.

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Coke and Mentos Experiment – Easy STEM for Kids

Categories Science , STEM

The Coke and Mentos Experiment is an easy science experiment to do with kids of all ages. Even toddlers and preschoolers will shriek with delight as they watch this chemical reaction take place.

Disclosure: Adult supervision is required for all activities at all times.

Table of Contents

• More STEM activities to try
• Materials needed
• Watch the video

Instructions

• Experiment ideas
• How does it work?

STEM Activities for Kids

Help your toddlers and preschoolers become the next new scientist or engineer with these fun STEM activities. These are great for getting little learners involved in STEM through hands-on play.

• How to Make A Pom Pom Shooter
• Floating City – STEM activity for Kids
• Building Shapes – STEM for Kids
• Magnet Exploration

For more ideas check out 34 STEM Experiments for Toddlers .

Materials Needed

• A large bottle of coke
• A packet of mentos
• A plastic tub
• Hot glue gun and hot glue sticks (optional)

Watch the Video

Coke and Mentos Experiment Instructions

1: use the hot glue gun to glue 6 mentos together..

You can always use more or less mentos if you need to, the number of mentos will depend on how large your bottle of coke is. 

Gluing the mentos together is an optional step, but one that I find invaluable when doing this experiment with toddlers and preschoolers. Because the reaction happens instantly, it’s hard to drop all of the mentos in before the coke starts to come out of the bottle.

By creating a mentos tower, the kids can drop all of the mentos in at once.

2. Place your bottle of coke in a large tub. 

Once again the tub is optional and is only used to help clean up afterwards. If you prefer, you can do this experiment outside on the grass. Just make sure that your outdoor area has a flat surface you can use. If the bottle of soda falls over before you’ve dropped in the mentos candy, you’re going to be disappointed.

3. Drop your mentos tower into the bottle of coke, stand back and enjoy.

Different Ways to turn this into an Experiment

If you are doing this experiment with older children, you can use the scientific method to see which conditions affect the height of the geyser.

Idea 1. Change the Temperature.

Does cold, room temperature, or warm soda affect the amazing eruption? Place a bottle in the fridge, one in the sun and one at room temperature to find out if any of these temperatures create a large eruption.

Idea 2. How many mentos are needed in a coke and mentos experiment?

You’ll need at least 7 – 8 mentos for this activity. However you can always experiment with a different number of mentos to find out. Set up several soda bottles and then place a different number of mentos in each bottle and measure the fountain height to see which worked best.

Idea 3. Which soda works best with mentos?

You can use any type of soda pop you like for this experiment. While it’s believed that Diet Coke has the most impressive results, the truth is that there isn’t much difference in the height of the eruption between diet and regular soda.

The main difference is when cleaning up. Regular coke becomes sticky because of the high sugar content. While diet soda instead contains artificial sweeteners. Cleaning up the mess is another reason why outdoors is the perfect place to do this soda experiment.

However, you can always experiment with different types of soda and see what happens. Mountain dew, classic diet coke, orange soda are all options you can try.

How does the coke and mentos experiment work? Coke and Mentos Explained

Coke, and other carbonated beverages are filled with dissolved carbon dioxide gas. This gas has formed bonds with the water in the soda. 

In order for the mentos reaction to take place, the gas needs to break the bonds with the water and interact with the rest of the carbon dioxide gas in the coke. When carbon dioxide interacts with itself it forms gas bubbles. That is why we can see bubbles form when we pour a glass of coke to drink or shake the bottle up.

When you drop a tower of mentos into the bottle, they break the bonds that hold the carbon dioxide gas and water together. Because the mentos tower sinks to the bottom of the bottle, instead of floating, this means that the whole bottle will undergo this reaction at once.

These bubbles come rushing out at great speed and because the coke bottle has a small opening, the bubbles rush high into the air. Creating an eruption effect.

While toddlers and preschoolers aren’t going to understand why this chemical reaction takes place, it’s still cool to learn as an adult. I love Steve Spangler’s explanation of the chemistry involved in this STEM idea.

Are you going to try the Coke and Mentos Experiment with your kids? Don’t forget to Pin the idea for later.

Coke and Mentos Experiment

The  Coke and Mentos Experiment  is an easy science experiment to do with kids of all ages. Even toddlers and preschoolers will shriek with delight as they watch this chemical reaction take place.

• Use the hot glue gun to glue 7 - 8 mentos together. This is optional, it just helps to add all of the mentos into the bottle at the same time.
• Place your bottle of coke in a large tub. This is optional, it just makes cleaning up more easy.
• Drop your mentos tower into the bottle.
• Stand back and enjoy.

If you are doing this STEM activity with older kids, you can experiment with a few different ideas to introduce them to the scientific method.

• Change the temperature of the coke. Experiment to see if cold, warm or room temperature coke changes the reaction.
• Change the number of mentos.
• Experiment to see which soda works best. Coke, diet coke or any other kind of soda. Which one has the best results?

More Play Based Learning for Kids

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How to Make a Diet Coke and Mentos Rocket

Last Updated: May 18, 2024 Approved

This article was co-authored by Jessie Antonellis-John . Jessie Antonellis-John is a Math and Science Instructor who teaches at Southwestern Oregon Community College. With over 10 years of experience, she specializes in curriculum development. Jessie earned her PhD in Teaching & Teacher Education from the University of Arizona, her Master of Education from Western Governors University, and her BS in Astrophysics from Mount Holyoke College. She’s also co-authored several peer-reviewed journal articles in professional publications. wikiHow marks an article as reader-approved once it receives enough positive feedback. This article has 11 testimonials from our readers, earning it our reader-approved status. This article has been viewed 573,650 times.

Dropping Mentos into a bottle of diet soda causes a physical reaction: as they fall through the soda, the Mentos candies break the bonds between the carbon dioxide and water (the combination that makes soda fizzy), releasing the carbon dioxide gas up and out of the bottle. [1] X Research source By closing the lid or lightly pushing a cork into the neck after adding Mentos to a bottle of diet soda, you trap that gas, creating pressure. When the bottle falls hard against the ground, the cap flies off and the pressure releases, launching the bottle up into the air.

Making the Mentos Cartridge

• You can use any type of Coke for this project (Diet, Original, Zero, etc.).
• Be careful not to press too hard, as you don't want any Mentos falling out of the cartridge!

Jessie Antonellis-John

Use old film canisters for the Diet Coke and Mentos explosion. The smaller opening builds up more pressure for a bigger blast off! It's an awesome way to show Newton's third law in action, as the built-up gas pressure can rocket the canister high.

Loading and Launching the Rocket

• If it seems like the Mentos will touch the Diet Coke, you can either dump a small amount of Diet Coke out before screwing the cap on; redo your Mentos cartridge to contain fewer Mentos; or you can try your luck and screw the cap on as quickly as possible.
• A popular and effective one is to throw the bottle high up into the air and let it fall on to the ground (preferably hard ground, like cement). This is the best method if you're worried about getting hit by the rocket, as you can throw it far away from you and even run in the opposite direction.
• Another method is to throw the bottle at a side angle so that when it hits the ground, the ground knocks off its cap.
• Yet another method is to throw the bottle at more of a 90-degree angle, cap-first, on to the ground.
• Side-angle launches generally seem to cause the bottle to bounce low and skid along the ground.
• Vertical launches (in which you throw the bottle straight up into the air and let it fall to the ground) tend to give the rocket more height as it shoots upward.
• If the bottle is still full of Diet Coke and Mentos but it's stopped moving on the ground, you can try to launch it again to see if it has any more flight left in it.

Having Fun With It

• As with the original rocket recipe, stick the Mentos cartridge to the lid of the milk jug, fasten the lid, shake the container to release the Mentos into the Diet Coke, then throw the jug high up into the air and let it hit the pavement hard.

Preparing Your Materials

• Warm soda causes better explosions, so avoid using cold/refrigerated soda. For best results, purchase room-temperature soda and then let it sit outside in the sun or in a pot full of hot (not boiling) water for a few hours before using it.

• As the rocket is more of a fast-acting affair, you might want to go for Mint Mentos.
• If you have the time and money to do so, why not try one bottle with Mint Mentos and one with Fruit Mentos, and then compare the results?

• If there's a field or empty lot nearby, go there to make your rocket. You don't want to risk doing damage to anyone's car or home, as it could cost you or your parents a lot of money to repair.

Expert Q&A

• Avoid the temptation to chop the Mentos up. Adding chopped Mentos to Diet Coke will still cause an explosion, but it won't be as big or intense as the one caused by regular, whole Mentos. This is because the explosion depends on the wide surface area and density of the Mentos; cutting them up diminishes both their surface area and density. [2] X Research source Thanks Helpful 1 Not Helpful 1
• Rock salt and regular kitchen sugar will also react with Diet Coke to cause an explosion, but it will be much less effective than the one caused by Mentos. Thanks Helpful 2 Not Helpful 1
• Adding Mentos to regular Coke or other regular sodas will also cause an explosion, but diet soda seems to be the best. Scientists believe that this is because the aspartame contained in diet soda makes bubble formation easier. Thanks Helpful 1 Not Helpful 1

• Keep away from the rocket. It may be moving quite fast, and could cause some real damage. Thanks Helpful 3 Not Helpful 0
• Wear eye protection. Thanks Helpful 3 Not Helpful 0
• Do this in a parking lot or somewhere without houses, cars etc. in the way; windows are expensive to repair. Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 3

Things You'll Need

• Two-liter bottle of Diet Coke (or other diet soda)
• Safety goggles
• Masking tape

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Expert Interview

Thanks for reading our article! If you’d like to learn more about science, check out our in-depth interview with Jessie Antonellis-John .

• ↑ http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/bring-science-home-coke-mentos/

About This Article

To make a Diet Coke and Mentos rocket, start by sandwiching 5 stacked Mentos between 2 4-inch strips of masking tape. Then, wrap a 3-inch strip of tape sticky-side out around your finger to make a piece of double-sided tape. Stick one side to the top of your Mentos stack and the other to the inside of a diet soda cap. You can use any 2-liter diet soda, as long as it contains aspartame. Once you’ve attached your Mentos to the soda cap, wrap another strip of tape around the bottom to make sure the Mentos don’t fall apart. After you’ve finished taping the Mentos, head to a wide-open space like a field or empty parking lot, since the bottle will probably bounce around a lot and make a mess. Twist the cap onto the bottle, give it a big shake, and throw the bottle into the air. For more tips, including how to make a bigger Coke and Mentos explosion, read on! Did this summary help you? Yes No

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--> Gilla: Dela: 1 roll of Mentos mint (it must be mint) A 1.5 or 2 L bottle of Diet Coke (Coca-Cola Light) 1 tube, open in one end - This tube must fit all of the Mentos stacked on top of each other, just like in the Mentos roll. And when open in one end, all the Mentos should quickly slide out. In some countries, there are these aspirin tubes that are perfect. Otherwise, make a tube out of paper and tape, slightly wider than the Mentos roll. 1 plastic card, such as a playing card or a discount card Short explanation Long explanation. How is the eruption affected by changing the Mentos mint to other candys? How is the eruption affected by changing the Diet coke to other drinks? How is the eruption affected by the temperature of the Diet Coke? 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Choose an Account to Log In Notifications Science project, mentos and diet coke experiment. Carbon dioxide is the chemical compound that consists of two oxygen atoms bonded to a carbon atom. Carbon dioxide creates the bubbles in soda. The goal of this project is to explore the eruption of carbon dioxide when the candy Mentos dissolves in Diet Coke. Observe and explain the Mentos and Diet Coke experiment. Mentos mint candy A variety of containers with varying sized opening A narrow test tube wide enough to fit the candy [Klutz and others make a delivery contraption that is easier.] Stack the Mentos candies (approx. half a roll) in the test tube. Cover the opening of the test tube with an index card or similar slim, small paper. Invert the test tube, holding the cover in place. Place the soda bottle outside in and area that can get dirty. Open the soda and place the index card over the bottle opening. Pull the index card away swiftly, dropping the candies into the soda. Be prepared: the eruption happens quickly, so back up fast! Observe the eruption—height, trajectory, duration, etc. Record your observations in a logbook. Repeat the process, varying the opening that the soda erupts from. For example, cut the bottle top to increase the diameter an inch or more. Alternatively, dispense the soda into a vase or pitcher. Or, attach plastic piping or tubing to extend the opening’s neck. Be sure to measure the diameters for each eruption. Observe each eruption, recording the details and compare the results. This experiment can be visually displayed with photos or videos of the event and a graph of the table’s results. The Mentos candy gelatin and gum arabic create an energy that breaks the surface tension of the soda. 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. 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! Related learning resources Add to collection, create new collection, new collection, new collection>, sign up to start collecting. Bookmark this to easily find it later. Then send your curated collection to your children, or put together your own custom lesson plan. 442 IMAGES Soda and Mentos Easy Science Experiments for Kids Mentos And Soda Experiment Explained Soda and Mentos Experiment while Learning Colors Soda and Mentos Easy Science Experiments for Kids Classic Science 💥 EPIC Mentos and Soda Science Experiment VIDEO soda balloon vs mentos 🤯 #sortvideo #facts Soda Balloons vs Mentos #facts #shorts #shortvideo Kara's Mentos Soda Experiment How much Coke + Mentos is needed to make someone take off. #facts #coke #mentos #experiment #shorts Mentos and soda experiment #sodapoppin #fun #summerfun #scienceexperiment VERIFY Bloopers: The Mentos and soda experiment COMMENTS Mentos and Coke Experiment The Mentos And Coke Volcano Experiment. Now it's time to actually run the experiment, but first, we need to make a hypothesis. The Hypothesis. The scientific method is an important way scientists make observations and come to conclusions.. Part of the scientific method is making a prediction called a hypothesis.. Write down what you think will happen when placing the Mentos in the soda bottles. Classic Science We made three variations to this simple and classic experiment. The boys wanted to test size of the bottle, type of soda, and number of Mentos. They also wanted to explore type of Mentos but they ran out of steam before we could get to it. The important thing to remember is that you only want to test one variable at a time. Spurting Science: Erupting Diet Coke with Mentos In the Diet Coke bottle the Mentos candy provides a rough surface that allows the bonds between the carbon dioxide gas and water to break more easily, helping to create carbon dioxide bubbles. As ... Diet Coke and Mentos Soda Geyser How the Diet Coke and Mentos Experiment Works. The Diet Coke and Mentos eruption is a physical process more than a chemical reaction. The candy surface has many tiny imperfections and cavities, each only a micron or so in size. ... Fun Facts About the Diet Coke and Mentos Project. The original soda and candy fountain project, circa 1910, used ... Erupting Diet Coke® with Mentos® Find an exterior wall of a building with no windows and set a Diet Coke bottle at the base of the wall. Use a tape measure and blue painter's tape to mark off the height from the top of the bottle in meters. Then do this activity three times, with the bottle in front of the tape-marked wall, videotaping it each time. Coke® & Mentos® The crushed Mentos candy should sink slower than a whole Mentos candy. In this materials science project, you will see if using crushed Mentos candies instead of whole Mentos candies, which should sink faster in the soda, will change the height of the eruption. You will crush Mentos candies and then use them to make Diet Coke geysers. Coke and Mento Experiment Coke and Mentos Experiment You'll need: Coke or other fizzy soda. Mentos. Instructions . We dropped two Mentos into a bottle of normal Cola and Diet Cola. I used the cheapest brands available in our local supermarket. Once you drop the Mentos into the coke, stand back as it's VERY explosive. The trick is to drop the mento in as fast as you can. Mentos and Diet Coke! 1. Very slowly and carefully, open a new bottle of colorless soda. 2. Tilt the cup and slowly pour the soda down the inside of the cup to make as few bubbles as possible. 3. Place a straw in the soda and look at the straw from the side. 4. Take the straw out of the soda and put a pipe cleaner in. Look from the side to see if bubbles also form ... Erupting Mentos and Coke Experiment Grab Some Mentos and Coke. Our Mentos and soda experiment is a fun example of a physical reaction. Read on to learn more about how this Mentos and Coke reaction works. We love fizzing experiments and have been exploring science for kindergarten, preschool, and early elementary for over 8 years now. Make sure to check out our collection of simple science experiments for kids. Soda geyser 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. [1] [2] Lee Marek and "Marek's Kid Scientists" were the first to publicly demonstrate the ... Why Do Mentos Explode in Coke? 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 2000's, but the science behind the spectacle remained a mystery until 2008. Many people speculated that the geyser was the result of an acid base reaction, given the low pH ... Mentos and Diet Coke experiment works with any soda 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 into the air within seconds. In an email, VERIFY viewer James asked if putting Mentos into any soda can also cause an explosion. Mentos and Coke Experiment: How-To Plus Free Worksheet If using a geyser tube, load the Mentos. If using a homemade paper roll, drop the Mentos into the roll while holding the bottom closed with your finger. 3. Placing a 2-liter bottle of Coke on a flat surface, remove the cap, and drop the Mentos into the open Coke bottle. 4. Mentos & Diet Soda Chemical Volcano How the Mentos and Diet Soda Experiment Works . The Diet Coke and Mentos geyser is the result of a physical process rather than a chemical reaction. There's a lot of carbon dioxide dissolves in the soda, which gives it its fizz. When you drop a Mentos into the soda, tiny bumps on the candy surface give the carbon dioxide molecules a nucleation ... PDF Teacher's Guide for: Mentos and Soda ent Quick Recap: "Mentos and Soda"Place a bottle of soda into a plastic tub on the table, remove the cap, and drop one M. nto into it to see how much it fizzes. Then drop a second one, then a. hird, to see if it continues to fizz.Show students a sample of a cap with a hole drilled in it. Science of Mentos-Diet Coke explosions explained The results showed that Diet Coke created the most spectacular explosions with either fruit or mint Mentos, the fountains travelling a horizontal distance of up to 7 metres. But caffeine-free Diet ... Mentos Exploding Soda Easy Science Experiment In the quick and easy science experiment, we are going to show you how to make your very own Mentos launcher that you can use to make an exploding soda. Materials: A 2-liter Diet Coke. Regular Coke is sticky so we recommend the Diet soda. Piece on construction paper Scissors Tape Toothpick Straw Hole punch Roll of Mentos Instructions: Cut a 3 inch by 2 inch rectangle of construction paper ... Soda and Mentos Geyser Experiment The Soda and Mentos geyser experiment is a classic and exciting demonstration of the interaction between carbon dioxide gas and liquid. In this experiment, you'll create a dramatic geyser by dropping Mentos candies into a bottle of soda. This experiment is both fun and educational, providing a hands-on way to explore gas release and nucleation. Coke and Mentos Experiment By creating a mentos tower, the kids can drop all of the mentos in at once. 2. Place your bottle of coke in a large tub. Once again the tub is optional and is only used to help clean up afterwards. If you prefer, you can do this experiment outside on the grass. Just make sure that your outdoor area has a flat surface you can use. How to Make a Diet Coke and Mentos Rocket (with Pictures) Dropping Mentos into a bottle of diet soda causes a physical reaction: as they fall through the soda, the Mentos candies break the bonds between the carbon dioxide and water (the combination that makes soda fizzy), releasing the carbon dioxide gas up and out of the bottle. By closing the lid or lightly pushing a cork into the neck after adding Mentos to a bottle of diet soda, you trap that gas ... Mentos and coke 1 roll of Mentos mint (it must be mint) A 1.5 or 2 L bottle of Diet Coke (Coca-Cola Light) 1 tube, open in one end - This tube must fit all of the Mentos stacked on top of each other, just like in the Mentos roll. And when open in one end, all the Mentos should quickly slide out. In some countries, there are these aspirin tubes that are perfect ... Mentos and Diet Coke Experiment Procedure: Stack the Mentos candies (approx. half a roll) in the test tube. Cover the opening of the test tube with an index card or similar slim, small paper. Invert the test tube, holding the cover in place. Place the soda bottle outside in and area that can get dirty. Open the soda and place the index card over the bottle opening. EPIC Mentos and Soda Science Experiment Even your reluctant learner will get excited to try this easy science experiment where you will product a HUGE erruption!In this classic Mentos and Soda Experiment you will mix a couple simple materials to produce a chemical reaction. This mentos in Coke project is a MUST TRY for kids of all ages from preschool, pre-k, kindergarten, first grade, 2nd grade, 3rd grade, and 4th graders too. essay homework paper phd project resume review speech thesis