Erupting Mentos and Soda Experiment

Love fizzing and exploding experiments? YES!! Well here’s a another one the kids are sure to love! All you need are Mentos and coke. You might think there’s a chemical reaction happening, but this Mentos and soda experiment is a great example of a physical reaction. Put the scientific method into practice with two easy to set up science experiments. Record your results with a video camera so you can enjoy seeing the exploding fun up close (and over and over again)!

ERUPTING DIET COKE AND MENTOS

COKE AND MENTOS

Our Mentos and soda experiment is a fun example of a physical reaction. We love fizzing experiments and have been exploring chemistry for kindergarten, preschool, and early elementary for almost 8 years. 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, 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 and find out what happens when you mix them together! Do this activity outside to make clean up a breeze. Just make sure to put it on a level surface so the cups don’t tip over.

ALSO CHECK OUT: Pop Rocks and Soda

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MENTOS AND COKE EXPERIMENT #1

Does coke and Mentos work with fruit Mentos? You can do this experiment with any type of Mentos! This first experiments uses the same coke to test which variety of candy creates the most foam.

MATERIALS

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

HOW TO SET UP MENTOS AND SODA EXPERIMENT #1

STEP 1. In order to analyze the results, set up a video camera or smartphone with video capabilities available 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 then simultaneously, drop the candy into the soda. One variety of the candy going into one cup of soda and the other variety going 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 type of soda creates the most foam.

MATERIALS

3 sleeves Mentos Chewy Mint candy OR Mentos Fruity candy
3 (16.9 to 20 ounce) bottles soda in different varieties (diet sodas tend to work the best.)
Party cups
Video camera or smartphone with video (for replay)

HOW TO SET UP COKE AND MENTOS EXPERIMENT

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

STEP 2. Choose one variety of Mentos candy to use for the experiment. Prepare the candy by removing 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 back at the video and analyze which variety of soda creates the most foam.

EXPAND THE EXPERIMENTS, EXPAND THE FUN!

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. When you are ready to release the candy into the soda, remove the index card.
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.

WHY DOES COKE AND MENTOS REACT

You might be surprised to know that the Mentos and coke eruption is actually a physical reaction. It’s not a chemical reaction like how baking soda reacts with vinegar and a new substance, carbon dioxide is formed. So how does it work instead?

Well inside the coke or soda, there is dissolved carbon dioxide gas which makes the soda taste fizzy when you drink it. Normally, 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 surface of the Mentos than on the side of the bottle and push 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 was the same you should have noticed no difference in the amount of foam produced. However making the pieces of Mentos smaller would cause more bubbles to form, and speed up the physical reaction. Give it a go! In the second experiment, the soda that produces the most foam is likely to have the most dissolved carbon dioxide or be the most fizzy.

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