How to Do a Science Experiment Using Diet Coke & Mentos

Mixing Mentos with soda produces an eruption. The explanation behind this is that soda is full of sugar and carbon dioxide gas. Mentos contain gelatin and gum arabic, which disrupts the soda's fluid mesh and releases CO2 gas at an exponential rate. The eruptions caused by a combination of Diet Coke and Mentos can create blasts up to 18 feet. They make for great science experiments, because they are fun to try and great to watch.

Things You'll Need

• 2 liter bottle of Diet Coke
• 1 roll of Mentos

Instructions

1. Go to a large open area, such as a field.

2. Open the Diet Coke bottle carefully to prevent too much fizz and preserve as much soda as possible.

3. Unwrap the roll of Mentos and place them into a piece of paper. Then roll the paper into a tube so you can easily drop all the Mentos into the soda bottle.

4. Drop all the Mentos into the Diet Coke bottle. Move away quickly to avoid getting wet as the chain reaction will be instantaneous.

Tips & Warnings

• Be careful when performing this experiment. A sudden soda eruption could cause injury, such as the bottle flying out of control and hitting somebody.

References

• SteveSpanglerScience: Mentos Diet Coke Geyser