DIET COKE PLUS MENTOS
ERUPTION
DIET COKE PLUS MENTOS ERUPTION :
What is
really behind in this
physical reaction?
INTRODUCTION:
The experiment involves something
that you can do with soda that will not rot
your teeth, unless you decide to drink Diet
Coke combined with Mentos candy. Unlike
Pop Rocks and soda which don’t actually
make your head explode if consumed
together combining Mentos with Diet Coke
really does cause a chemical reaction.
The mentos and Diet coke experience has
become quite popular. When mentos dropped in
Diet coke, a huge eruptions occurs. The main idea
of this experience is to determine what causes the
interesting reaction. There are many different
theories floating around the internet, however,
only one can be corrected. This labs requires
performing the mentos and Diet coke experiment
numerous times, changing a variable. The variable
that is going to be tested and change is the
substance Gum-Arabic an ingredients in the
mentos. The ingredients of Gum-Arabic reacts with
the carbonation of the soda-- making the huge
eruption
Made famous by internet videos, and Mythbusters in
2006, it was thought that this effect was a reaction of what
happens when the gum arabic and gelatin, caffeine, potassium
benzoate, and aspartame is combined. What actually happens
during the reaction has yet to be figured out, but most people
agree on a popular explanation. The reaction works like this:
each Mento has thousands of nucleation sites, tiny surface pits,
which make a perfect place for the formation of carbon dioxide
bubbles. When the Mentos and Coke combine, the bubbles
start a huge reaction. Some fountains can be almost ten meters
high. The gas is released and pushes the Coke up to the top
with great force. There isn't a lot of research done about
Mentos and Coke yet, since it is a new phenomenon.
Bubble Theory: Why do sodas fizz when you
open them?
We like our drinks nice and fizzy.
Thanks, Henry’s Law!
P= Kc
Here P is partial pressure of gas above liquid, K is a
constant, and c is the molar concentration of solute.
The partial pressure of the gas above the solution is
directly proportional to the concentration of solute
gas in the solution.
So when you pop the top, the equilibrium within
the bottle or can is broken, and the concentrated
carbon dioxide gas
leaves the container. The partial pressure of carbon
dioxide in the surrounding gas then drops, forcing
the
concentration of the solute gas to drop, so it
bubbles out.
Bubble theory: How bubbles form in liquids
In most liquids, there is some dissolved gas. In high
surface tension liquids, like water, it tough for
bubbles to form, because water molecules like to
be next to other water molecules (capillary forces).
To overcome this, a nucleation site is generally
needed. Gas molecules congregate next to
nucleation sites, which break up the network of
water molecules. When enough are gathered, they
form a bubble.
Due to capillary forces, the bubble will initially stay
at its nucleation site. But usually, the buoyancy of
the bubble will eventually cause it to rise, as more
and more gas molecules
collect in the bubble.
More fun bubble facts…
When a soda is bottled, it is bottled under a
relatively high pressure of CO2 that exceeds
the solubility of CO2 in the rest of the
formula (mostly water). When the can is
opened without shaking high pressure CO2
above the liquid escapes, making the
familiar hiss. The CO2 in the liquid slowly
escapes until equilibrium is achieved.
When2
the unopened can is shaken, some of the
gaseous CO 2gets mixed into the liquid,
forming a super saturated solution. The
mixed in gas also2.provide growth sites for
the dissolved CO2.The growth sites allow the
CO2to escape much more rapidly-- hence
the "explosive" evolution of CO2gas.
Bubble Theory: The importance of surfactants
•Adding surfactants to water reduce the
work required to form a bubble, making
bubbles easier to form and longer lasting
• Surfactants are long chained molecules
(like soap) that have a water loving and
water fearing end.
What burning questions did the Myth busters leave for
me?
• Main Mentos contributors to the reaction: gum Arabic and gelatin
• Main Diet Coke contributors to the reaction: caffeine, aspartame, potassium
benzoate
• Rough surface of Mentos provides growth sites for the carbon
dioxide dissolved in Diet Coke
• How rough is Mentos compared to other samples and how much does roughness
matter compared to
presence of surfactants in soda or candy?
Baking Soda and Vinegar
The experiment baking soda and vinegar is one of the
most popular. However, it is deceptively simple: what
appears to be one reaction is actually two, happening in
quick succession. This reaction is an example of a multi-step
reaction. What actually happens is this: the acetic acid
(that's what makes vinegar sour) reacts with sodium
bicarbonate (a compound that's in baking soda) to form
carbonic acid. It's really a double replacement reaction.
Carbonic acid is unstable, and it immediately falls apart into
carbon dioxide and water (it's a decomposition reaction).
The bubbles you see from the reaction come from the
carbon dioxide escaping the solution that is left. Carbon
dioxide is heavier than air, so, it flows almost like water
when it overflows the container. It is a gas that you exhale
(though in small amounts), because it is a product of the
reactions that keep your body going.
The classic baking soda and vinegar acid-base
reaction produces unstable carbonic acid that rapidly
decomposes into water and carbon dioxide, which
escapes as a gas. For the Mentos–Diet Coke reaction,
the carbonic acid and carbon dioxide are not
products
of a chemical reaction but are already present in the
Diet Coke, whose equilibrium is disturbed by the
addition of the Mentos.
MATERIALS:
2 bottles of 1 liter or 1.5 liter coke or any carbonated drink (preferrably coke)
mentos
PROCEDURE:
- just simply put the mentos to the bottle of the diet coke.
SAFETY:
- Insure that the proper eye protection is in use while experiment is in action to
prevent eye irritation.
ABSTRACT:
Our goal for the experiment was to find if the ingredient "Gum-Arabic" , found
in mentos candy, caused the eruption when mentos were dropped into a bottle
of diet coke. Our hypothesis was that candies with gum arabic would have a
greater reaction than those that did not. We tested this by dropping mentos
into 2-liter bottles of diet coke, and measuring how much was left in the bottle
when reaction was done.
CHEMICAL REACTION:
- Diet coke + mentos
EXPLANATION:
A Soda and Candy eruption (also known as a Coke and Mentos eruption)
is a reaction of carbonated beverage and mentos candies. The numerous
small pores on the candy's surface CATALYZE the release CARBON DIOXIDE
(CO2) gas from the soda, resulting in the rapid expulsion of copious
amounts of FOAM
When the candies come into contact with the liquid, a reaction causes the
formation of foam at a rapid rate.The structure of the Mentos is the most
significant cause of the eruption due to NUCLEATION. When fruit-flavored
Mentos with a smooth waxy coating were tested in CARBONATED DRINK
there was hardly a reaction, whereas mint-flavored Mentos (with no such
coating) added to carbonated drink formed an energetic eruption,
affirming the nucleation-site theory. According to Mythbusters, the
surface of the mint Mentos is covered with many small holes that increase
the SURFACE AREA available for reaction (and thus the quantity of
reagents exposed to each other at any given time), thereby allowing CO2
bubbles to form with a rapidity and in a quantity that are responsible for
the "jet"- or "geyser"-like nature of the effusion. This hypothesis gained
further support when ROCK SALT was used as a "jump start" to the
reaction.
CONCLUSION:
After doing the experiment, it was decided that the hypothesis was to be
rejected. The hypothesis stated that the gum Arabic from the Mentos, and
the carbonation from the Diet Coke created the reaction. However, two of
the four candies used in the experiment did not contain gum Arabic, and
they had extreme reactions. For instance, the Sweetarts (containing no gum
Arabic) and Diet Coke mixture had the highest fizz geyser and only had 32 oz.
of the solution left after the reaction. Obviously, this proved our hypothesis
wrong. From this experiment, the group learned that this reaction is not a
chemical, but a physical reaction. After this information was obtained, the
group discovered that it cannot be the gum Arabic causing the reaction
because all the candies created fizz and geysers. This showed that Mentos
are not the only candy that can react with the Diet Coke. The experiment
showed the group that candy and Diet Coke can potentially be dangerous. If
someone takes a sip of Diet Coke directly after putting a piece of candy in
their mouth, the reaction could occur inside their mouth. Aside from that,
the errors in the experiment should be discussed. One possible error that
was made was when the Tic-Tacs were dropped in the funnel, not all of them
went through. This could have affected the results of the experiment. So, if
the experiment was done again, the size of the funnel should be modified.
Overall, the experiment went very smoothly and the results were quite
surprising.
Actual
Experimentation :