Mentos + Soda = Explosion
Status: True
Given the urban legend about kids eating pop rocks and soda, and then having their stomachs explode, I wouldn't have believed that mixing Mentos and soda could cause such a violent reaction. But after watching the video posted on WLTX's website, I do. (You need Windows Media Player to view it, and I had to click the "Trouble Viewing" button to make it work.) To summarize what the video shows, three Mentos are dropped into a bottle of soda, causing a geyser of soda to shoot up about three or four feet high out of the bottle. This really makes me wonder what would happen if you drank a can of soda and then downed a pack of Mentos. Personally I'm not planning to find out. I'm sure it wouldn't kill you, but I imagine it would fizz up into your throat and nose. WLTX provides this scientific explanation for the phenomenon:Mentos contains a chemical known as ARABIC GUM (this is the ingredient that makes the mint "chewy"). This ingredient causes the surface tension of the water molecules to break even more easily, releasing more carbon dioxide gas at an astounding rate! .....The gas causes pressure to rapidly build inside the bottle which thrusts the soda upwards in a wonderful fountain-like BLAST!
Listed in chronological order. Newest comments at the end.
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sorry my kid was on any who do you think that the arabic gum has every thing to do with the explosin
Posted by Brittany in nevada on Wed Oct 05, 2005 at 08:23 AM
Im sure Nightmare will fill us in....
Posted by X in McKinney, TX on Wed Oct 05, 2005 at 01:17 PM
In Answer to Archibold...
In a larger-mouthed container, the pop does just what you think. It fizzes out and isn't that cool. try popping a cork or stopper in the top right after dropping the object in.
The smaller the opening, the higher the fountain.....
Posted by Mike Mike Mike Mike on Thu Oct 06, 2005 at 07:11 PM
In a larger-mouthed container, the pop does just what you think. It fizzes out and isn't that cool. try popping a cork or stopper in the top right after dropping the object in.
The smaller the opening, the higher the fountain.....
What if you could drop them in and get the top screwed back on before it started spouting. Would the pop bottle expand and explode like with toilet bowl cleaner and aluminum foil?
Posted by melman in KS on Tue Oct 18, 2005 at 08:43 AM
This is fake. Because I have tried this... inside my body! nothing hapenned.I felt just fine. you=wrong
Posted by Flare on Mon Nov 07, 2005 at 08:46 PM
It will "shoot" much longer and higher if you just make a hole in the center of the cap, but you'll need to think of a different way to drop the mentos in, I used a kind of bead constuction 
with some dental floss, stuck to the inside and the other end comming out
Posted by Daniel in Tegelen on Wed Nov 09, 2005 at 09:05 AM
with some dental floss, stuck to the inside and the other end comming outYeah I have tried this before I actually knew about this effect (eating mentos and drinking soda) It does absolutley nothing to you. So just keep eating and drinking the mentos and soda as much as you want.
The real thing with mentos is that it really does make you cool and slick. It seems that everything that you do will come out ok when you eat mentos.
Just look at the commercials. It has to be true right?
Posted by All Tweeked Up!!! on Wed Nov 09, 2005 at 10:16 AM
The real thing with mentos is that it really does make you cool and slick. It seems that everything that you do will come out ok when you eat mentos.
Just look at the commercials. It has to be true right?
My science techer did this in class today with a room temperature 2L bottle of Diet Pepsi and a whole pack of the white mentos. She did it inside of the class and it hit the roof that was a good 12 feet up! It was funny because I had a front row seat and as it was exploding I had to pull my desk back in a hurry so as to not get hit.
She told us that it was the aspartame in the Diet Pepsi that caused the reaction. We were also told that it has to be room temperature if you want a huge explosion. I'm not sure if this works with regular pop because of a lack of aspartame, but I definately want to do this when I get home! =)
Posted by Ryan on Tue Nov 15, 2005 at 04:27 PM
She told us that it was the aspartame in the Diet Pepsi that caused the reaction. We were also told that it has to be room temperature if you want a huge explosion. I'm not sure if this works with regular pop because of a lack of aspartame, but I definately want to do this when I get home! =)
A carbonated lake definitely is dangerous
see: Cameroon lage disaster, 1986
http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/august/21/newsid_3380000/3380803.stm
http://perso.wanadoo.fr/mhalb/nyos/nyos.htm
Posted by Nadine on Fri Nov 18, 2005 at 02:45 AM
see: Cameroon lage disaster, 1986
http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/august/21/newsid_3380000/3380803.stm
http://perso.wanadoo.fr/mhalb/nyos/nyos.htm
Dear Rian
Ask your science teacher to repeat the experiment with both diet Pepsi (contains Aspartam) and regular Pepsi (no Aspartam), side by side - this should disprove the aspartame hypothesis pretty quickly. The main advantage of using diet Pepsi is that the mess it produces is not quite as sticky, although plain carbonated water would serve as well.
To prove that it is the CO2 in the beverage that produces the "explosion", you can do the experiment with one bottle that has been left to warm up to room temperature while closed, while a second bottle is left uncapped for the same time, allowing the CO2 to escape. This second bottle should not react.
This is how we scientists test out which possible explanation for the phenomena we observe is the correct one.
Posted by Nadine on Fri Nov 18, 2005 at 03:00 AM
Ask your science teacher to repeat the experiment with both diet Pepsi (contains Aspartam) and regular Pepsi (no Aspartam), side by side - this should disprove the aspartame hypothesis pretty quickly. The main advantage of using diet Pepsi is that the mess it produces is not quite as sticky, although plain carbonated water would serve as well.
To prove that it is the CO2 in the beverage that produces the "explosion", you can do the experiment with one bottle that has been left to warm up to room temperature while closed, while a second bottle is left uncapped for the same time, allowing the CO2 to escape. This second bottle should not react.
This is how we scientists test out which possible explanation for the phenomena we observe is the correct one.
basically wud the same reaction happen if i used fanta and sugar? im bored a uni student and poor and its friday night
Posted by cheesebeard on Fri Nov 18, 2005 at 08:30 AM
You know you can make seagulls explode if you fill a chip with bi-carb soda and feed it to the bird. Also, jewlery makers use gum arabic in copper enamle, witch is like the coating of glass on earings, braclets or broachers.
Posted by Petiepete on Mon Dec 12, 2005 at 05:46 AM
would this be a good science expirement?
Posted by wes in us on Thu Jan 05, 2006 at 06:27 PM
It can't be the gum arabic, that's on the inside of the candy. The reaction is far to fast to have disolved any large amount of gum arabic. It must have something to do with the menthol in the candy.
It isn't the surface area of the candy or ice would do the same thing. I've put M&Ms and other candies in pop before and never had a reaction like this before.
I did get a similar reaction when I put some ground ginger in some ginger ale.
Posted by Steve on Fri Jan 13, 2006 at 11:01 AM
It isn't the surface area of the candy or ice would do the same thing. I've put M&Ms and other candies in pop before and never had a reaction like this before.
I did get a similar reaction when I put some ground ginger in some ginger ale.
nice romur. I think i'll try it with a 2 liter bottle of PEPSI and put the whole pack of mentos in. Post report later!!!!
Posted by Tehquin in Atlanta on Sat Jan 14, 2006 at 11:24 AM
That movie was cool as!
It works with poprocks and coke but just crackles alot. Anyway thats cool man good work!8)
Posted by Jamie on Sun Jan 22, 2006 at 04:01 AM
It works with poprocks and coke but just crackles alot. Anyway thats cool man good work!8)
this is too cool! i did it at school for science class. what a mess...is it the mint? is it the sugar? is it the gum how does one find the answer? SCIENCE IS FUNNN.now everyone is jumping online to find similar experiments...does it make a difference whether the soda is cold or hot?
Posted by joshoopsididitagainj in iowa on Wed Feb 08, 2006 at 07:29 AM
hey josh im not to sure about the hot or cold.
Posted by Jamie on Sat Feb 11, 2006 at 03:31 PM
whoa geeeeesssssee haha wow thats almost as sticking nine volt batterys to your tounge haha would it work with gum?????????
Posted by steves the man on Thu Feb 23, 2006 at 12:55 PM
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Posted by hahahaha in Kamlachie on Thu Feb 23, 2006 at 07:01 PM
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