Re: Cool chemistry experiment . . .
Dr. Shark, Fri Jun 09 2006, 09:11AM

I didn't know it, pretty cool - what is the explanation how it works? It does not come up when I klick on it.

Re: Cool chemistry experiment . . .
..., Fri Jun 09 2006, 02:33PM

If I remember correctly there is a compount (something gum) that lowers teh surface tension of the water, lowering the amount of CO2 it can hold, so it all suddenly bubbles out, causing quite a display

Re: Cool chemistry experiment . . .
Bjørn, Fri Jun 09 2006, 03:23PM

Why would the gum arabic be on the outside when it is supposed to be chewy inside? I would not bet on that explanation until someone actually tried it out instead of guessing.

Re: Cool chemistry experiment . . .
ShawnLG, Fri Jun 09 2006, 09:10PM

What would happen if you consume both of those products at the same time? Would you explode?

Re: Cool chemistry experiment . . .
Bjørn, Fri Jun 09 2006, 09:50PM

No, it comes out the same way it got in. Except for the very last part of the journey where it has a tendency to come out through the nose.

Re: Cool chemistry experiment . . .
Eric, Fri Jun 09 2006, 10:03PM

There have actually been rare cases of stomach rupture due to ingesting gas producing substances (sodium bicarbonate for ex). I wouldn't try it.

Re: Cool chemistry experiment . . .
..., Fri Jun 09 2006, 10:33PM

this should clear up any confusion...

Re: Cool chemistry experiment . . .
Marko, Fri Jun 09 2006, 10:35PM

You have any evidence, links?

Except maybe producing some mega-burps I don't think anything more would happen.

Most CO2 ill evaporate anyway before such a quantity of coke gets into your stomach (otherwise yu would blow up anyway yust for drinking aerated drinks :P )

Re: Cool chemistry experiment . . .
..., Fri Jun 09 2006, 11:37PM

Was that comment directed at me or Eric?

The coke does 'boil' pretty rapidly, check out those videos... If you drank a single can of soda (500ml) that would be 1/4 the gas produced of the 2L, not something I wound want in my stomach... The video of a 2L bottle can be found in the link in the first post.

Re: Cool chemistry experiment . . .
Bjørn, Fri Jun 09 2006, 11:43PM

There have actually been rare cases of stomach rupture due to ingesting gas producing substances (sodium bicarbonate for ex). I wouldn't try it.

Something like one case every decade, meaning that it will never happen to a person that does not have a dangerous medical condition to begin with. There are other reasons for not trying it, everyone will think you are a moron and it is very uncomfortable.

this should clear up any confusion...

Scott Ryan is a meteorologist so I don't think he is an expert.

Re: Cool chemistry experiment . . .
HV Enthusiast, Sat Jun 10 2006, 12:23AM

I used to eat entire packs of Mentos along with Pepsi while watching TV at times. Nothing out of the ordinary every happened to me.

I think most of the CO2 has already escaped the beverage before you swallow it.

Re: Cool chemistry experiment . . .
Bjørn, Sat Jun 10 2006, 12:29AM

If you drink a whole bottle then swallow some mentos whole you may get some reaction, I did something similar when I was 7 years old and it was a fairly forceful reaction.

Re: Cool chemistry experiment . . .
Bored Chemist, Sat Jun 10 2006, 10:34AM

Ho Hum,
Take a bottle of soda and add a spoonful of sugar or sand or salt to it.

Re: Cool chemistry experiment . . .
G^3, Sat Jun 10 2006, 05:30PM

These things can make some really impressive displays. Look at this http://eepybird.com/dcm1.html

Re: Cool chemistry experiment . . .
Part Scavenger, Fri Jun 16 2006, 03:13AM

Yeah, my uncle has video of him and his co-workers doing this at lunch. It was like ten feet tall. Shame I don't have the vid. Pretty neat though...

Re: Cool chemistry experiment . . .
Heiders, Fri Jun 16 2006, 03:52AM

I am SO doing this next time I go babysitting! Thanks for the idea.

Re: Cool chemistry experiment . . .
Bjørn, Fri Jun 16 2006, 04:38AM

Fountains are boring, turn the bottle upside down and make a rocket.

Re: Cool chemistry experiment . . .
Jim, Fri Jun 16 2006, 04:32PM

Warm the soda up first.

Re: Cool chemistry experiment . . .
Mike, Fri Jun 16 2006, 04:40PM

Actually, I found a really awesome way to do this to make rockets,

It looks like they throw the mentos in, or use a contraption to drop them in, and then smash the bottle against the ground.
The first video is just boring pictures, but the second part of it has video of them doing it, it looks really sweet..

Mike

Re: Cool chemistry experiment . . .
Desmogod, Tue Jun 27 2006, 03:07AM

Do it at high altitude

Re: Cool chemistry experiment . . .
joshua_, Thu Jun 29 2006, 06:48AM

For a long time, the video that kalenedrael and I made was hanging out in the top 10 on Google Video. Today we appear to be #43, though; after the World Cup, we got displaced rather rapidly. Oh well -- we were there for a good few weeks or so...
Diet Coke and Mentos Reaction

Re: Cool chemistry experiment . . .
Electroholic, Thu Jun 29 2006, 07:09AM

i think you would want most co2 dissolved in teh water as possible.
so i dont'; think heat/low pressure will help the situation.
you will just get yrouself wet trying to open the bottol at the first place.

Re: Cool chemistry experiment . . .
Richy, Thu Jun 29 2006, 01:22PM

How about breaking the Mentos into smaller pieces so they have a larger surface area which I'm guessing would make a faster reaction?
Richy.

Re: Cool chemistry experiment . . .
Mike, Mon Aug 14 2006, 07:52PM

According to the Myth busters episode this, the mentos have a surface full of tiny holes, like the surface of the moon, craters or what ever, and each one is a place for a bubble of co2 to form and escape. They tested this by dropping the mentos in that have a kind of wax coating and it didn't do much.

Re: Cool chemistry experiment . . .
Bjørn, Mon Aug 14 2006, 10:22PM

So if it was not the surface shape that caused the bubbles but a chemical reaction then the wax caoting would not made a difference?

Re: Cool chemistry experiment . . .
Hazmatt_(The Underdog), Tue Aug 15 2006, 02:22AM

Mythbusters, Answer: Nucleation

Wax inhibited reaction.

Rockets did not work well enough. Not enough thrust per unit weight.

Re: Cool chemistry experiment . . .
Bjørn, Tue Aug 15 2006, 02:44AM

My point is that wax would inhibit any reaction by keeping the soda away from the surface. So you learn nothing except that wax can be used to cover a surface and that has been know for 5-6 million years.

Re: Cool chemistry experiment . . .
Nik, Tue Aug 15 2006, 06:48AM

I would advise against rockets that use 2L pop bottles and rely on the internal pressure casing the cap to fly off on its own. I have seen a grizzly picture of a kid that got hit by the cap of a Dry ice rocket.

Re: Cool chemistry experiment . . .
Electroholic, Tue Aug 15 2006, 12:24PM

if its the holes, then how about somehting like activated carbon?,

Re: Cool chemistry experiment . . .
IamSmooth, Sun Sept 17 2006, 10:36PM

Mythbusters explored this and nucleation was but one of several reasons for the reaction. They also isolated the compounds in the soda and the Mentos that caused the reaction. The pores provided greater surface area for the compounds.