Here's a fun Google video of what happens when you put Mentos in soda (you might want to mute the sound). The video doesn't explain how it works, but there's an overview here "Mentos contain sugar, glucose syrup (more sugar), hydrogenated coconut oil, starch, gum arabic, an emulsifier and natural flavor. The gum arabic which makes Mentos chewy, cause the surface tension of the water molecules to break even more easily, releasing more carbon dioxide gas. This effect is enhanced by the fact that, as the candy dissolves, it forms nucleation sites -- tiny pits on the surface of the mint where more carbon dioxide bubbles can form. When all this gas is released, it thrusts the entire contents of the bottle skyward, in an incredible soda blast." Link to video.
Soda + Mentos = The Soda fountain
Here's a fun Google video of what happens when you put Mentos in soda (you might want to mute the sound). The video doesn't explain how it works, but there's an overview here "Mentos contain sugar, glucose syrup (more sugar), hydrogenated coconut oil, starch, gum arabic, an emulsifier and natural flavor. The gum arabic which makes Mentos chewy, cause the surface tension of the water molecules to break even more easily, releasing more carbon dioxide gas. This effect is enhanced by the fact that, as the candy dissolves, it forms nucleation sites -- tiny pits on the surface of the mint where more carbon dioxide bubbles can form. When all this gas is released, it thrusts the entire contents of the bottle skyward, in an incredible soda blast." Link to video.
Recent Entries
- CRAFT Thanksgiving roundup
- 3D renderings of the Mandelbrot set
- New in the Maker Shed: Microbe Motel kit
- Science through graphic novels
- Tiny solar-powered brass engine in a wineglass
- Maker Shed kiosks at Fry's
- New hackerspace in Chicagoland: Workshop 88
- Mint tin electronics dev kit packs the essentials
- Olympus BioScapes competition winners
- Mac mailbox
Comments
Oldest comments listed first.
Leave a comment
Subscribe to MAKE Magazine!
Subscribe today, save 42% and get web access to MAKE free. MAKE Digital Edition is available only to subscribers.
$34.95 / 1 year
(4 Quarterly Issues)




































that is actually incredibly awesome
Reply to this comment
i remember acheiving the same result while riding in my grandparents van when i was little, but i used pixy stix and barq's root beer.
Reply to this comment
Wow, I was =just= looking at these videos last week. How funny.
Reply to this comment
holy crap... I actually saw this on the local evening news a few weeks before the internet... now that's scary.
Reply to this comment
I tried this experiment for a science fair project and it was so awesome!
Reply to this comment