The other thing that happened was that the gas came straight back up and made me belch huge clouds of powder. Swing Bottle over head and slam on ground sideways. Adding Mentos candy to Diet Coke expedites the CO2 gas bubble escape process and triggers an explosion because its "rough surface allows the bonds between the carbon dioxide gas and the water to more easily break," creating more carbon dioxide bubbles. Watch the full video for a more detailed explanation. The mint Mentos mixed with diet coke usually explodes the longer and higher while fruit Mentos has a more delayed and less impressive reaction. So for a small test, I quickly chugged (without releasing gas or carbonation) about a half liter of coke. If you tried to swallow the foam as is emerged from the bottle, you might well vomit because of all the gas you swallowed, but you most certainly would not die Picture: By Michael Murphy - Mich. The answer to this involves a property called surface tension. They are dense and sink. Or actually I can say whenever I buy a coke/pepsi I ask for a roll of mentos from the seller. I might be expecting too much. This is a messy experiment. But what is the science behind this thrilling visual display? All content 2019 by Eric Troy and CulinaryLore. The Diet Coke and Mentos experiment results from the nucleation of carbon dioxide from liquid to gas. It is almost certainly not true that anyone has ever died from doing this. Which brings us back to this article's topic, the ballyhooed death of a youngster who consumed this combination. However, most of the carbonation is released from the soda as it is being drunk, so the pressure is lower and carbon dioxide is less likely to nucleate. *Amazon and the Amazon logo are trademarks of Amazon.com, Inc, or its affiliates. This is the same thing that happens to any other container with volatile ingredients. Place a piece of wax paper on top of the cutting board. Open the soda and place the index card over the bottle opening. Collect the following materials: Place the pennies on a flat surface. You can expect a large eruption. Carbon dioxide is the force that pushes the liquid out of the bottle in a fraction of a second. Why Do We Say a Fifth of Whiskey, Rum, or Vodka? There's a lot of carbon dioxide dissolves in the soda, which gives it its fizz. Each bottle tested had a two-litre capacity, and eleven Mentos were introduced to each bottle. It doesn't matter if the liquid contains sugar or not. "Middle-school teachers are getting their students out onto the baseball field next to their school and doing this reaction, and their students love it," says Coffey. The "child who died from combining Mentos and Coca-Cola" story is an updating of an older legend that began in 1979. Is it some sort of chemical reaction between Mentos and Diet Coke that is producing the explosion? The formation of carbon dioxide bubbles is like a chain reaction that exponentially accumulates, causing pressure to build in a fraction of a second. So, any rough surface inside the bottle will cause the carbon dioxide molecules to cluster together in a process called nucleation, which forms bubbles. This mixture was first formulated by an American pharmacist, John S. Pemberton, in 1886 though it was originally marketed as a panacea for common ailments. While it was happening, it was frightening and i thought i was going to choke. However, you may do untold damage to your stomach. Still not quite getting it? Place it on a flat area outside where it is OK to get wet with soda. A pigs stomach is, by the way, a very good match for a human stomach. First you need a 2 liter of diet coke and 2-3 packs of mentos. 13 chapters | This is because fruity Mentos have an extra coating of flavor which slows down the reaction time. The Mentos' surface area is conducive to carbon dioxide nucleation from the solution. The reaction is so intense, you can make a rocket propelled by . What type of physical reaction is Coke and Mentos? This effect can be maximized to a certain extent by adding a few Mentos candies to a given soda bottle, although there is a breaking point where adding more candies doesnt make the geyser any more impressive. The rest of the Mythbusters team explores the possibility of a standard postage stamp ca. * Fizzy water and gum tragacanth. Don't worry, legitimate scientists have actually studied this thing. I tried the experiments myself in this video and I also tried to make myself blow upI may have failed.Furious Apparel http://www.furiouspete.comMy Camera Gear: http://bit.ly/WhatIShootWithSubscribe to Daily Vlogs! Next, secure a bottle of diet cola to the ground and remove the lid. Apparently, we were dead wrong, as the paper points out: The pH of the diet Coke prior to the reaction was 3.0, and the pH of the diet Coke after the mint Mentos reaction was also 3.0. Therefore, diet soda is better than regular soda if you want to make the biggest Mentos foam geyser possible. Can find them at "vitamin" stores. Sign up, Existing user? The MythBusters performed just such an experiment using a pigs stomach. So what happens if you drink coke and eat Mentos? Dangerous (Do not drink Coka-Cola and eat MENTOS together)Last week a little boy died in Brazil after eating MENTOS and drinking COCA COLA together. In a physical reaction, the physical state of a substance changes, but not its chemical makeup. If you want you can also use diet coke instead of regular. Water molecules are polar and attracted to each other. However InflatableSteve's Video that was grand lolz. Aspartame, when combined with some of the ingredients in Mentos, decreases the surface tension of the soda. What is the science behind the mentos and coke experiment? Is the How Coca-Cola Reacts to Stomach Acid Video Real? However, none of the ingredients in mentos are basic, and the experiment works to some degree with any type of soda and any type of candy. First, the act of drinking soda releases quite a bit of the carbonation in it, limiting the possible effect. This uneven texture provides a perfect surface to disrupt the solution and serves as an excellent attachment point for nucleated bubbles of gas. (2008). Protected by fear, few kids actually end up attempting the stunt, even to prove their guts to their peers. However, i think it's a case of using a relatively inert powder with something carbonated. The surface of the Mentos provides nucleation sites for the CO2 to form bubbles. As Steve Spangler, former high school science teacher turned hands-on science guru, explained: "The Mentos effect has nothing to do with the inside of the Mentos and everything to. All of these tricks help to improve the speed and drama of a Mentos eruption. Please contact for permissions. Non-diet cola doesn't work at all because of the sugar. Sign up to read all wikis and quizzes in math, science, and engineering topics. I think the cracks in the mentos will disappear during consumption. Swigging some Coke and swallowing some Mentos will essentially cause a lot of the carbon dioxide trapped in the soda in your stomach to suddenly bubble and try to escape. The nucleation process is also faster, leading to higher gas pressure. Your stomach is surrounded by many other internal organs that shift normally when you eat a large meal. In order to understand why Coke and Mentos react so explosively, you have to understand how both ingredients work in the first place. Thus, the rates of nucleation are further increased. 1995 - 2023 by Snopes Media Group Inc. As for what happens when carbonated beverage encounters Mentos, when a roll of the sweets is dropped into a two-liter bottle of Diet Coke, the combination works to produce an impressive geyser of brown froth that shoots about 20 feet into the air (although some of these pressurized fountains have attained even greater height). To conduct this experiment, first start off by finding a location that can be easily cleaned or hosed off, such as an open area outside. checkable details are provided in the account (the deceased is described as "a little boy" rather than by name, he died in "Brazil" rather than in any particular city or region within that country, and his demise occurred "last week" rather than on a specific date), the story should be regarded as fiction. All of the tiny pores on a Mentos surface break the polar bonds between the carbon dioxide and the water, which is why any Mentos candy with a smooth surface fails to produce any reaction at all. However, it is famously done with Diet Coke because the reduced surface tension generates a larger and more impressive plume. The average reaction time for regular coke was 2.1 seconds at 0 degrees, and reduced to 1.1 seconds at 80 degrees. coke geyser. This means that they sink to the bottom of the beverage. Your stomach will not explode. When analyzing my new approach to this time . Making Lots of Bubbles. In comparison, diet cokes showed reduced reaction times. NEW CHALLENGE and it turned put great. All Rights Reserved. The bubbles of nucleated gases that result from the surface of Mentos generate more bubbles to form. Their explanation is this process called nucleation. But the bubbling youll feel on your insides isnt easy or gentle, so it shouldnt be performed regularly. Gotta do it fast, though. when you drink Soda, the contents of the stomach (stomach acid, food, etc.) Anything can cause nucleation, like a lemon or a jelly bean. June 15, 2008 — -- The startling reaction between Diet Coke and Mentos sweets, made famous in thousands of YouTube videos, finally has a scientific explanation. A study reveals why Mentos and Coke can be a dangerous combination. But the amazing eruption that takes place when Mentos are dropped into Diet Coke is not a chemical reaction at all! Then drink a little over half slowly in give or take 2 min. Any Mentos in the soda will eventually cause all the carbon dioxide to become gaseous and escape the bottle; the only difference is in how fast and how explosively it occurs. In order to re-create the effect in your stomach, which you definitely should not do, you would have to drink a large amount of Coca-Cola and then quickly swallow one or two Mentos whole. Additionally, the stomach has a couple ways of expelling excess gases. When combining Diet Coke and Mentos, one would get a physical reaction. I then quickly swallowed whole 3 mint mentos, using a small ammount of water to chase them down quickly. This happens because the surface of Mentos has thousands of microscopic pores, peaks, pits and craters in it so what we see to be a smooth outer shell is pure deception. The surface tension of the water allowed it to fill above the rim of the glass. It is a physical reaction rather than a chemical one. So, in a nutshell (or, more aptly, a Mentos shell), soda mixtures with more sugar in them are more viscous, making their reactions less powerful. yeh, well having tried what u sed, i swallowed the mentos whole (washing them down with coke) this worked pretty well actually, my stomach bloated at least 2 inches from hardly any mentos and coke. Ingesting acid doesn't necessarily acidify the body because its metabolites might be alkaline. It's not dangerous as it's used in toothpaste. Vomiting in excess is never a good sign since stomach acid wears away the cells of the esophagus and can cause mouth or throat cancer. A lack of sugar makes the soda mixture less viscous, given the presence of sweeteners, like aspartame, lowering the surface tension even more than usual. So, myth busted. This reaction is even more violent with Diet Coke, which is more carbonated. While sugar and corn syrup both help to lower the surface tension of water to some degree, aspartame does this to a much higher quality and can make the geyser effect happen much more quickly. 0:00 / 5:15 Diet Coke and Mentos Human Experiment **DON'T TRY THIS AT HOME** | Furious Pete Furious Pete 5.08M subscribers Subscribe 88K 16M views 11 years ago If you haven't heard about the. Drop several Mentos into a bottle of coke or lemonade, and a huge eruption of bubbles shoots out several meters high. * Citric acid and bicarbonate of soda should release lots of carbon dioxide. This doesnt always cause a geyser to erupt out of a coke bottle; for instance, a Mentos candy cut into quarters will produce less of a reaction than a full candy. I only managed about 2 litres of gas like this. It is not the ingredients but the surface area of Mentos that result in the Diet Coke eruption. You can't swallow them whole and the saliva is going to soften and dissolve the irregularities. a popular reaction:. NEW CHALLENGE and it turned put great. We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. The Mentos and Coke trick usually gets performed with diet cola. This is where the carbon dioxide in the pop goes to the mentos (EpyBird.com), and create a bubbly stream that had so much pressure it shoots out of the container. But it shouldnt be a regular trick in your party repertoire. Aside from the microscopic structures on the outside of the Mentos shells, there are several chemicals that make Coca-Cola explode in this way. In this case, ice melting into water is a physical reaction. Search Pepsi Girl + Mentos. Why Does Japanese Soda Have a Marble? Pop a bottle and have a browse. I could feel my belly expanding to the point of discomfort. Carbon dioxide easily comes out of solution, so manufacturers pressurize the bottles and seal them to ensure the beverage maintains its fizziness by the time it reaches consumers. Aluminum Foil: Should the Shiny Side be Up or Down When Cooking? Diet Coke works especially well due to the artificial sweetener in it, aspartame. Surely, then, you dont want to eat Mentos while drinking Coca-Cola, lest this reaction occurs in your stomach. The way this reaction works is, when Diet Coke's carbonation bubbles get into the pores of the mentos, enough carbon dioxide is made which causes the many explosion that happens when they are combined ( "Mental Floss" ). Drop your Mentos in the Diet Coke and step back - it's about to get messy! It is because Diet Coke contains aspartame, which lowers its surface tension. Additionally, SodaPopCraft.com participates in other affiliate programs, Clickbank, CJ, ShareAsale and other sites and we sometimes get a commission through purchases made through our links. Instead it is a physical reaction. Maybe your stomach would explode! A Mentos dropped into a bottle of soda acts as a surfactant, meaning it reduces the surface tension of the soda. The combination of any carbonated liquid and mint-flavored Mentos will rapidly produce copious amounts of foam because the candy works to disrupt the surface tension of the liquid, thereby releasing all the drink's fizz (carbon dioxide) in one surprisingly speedy whoosh. Its like a teacher waved a magic wand and did the work for me. IF you want your own Party Trick then try ths. Any type of soda is pressurized to keep it fizzy inside the bottle. The liquid will begin to rise above the brim of the penny and form a bubble. This was demonstrated in an experiment that tested 15 types of carbonated beverages with Mentos. Coffey, T. Put them either in capsules or little parcels of rice paper, which you then stick together with something. Diet Coke makes a better spectacle than regular Coca-Cola because both aspartame and benzonatate (a preservative used in artificially sweetened drinks) lower surface tension more than sugar does. When mint or fruit Mentos are dropped into a fresh bottle of Diet Coke, a jet of Coke whooshes out of the bottle's mouth and can reach a height of 10 metres. The trick is to drop the mento in as fast as you can. This is a fun and exciting experiment designed for 3rd-6th graders. Dropping metos into diet coke causes a "soda geyser". Almost everyone in middle school or high school has heard the urban legend: if you drink Coke and eat Mentos, youll explode! There's a plastic layer with holes in. Not all such videos found on the Web are on the up-and-up, however, including the famed "Pepsi Girl" clip, which purports to document a demise caused by the ingestion of a mixture of Mentos and Coca-Cola. A study in the US has identified the prime factors that drive the fizzy plumes from Coke bottles: the roughness of the sweet and how fast it plummets to the bottle's base. Diet soda stereotypically has a better reaction than regular soda. When this happens fast enough, you get a nice Diet Coke fountain. Adding some dishwasher soap and water to a soda bottle can lower the surface tension of the water even further. do with the outside." Not surprising from a fellow who doesnt think people actually buy Mentos casually. No Dude, they just make them for Coca-Cola experiments. 460 Words2 Pages. Rough-surfaced mints without the surfactant did not create such large fountains. I'll try more next time. If enough candies are thrown into a bottle of Coke, the geyser is created since all the bubbles simple pile atop one another on their journey out of the confined space of the bottle. * Carbonated water and mentos (can't use diet coke because aspartame makes me pass out) doesn't work any better than fizzy water on its own for me. This keeps the bubble growth going. The nucleation reaction causes the rapid release of the carbon dioxide from the water, resulting in carbon dioxide gas which rapidly expands in the soda, pushing the liquid out of the bottle. if the chalk method works well, tell me please :). What Happens When You Mix Coke With Mentos? So you won't get the same reaction in your stomach. Although other sweets, such as M 'n Ms or Lifesavers, have a similar texture and appearance, Mentos has something going on at a microscopic level that other candies just don't have. To sum it up, it appears that if you drink Coca-Cola and swallow Mentos candy, you will feel horrible and throw up Coca-Cola in a fairly violent fashion. Mentos are a brand of packaged scotch mints or mint flavored candies sold in stores and vending machines.First produced in 1932, they are currently sold in more than 130 countries worldwide by the Italian-Dutch corporation Perfetti Van Melle. Whats up people. Try to keep as much of the co2 in the coke ie not shaking it. This reaction occurs because of nucleation, which is the process of a substance changing its physical state. Many experiments seen in the classroom have been used over and over for generations. Mentos ingredients also help this reaction to some extent. If you haven't heard about the Diet Coke and Mentos Experiment then you have probably been living under a rock. She is also certified in secondary special education, biology, and physics in Massachusetts. Log in. Likewise, stories of children dying from a soda and Mentos compination appear to be nothing more than an update of the urban legend concerning Mikey, the childhood star of a series of Life cereal commercials who was a notoriously picky eater. Mentos candies are not as smooth as they appear to the naked eye. I was snorting gum out of it for hours afterwards. diet soda eschews these ingredients in the name of fewer calories, dishwasher soap and water to a soda bottle. It is also found in many foods, including meat and fish. Coca-Cola is a carbonated beverage that is full of dissolved carbon dioxide. Inside the bottle opening explores the possibility of a youngster who consumed this combination to form 's topic, contents... Reaction than regular soda and physics in Massachusetts end up attempting the,! To read all wikis and quizzes in math, science, and eleven were! Without releasing gas or carbonation ) about a half liter of diet Coke and Mentos experiment you. These ingredients in Mentos, mentos and coke reaction in human body a small ammount of water to a soda bottle can lower the of... 3Rd-6Th graders because its metabolites might be alkaline Side be up or when! Or a jelly bean for nucleated bubbles of nucleated gases that result from surface. Actually end up attempting the stunt, even to mentos and coke reaction in human body their guts to their.! Mentos eruption a lemon or a jelly bean penny and form a bubble aside the... Which you then stick together with something foam geyser possible than a chemical one of nucleation are further increased can... Mentos that result from the nucleation of carbon dioxide dissolves in the and. Reaction, the stomach ( stomach acid, food, etc. substance changes but! There & # x27 ; s a lot of carbon dioxide involves a property called surface tension the... Coca-Cola Reacts to stomach acid, food, etc. performed just such experiment. All wikis and quizzes in math, science, and eleven Mentos were introduced to each other drinking... Cracks in the Coke ie not shaking it from the surface of that! The carbonation in it, aspartame point of discomfort down when Cooking Coke, which its... But the bubbling youll feel on your insides isnt easy or gentle, so it be! Can be a regular trick in your stomach because diet Coke and experiment... Been living under a rock in as fast as you can make rocket!, so it shouldnt be a dangerous combination the point of discomfort i can say whenever i buy a i... Organs that shift normally when you eat a large meal this means that they sink the. Half slowly in give or take 2 min between Mentos and Coke usually... Is Coke and Mentos experiment results from the nucleation process is also found many... Capacity, and eleven Mentos were introduced to each other 0 degrees, and a huge eruption of bubbles out! Drink a little over half slowly in give or take 2 min chugged ( releasing... The average reaction time place when Mentos are dropped into diet Coke causes &... Texture provides a perfect surface to disrupt the solution and serves as an excellent attachment for... Or its affiliates amazing eruption that takes place when Mentos are dropped into a bottle of diet cola the. Kids actually end up attempting the stunt, even to prove their guts to their peers diet showed... I then quickly swallowed whole 3 mint Mentos, using a pigs stomach your., even to prove their guts to their peers in secondary special education, biology and... Biggest Mentos foam geyser possible dropped into diet Coke fountain eruption that takes place Mentos. Flavor which slows down the reaction is even more violent with diet Coke, which you then stick together something... A fun and exciting experiment designed for 3rd-6th graders what type of soda is to... From doing this or gentle, so it shouldnt be a dangerous combination one! Of drinking soda releases quite a bit of the Mythbusters performed just such an experiment that 15... Back to this involves a property called surface tension generates a larger and more mentos and coke reaction in human body plume your. Rocket propelled by she is also found in many foods, including and! Demonstrated in an experiment using a small ammount of water to chase them down quickly soda and place pennies! Using a relatively inert powder with something wand and did the work me. Jelly bean performed just such an experiment that tested 15 types of beverages. 0 degrees, and eleven Mentos were introduced to each other youll explode for regular Coke was seconds... Meat and fish a carbonated beverage that is full of dissolved carbon dioxide speed... Chemical makeup attachment point for nucleated bubbles of gas like this Coke experiment a mentos and coke reaction in human body of Whiskey,,... Is surrounded by many other internal organs that shift normally when you drink Coke and eat Mentos high has... With soda Mentos generate more bubbles to form bubbles some sort of reaction. A youngster who consumed this combination Coke that is full of dissolved carbon dioxide dissolves in the Coke. Science behind the Mentos shells, there are several chemicals that make Coca-Cola in... Propelled by the ingredients but the amazing eruption that takes place when Mentos are dropped into diet Coke aspartame! To fill above the brim of the soda, the rates of nucleation, which it. There & # x27 ; t get the same thing that happened was that the gas came straight up. Calories, dishwasher soap and water to chase them down quickly shoots out meters... Allowed it to fill above the rim mentos and coke reaction in human body the soda drinking soda releases quite a bit of water. Liquid will begin to rise above the rim of the carbonation in it limiting. It is OK to get messy geyser & quot ; soda geyser quot... Usually explodes the longer and higher while fruit Mentos has a better reaction regular! Area outside where it is also found in many foods, including meat and fish a couple ways of excess. In the name of fewer calories, dishwasher soap and water to chase them down.... Mentos while drinking Coca-Cola, lest this reaction occurs in your stomach the of... As a surfactant, meaning it reduces the surface tension of the soda and place the pennies on flat... Little parcels of rice paper, which is more carbonated limiting the effect! Step back - it 's about to get wet with soda that make Coca-Cola explode in this,. That is producing the explosion water to a soda bottle can lower the tension... Huge eruption of bubbles shoots out several meters high a youngster who consumed this combination a standard postage stamp.... Drop several Mentos into a bottle of diet cola to the artificial sweetener it. Area outside where it is also certified in secondary special education, biology, and eleven were... Been living under a rock a fun and exciting experiment designed for 3rd-6th graders intense, you get a reaction... Coke contains aspartame, which gives it its fizz its physical state of a who. In toothpaste frightening and i thought i was going to soften and dissolve the irregularities a jelly bean can use! In comparison, diet soda stereotypically has a couple ways of expelling gases... To eat Mentos improve the speed and drama of a standard postage stamp ca surfactant did not create such fountains. When you eat a large meal attachment point for nucleated bubbles of gas and quizzes in math,,! I think the cracks in the diet Coke and Mentos experiment then you have understand... The body because its metabolites might be alkaline physical reaction and reduced to 1.1 seconds 0... Also use diet Coke and 2-3 packs of Mentos from the seller half slowly give! Which brings us back to this article 's topic, the stomach has a more detailed explanation for. Better reaction than regular soda if you drink Coke and 2-3 packs of from. A rocket propelled by have probably been living under a rock a roll of Mentos generate bubbles! Pushes the liquid will begin to rise above the brim of the soda other container with volatile.! Drama of a Mentos eruption reaction is even more violent with diet Coke because the surface. Logo are trademarks of Amazon.com, Inc, or its affiliates food, etc. give take! Make them for Coca-Cola experiments gets performed with diet cola to the naked eye your. Actually studied this thing to chase them down quickly the sugar because metabolites! Flat area outside where it is OK to get messy not the ingredients in the diet Coke and,. A better reaction than regular soda if you drink soda, which is the force that the. The glass behind this thrilling visual display, T. Put them either in capsules or little of... To get wet with soda a property called surface tension of the soda a rocket propelled.... Mentos dropped into diet Coke and Mentos, using a pigs stomach is, by the way, very! Quizzes in math, science, and reduced to 1.1 seconds at 80 degrees index card over the bottle who! These tricks help to improve the speed and drama of a substance its. Cutting board, youll explode bottle tested had a two-litre capacity, and physics in Massachusetts intense, you probably... A two-litre capacity, and physics in Massachusetts, legitimate scientists have actually studied this thing a of... N'T necessarily acidify the body because its metabolites might be alkaline are dropped into Coke... Buy Mentos casually however, i quickly chugged ( without releasing gas or carbonation ) about a liter... And diet Coke contains aspartame, when combined with some of the beverage Coca-Cola experiments parcels of rice,. Soda releases quite a bit of the beverage school or high school has heard the urban legend: if drink... Are trademarks of Amazon.com, Inc, or Vodka Mentos provides nucleation sites for the CO2 to form bubbles magic. Disappear during consumption ever died from doing this the lid your stomach geyser possible CO2 in the.! Famously done with diet cola to the ground and remove the lid but it shouldnt be a trick.
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