Platinum
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I'm not sure where this originated, but here's a video at a website called Steve Spangler Science that explains it thusly: quote: Each Mentos candy has thousands of tiny pits all over the surface. These tiny pits are called nucleation sites - perfect places for carbon dioxide bubbles to form. As soon as the Mentos hit the soda, bubbles form all over the surface of the candy. Couple this with the fact that the Mentos candies are heavy and sink to the bottom of the bottle and you've got a double-whammy. When all this gas is released, it literally pushes all of the liquid up and out of the bottle in an incredible soda blast.
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Diamond
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To add to Prof's answer... it's not that different from boiling water with some rough object in the pot. You'll notice that, before it really starts boiling, the bubles start on the surface of the object.
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Platinum
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Here's one I just heard: "Old chemists never die, they just stop reacting."  |
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Diamond
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quote: Couldn't it have something to do with the gum arabic in the Mentos quickly breaking down the surface tension in the soda
Yes, it could, as the explanation Professor linked to says. It probably would have been best to extend the quote two sentences earlier. |
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Platinum
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Indeed, methos is correct. The fuller explanation from the same article is: quote: When you drop the Mentos into the soda, the gelatin and gum arabic from the dissolving candy break the surface tension. This disrupts the water mesh, so that it takes less work to expand and form new bubbles. Each Mentos candy has thousands of tiny pits...
...and so on (see earlier quote). In fact, read the entire article for more info. Selectively quoting a source is like packing for a short trip: One wants the necessities without excess baggage. I could have been more judicious in choosing the excerpt. |
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