Is Diet Coke And Mentos A Chemical Reaction

Not been systematically studied.

Is diet coke and mentos a chemical reaction. In fact it s not really a reaction at all or at least it s a physical reaction rather than a chemical one. The chemical reactions involved in dropping mentos candies into a bottle of diet coke make quite the spectacle. Lee marek and marek s kid scientists were the first to publicly demonstrate the experiment on the late show with david letterman in 1999.

The reaction is largely physical not chemical. To see this recall that dissolved co 2 reacts with water to form carbonic acid h 2 co 3. The candies catalyze the release of gas from the beverage which creates an eruption that pushes most of the liquid up and out of the bottle.

But the amazing eruption that takes place when mentos are dropped into diet coke or other brands of diet soda pop is not a chemical reaction at all. However the coke and mentos experiment does not only involve a physical change. The reaction has been performed numerous times on television and the internet but has.

Instead it is a physical reaction. 6 the physical process of gas escape induces chemical changes. The basic science of the coke and mentos reaction is fairly straightforward.

The chemical reaction between the mentos and diet coke reduce the surface tension on the top of the water allowing the gas created through nucleation to waste less energy breaking the surface tension as it dispels the soda out the mouth of the bottle in what is observed as the fountain or geyser. The diet coke and mentos reaction is a fun demonstration in chemistry and physics classes of many. Steve spangler s televised demonstration of the eruption.

A diet coke and mentos eruption is a reaction between the carbonated beverage diet coke and mentos mints that causes the beverage to spray out of its container. Diet sodas produce a bigger reaction than non diet sodas because aspartame lowers the surface tension of the liquid much more than sugar or corn syrup will. Many students have come to believe that it is a chemical reaction between the mentos carbonates and the diet coke acids that makes the fountain work however it turns out that research findings have turned up a quite different explanation.