We did the Mentos and Diet Coke thing!

[elfs]

So, the girls were thrilled to see if the Mentos and Diet Coke experiments worked as advertised. At first, they were just gonna drop the Mentos into the bottle, but I said we could make a geyser if we were careful to make a tiny hole in the cap, then find a way to suspend the Mentos above the Diet Coke.

Outdoors, I took out my drill and drilled holes in three Mentos and the cap. I threaded a small string through the holes in the Mentos, and poured out enough of the Diet Coke to have room while suspending the Mentos. After threading the string through the cap, I screwed it back on and said, "Ready?"

"Yeah!"

I let go of the string. For a 20oz bottle and three Mentos, we got a geyser nine feet high. Which is pretty cool, and I can verify that it's a valid experiment. The girls want to try it with 2 liters next time. I can probably rig up a paper clip trigger so one of the girls could do the release herself.

Comments

[aelfie.livejournal.com]

They did this at church about a year ago. Set up 10 foot markers against a telephone pole and did all sorts of experiments on coke vs. diet and the number of mentos. Pictures came out awesome!

[technoshaman.livejournal.com]

Did you see the diet-coke-and-Mentos-rocket-powered car? :)

[(Anonymous)]

I liked that they said "go ahead and try this at home!" in that episode, although I wonder how many kids got grounded after spraying their living room with high fructose corn syrup and caramel color.

Number 127

[neoteny.livejournal.com]

I believe Mythubusters used a magnet on the outside neck of the soda bottle that held a washer or bolt in place, which served as a platform for the mentos. Easier than drilling lots of holes.