The Monstrous Mentos Explosion - Perkins School For The Blind

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Activity The Monstrous Mentos Explosion

For his science project, Chris wanted to make something explode. A Mentos/Coke explosion was chosen and enjoyed by all who participated.

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For his science project, Chris, a student at Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired, wanted to make something explode. A Mentos/Coke explosion was chosen and enjoyed by all who participated.

Question

Which types of Mentos, fruit or mint, will cause the largest explosion with Diet Coke?

Hypothesis

The fruit mentos will have the biggest explosion, when using Diet Coke.

Materials

1 package fruit mentos
1 package mint mentos
2 two liter bottles of Diet Coke
One geyser tube to drop the mentos into.
Adapted beaker
Goggles
Lab aprons
100 ml beaker – adapted

Procedure

Have all participants put on goggles and aprons.
Put 7 mint mentos in the geyser tube.
Set up the Diet Coke bottle and carefully open it. Save the lid to the close the bottle after the explosion.
Have a helper hold the Coke bottle still.
Screw on the geyser tube to the bottle.
Carefully release the lever so the mentos can drop in to the bottle.
Prepare for explosion.
After the explosion, put the cap on the Diet Coke.
Repeat steps 2-8 with fruit mentos
Take the Diet Cokes back to the lab.
Using beaker, measure how much is left in each bottle after the explosion.
Record the data.
To figure out much liquid exploded for each trial, subtract your measurements from 2,000 ml.
Analyze your data and draw a conclusion.

Pouring diet Coke into beaker — Pouring Diet Coke into beaker

Data

Fruit and Mint Mentos Information

Results:

Fruit Mentos: 572 ml Diet Coke remaining after explosion
Mint Mentos: 615 ml Diet Coke remaining after explosion

Calculations:

2,000ml -572ml amount of fruit mentos explosion of soda, equals 1428 ml-
2,000ml -615 ml amount of mint mentos explosion of soda, equals 1385 ml –

Conclusion

My hypothesis was right the fruit mentos did have the biggest explosion and the mint mentos didn’t.

Variations

The Mentos/Coke Explosion can be adapted to test the type of soda instead of the type of mentos or the shape of the bottle, etc.

NGSS Standards:

Plan and conduct an investigation individually and collaboratively to produce data to serve as the basis for evidence, and in the design: decide on types, how much, and accuracy of data needed to produce reliable measurements and consider limitations on the precision of the data (e.g. number of trials, cost, risk, time), and refine the design accordingly. (HS-ESS2-5)

By Laura Hospitál