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[Phys-l] Mentos and soda



ap-L and especially Bernard Cleyet



We just carried out the Mentos and soda experiment for a bunch of
second graders here yesterday. It was very well received.



If you wish, you may view the resulting video by visiting our
school site: http://www.svgs.k12.va.us/SodaFountainScienceWeb.mov



(warning: you will need the latest QuickTime to view the movie).



We filmed it and edited it in i-movie and had the resulting edited
video up on the web about one hour after the activity. My colleague,
Len Klein is demonstrator. The soda fountain was done as a part of an
activity on cloud formation (using dry ice and tubs of water).



Practical notes so far:

Diet soda works better than anything else. Cheap diet soda (Sam's
Club or Kroger) works fine. Cost per eruption: about 90 cents if you
include the cost of Mentos.

Root beer makes an interesting fine foam like a lava eruption but
doesn't shoot up as well.

Mr. Thunder (despite the name) doesn't work well at all (it's the
third eruption on the video).

We tried just plain dinner mints but they don't really work
either. The foam just comes up and out with no geyser. The dinner
mints float which may be the problem.

Fruit flavored Mentos don't work very well either (different
surface if you take time to examine them. It's the second video
eruption but we had even punier ones earlier).



We are probably now under investigation as one of my colleagues
bought up all of the Mentos at a local grocery store. When he showed up
to get them, the manager and several assistants were talking about him.
I think they are under the impression that we are free-basing Mentos.



Great demo - thanks. We figure to turn this into some kind of
investigation come next year.





THO



Thomas O'Neill

Physics

SVGS

Shenandoah Valley Governor's School