The Mentos candies cause a small revolution in the bottle: in contact with the soda, the candies increase the amount of gas and cause the appearance of large bubbles, which tend to escape in the form of an explosive jet. It is worth mentioning that, as this is a recent phenomenon, scientific explanations vary and there is no consensus among scholars on the causes of the jet. To explain the explosion, we heard from a chemist and a physicist, who agree on one point: the equilibrium between gas and liquid in soft drinks is easily broken. “If you take a piece of ice and drop it in Coke, bubbles will form around it too. Anything that breaks the homogeneity of the gas-liquid system causes a gas leak,” says chemist João Usberco. But why only with Mentos the bomb thing for real? More dense than soda, the bullet goes straight to the bottom of the bottle when thrown inside. In addition, Mentos has citric acid – the same as lemon -, which tends to increase the formation of carbon dioxide. Another factor is the irregular surface of the bullet – seen under the microscope, it has tiny holes. And the more irregular a surface, the more likely it is to cause blisters. And Coca Light, despite having established itself on the internet as the ideal soda for this disgusting bomb, is not the only drink that causes the jet. Our experience with guarana and soda also worked, but Fanta left something to be desired… In theory, this can happen with any soda, especially diet and light. Because it is denser because of the sugar, regular soda retains the expansion of carbon dioxide. In diet soda, which does not have sugar in the formula, the bubbles have more freedom to move.
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glue geyser Ingredient and bullet shape increase and agitate carbon dioxide
INGREDIENTS
1 Coca-Cola Light 2 liters – 3 reais
1 Mentos Candy Pack – 1 real
1 Tube of white glue – 2 reais
1. To get a sizable explosion, you’ll need more than one bullet. Our suggestion is to stick, with white glue, seven Mentos candies in sequence. Wait about an hour for the glue to dry.
2. Only open the bottle at the time of the experiment – otherwise the soda gas escapes and the explosion loses strength. With the lid open, throw the seven bullets together and get away! Why seven bullets? Because it gives a nice explosion and doesn’t get so dirty. The more bullets, the bigger the mess…
3. The gas that forms the soda bubbles is carbon dioxide, placed inside the bottle at a pressure of 5 atmospheres, five times the normal pressure of the atmosphere. Because of this, any change in the coolant can make the gas more agitated and tend to escape.
4. When our “Mentos burst” is dropped into the soda, two things happen simultaneously. The first is that the citric acid in the candy is dissolved by the water. This triggers a series of reactions that culminate in the generation of more carbon dioxide bubbles.
5. The second thing that happens is that since Mentos is solid and heavy, the mints go straight to the bottom of the bottle. In this movement, the micropores on the surface of the bullet tend to act as points of attraction for bubbles, forming increasingly larger bubbles next to the bullet.
6. These large bubbles of carbonic gas form at the bottom of the bottle – but, as they are light, they tend to rise. As they rise violently, they drag part of the liquid upwards and form a greater number of small bubbles, gaining volume.
7. To get out of the bottle, this whirlpool of bubbles and liquid faces one last challenge: the neck of the bottle. Submitted to this “narrowing of the track”, the mixture comes out at a high pressure, generating a coolant jet that, in our experience, reached almost 2 meters in height!
ALERT!
This test is very messy! It’s also important to move away from the bottle after throwing the bullets!