Name: _______________________

Coke Zero and Mentos Lab

Class: _______________
Date: __________

Background information
The thing that makes soda bubbly is invisible carbon dioxide gas that has dissolved into the water. The
carbon dioxide gas (CO2) is pumped into bottles at the bottling factory using tons of pressure. The gas
mostly stays dissolved in the liquid and cannot expand to form more bubbles, which gases naturally do,
until you open the bottle and pour out the soda. If you shake the bottle and then open it, the gas is
released from the protective hold of the water molecules and escapes with a whoosh, taking some of the
soda along with it.
Warm soda tends to fizz much more than cold soda. Why? The warmer the liquid, the less gas can be
dissolved in that liquid. The colder the liquid, the more gas can be dissolved in that liquid. This is
because when the liquid is heated; the gas within that liquid is also heated, causing the gas molecules to
move faster and faster. So, they will diffuse (move) out of the liquid, leaving less gas dissolved in that
liquid. In colder liquids the gas molecules are moving very slowly, causing them to diffuse out of
solution much more slowly, and more gas tends to stay in solution. At the bottling plant, carbon dioxide
is pumped into the cans or bottles when the fluid is very coldaround 35 degrees Fahrenheit. This low
temperature allows the maximum amount of carbon dioxide to dissolve in the soda.
What other ways can you cause the gas to escape?
The CO2 that's dissolved in the water of any carbonated drink can be driven out by adding something
else to that. For example, adding salt to soda causes it to foam up because thousands of little bubbles
form on the surface of each grain of salt. Why?
No matter how smooth a solid substance may feel to you or me, they have tiny pits are called nucleation
sites. Nucleation sites are places where the carbon dioxide can make bubbles. A nucleation site can also
be a scratch, a speck of dust, tiny cracks, or crevices. The increase in the formation of bubbles causes the
CO2 to rapidly degas (opposite of adding gas to a liquid using pressure) out of the liquid, taking some of
the liquid with it.
Why then Mentos?
Each Mentos candy has thousands of tiny pits all over the surface. In other words each candy has
thousand of nucleation sites. As soon as the Mentos hit the soda, the liquid in the bottle comes into
contact (touches) with the candy. Then the trapped gas leaves the liquid and forms bubbles at the
nucleation sites that are all over the surface of the candy. Also, Mentos candies are heavy and sink to
the bottom of the bottle. When all this gas is released, it literally pushes all of the liquid up and out of the
bottle in an incredible soda blast.
This information was taken directly from the following web sites:
http://www.stevespanglerscience.com/experiment/00000109
http://www.smm.org/buzz/buzz_tags/nucleation_sites

After watching a clip of Mythbusters investigating the Coke and Mentos phenomenon, answer the
following questions:
1. What did taking the CO2 out of the bottle do to the reaction?
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2. What did the normal soda water do to the reaction?

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3. What effect do the nucleation sites (surface area on the Mentos) have on the reaction?
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4. In the space below, demonstrate your understanding of nucleation. Make sure to include CO2
molecules, surface of a Mentos, and direction arrows.

5. What did taking the CO2 out of the bottle do to the reaction?
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6. What did the normal soda water do to the reaction?

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7. What effect do the nucleation sites (surface area on the Mentos) have on the reaction?
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Your goal is to think of a way in which you could cause the highest geyser formed by
the Coke Zero and Mentos reaction. Be creative as you will be graded on effort. Dont
worry about it being right or wrong.
1) Question: ________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
2) Hypothesis: ______________ Diet Coke and Mentos will make a higher geyser,
because__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________.
3) Identify the Variables
Independent Variable:______________________________________________________
Dependent Variable:_______________________________________________________
Control Variables: _________________________________________________________
Experimental Group: _______________________________________________________
Control Group: ____________________________________________________________

4) Materials (per group):

3 x 1.5 L bottle of Coke Zero

1 Thermometer
1 Mentos Geyser Launch Tube
3 x 4 Mint Mentos candies
1 Giant Metric Ruler (butcher paper).
1 Data Table (per student)
Container with hot water
Container with ice water

4) Procedure:
Inside:
1. Understand your role in this experiment: Coke Handlers (A), Thermometer
Handler (B), Mentos Holders(C), and the Mentos droppers(D).
2. Coke Handlers (A) carefully retrieves Coke Zero from the corner of the
room (do not shake or drop!). Make sure to take one Coke from the hot water
container, one coke from the ice water container, and one coke at room
temperature.
3. Mentos holder (C) receives exactly 12 Mentos in a plastic container.
4. All students line up at the door in two lines (quietly) with the following:
Data Table
Pencil/Pen
Packed-up backpacks on their back.
Failure to be quiet in the stairway or outside will result in you losing 20-30 points
from your lab grade (100 points)!Coke handlers MUST carefully carry the
Coke Zero outside without dropping it!
Outside Experimentation & Measurement:
1. Line up shoulder to shoulder by your group number outside the school
entrance.
When it is your groups turn (starting with group 1), step up to the area
under the stairs near the entrance under the giant paper ruler.
2. Coke Handler GENTLY places the Coke in the square container and
carefully takes the cap off the Coke.
3. The Thermometer handler will get the thermometer from Mr. Logan and
take the temperature of their Coke Zero, making sure to keep the
thermometer in the Coke Zero for 15 seconds.
4. All student record the temperature in the data table.
5. The Mentos dropper will place 4 Mentos in the geyser tube, then Mr.
Logan will attach the geyser tube to your Coke Zero.
6. Mentos dropper (D) pulls then pin when told to do so.
7. Students watch for maximum height achieved.
8. All students write down results and observations then compare with
group members.
9. Coke handler recaps the Diet Coke bottle and places it on the ground
near their feet.
10. Repeat until all teams are finished.

If everyone is calm and on task, you will have the option of drinking the Diet Coke before going back to
class.

6) Data Table
Table 1: Diet Coke & Mentos Fountain results
Temperature of Coke Zero
(oC)
Group 1
Cold
Room
Hot/Warm

Group 2
Cold
Room
Hot/Warm

Group 3
Cold
Room
Hot/Warm

Group 4

Cold
Room
Hot/Warm

Group 5
Cold

Room
Hot/Warm

Group 6
Cold

Room
Hot/Warm

Height of Geyser (m)

Observations

7) Data Analysis (Graph)

In the space below draw your scatter graph to show a direct, indirect or no relationship
between temperature of Coke Zero and Height of Geyser.

8) Observations: (5 senses.):
Write down some of the characteristics of the materials before you added them together?
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What happened when you added the materials? ___________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
Were there any mistakes or errors? If yes, what were they? __________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
9) Observation Analysis Questions
Does changing the temperature of Diet Coke have an effect on the height of the geyser?
____________________________________________________________________________
How are you able to explain that it was the temperature and not another factor that
caused the change in height?
____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
What explanation can you come up with to explain why temperature effects the height
of the Coke Zero and Mentos Geyser?
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________
11. Conclusion
HINT: if you are having trouble writing your conclusion, start off by re-stating your hypothesis. Then use
the following guiding questions as they relate to your hypothesis. Make sure that you write/type the
conclusion in a paragraph format
What happened during the experiment?
What went as planned?
What problems did your group/class encounter?
If given the chance to go back, how would you fix this problem?

How was this experiment related to how molecules move when energy is added?
How did you learn this?
How would you conduct another related experiment next, knowing what you know after completing this
lab?
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MIDDLE SCHOOL LAB REPORT GUIDELINE

Title (Title page)

(Name) ____________________________
(Date) _______________ ( on title page, underneath the title)

Title:
The Front page of the report
Name, Date, Class (on the front page, underneath the title)
A brief, concise (the use of few words to convey much information), yet descriptive title

Following pages:
Statement of the Problem (It is the question you are going to investigate or try to answer):
What question or questions are you trying to answer?
Include any observations or background information about the subject
Hypothesis:
Write prediction to what you believe will happen
Make sure this prediction is written as a complete sentence
Make sure the statement is testable
The statement should reference the independent and dependent variables: such as
The plant group receiving (independent variable i.e. fertilizer) will (dependent variable i.e.) produce more
fruit than the plants that did not receive fertilizer (control)
Materials:
Make a list of all items used in the lab
Also should include a drawing of any set up that is used.
In the case of the Coke Zero and Mentos experiment, you should have an illustration (drawing)
of how the Mentos launcher works.

Procedure:
Write a paragraph or a list which explains what you did in the lab.
Your procedure should be written so than anyone else could repeat the experiment.
Results:
This section should include any data tables, observations, or additional notes you make during
the lab.
Although some students may wish to attach the original data: Dont! It is important to always
preserve the original
You may attach a separate sheet(s) if necessary.
All tables, graphs and charts should be labeled appropriately.
Conclusions:
Accept or reject your hypothesis
EXPLAIN why you accepted or rejected your hypothesis using data from the lab.
Include a summary of the data averages, highest, lowest, etc. to help the reader understand
your results.
List one thing you learned and describe how it applies to a real-life situation.
Discuss possible errors that could have occurred in the collection of data (experimental errors)

Special considerations for your conclusion:

Conclusion Dos and Donts
Dont list the data again, but summarize, discuss, and analyze the data.
Do explain why your hypothesis was correct or incorrect from your observations or data.
Dont give the procedure again, but do point out possible sources of error.
Dont forget to break up your ideas with more than one paragraph. Your conclusion is an essay.
Helpful format for writing a conclusion
(length of blank lines does NOT indicate the length of your entries additional sentences are
encouraged)
This lab (experiment) investigated ________________________________________________.
In order to study the problem we _________________________________________________.
My results showed _________________________________, thus proving my hypothesis was
(correct/incorrect).
I believe the results are (accurate/inaccurate) because _______________________________.
In order to further investigate this problem, next time I would _______________________.
The above guide was adapted from Cheryl Randalls Science Lab Report found at http:
donnayoung.org/apologia/lab/labhow~cr.htm