Diet Coke and Mentos

This is an incredibly impressive demonstration that should be done outside or in a large gym. Take a 2 litre bottle of diet coke (no sugar, no stickinesss) and drill a tiny hole in the cap. Place it on a firm surface.

Then string together 3 Mentos (mints) in a line on a string with a bit of string extra at the top. You basically hang the little thread from the lid. Here is what I mean. You stick the thread through the cap so that you can hold it with your fingers while letting the Mentos dangle underneath the cap.

So the idea here is that you want to get the cap on the bottle and then let the Mentos go so that they drop in the diet Coke. You see you have to do that because when the Mentos hit the Coke a huge fountain erups.

So let's look what we have, a 2 litre bottle of diet coke on a firm surface. You are above it holding a thread through the cap while the Mentos dangle under the cap, but not touching the Coke. Then, when you are ready, drop the Mentos and run away. The huge flow of soda will come blasting through the tiny hole and create a lovely fountain.

Just try it, it is fun and lively. Then tell me what point you would make with this. What a great way to start off a presentation or wrap it up.

Here is one of my favourite presenters, Steve Spangler, doing the demonstration. http://www.stevespanglerscience.com/experiment/00000109

Have fun.