A quick announcement about comments: When I first started visiting schools I would get a lot of comments saying things like: "Remember me? I'm John Doe from Mitchell Elementary! My teacher is Ms. Smith!" For a while I replied to these comments and then deleted them to protect the student's privacy--but then I came up with a better idea: Now when I do school visits I have the class name some part of the demonstration - then I let them know that if they want to leave a comment, they can reference the name that they chose and is unique to their class. Naming a ball or balloon is a fun exercise and also a good opportunity to talk about internet safety. So if you see things like #Bob or #teamShocky or "Michael the balloon!" and are wondering what in the world is going on.... that's what's going on. Also, since many of my viewers and fans are kids, any comments with vulgar language or curse words will be deleted.
Great explanation! We ( boys, mom, dad, grandma, grandpa) did this today and had a lot of fun, but did not know the reason the bubbles erupted. I especially like that you show the sand as another option to supporr your hypothesis.
Your video deserves millions of views. Unfortunately the masses are attracted to show and entertainment rather some "scientific method". Great job though, and thanks.
This really helped me! I've been searching everywhere to answer this question but all I got were "experiments" with no real question or explanation. Thank you so much!
great explanations and examples, very good incorporation of easily explained tips and tricks like being critical of a source and applying scientific method. would love some visual aids (illustrations f.ex.) but i understand the editing time would be much longer. you taught me something today!
This is very interesting. Thank you for posting this, I'm starting to look at every Chemistry based Science video so I can prepare for next year when getting back to my education, and this definitely helps understand the strong rate of carbon going in soda once it reacts against the environment or candy to sand if need be.
Nice video. Mentos has another unique feature that speeds the mechanical release of CO2. The recipe contains Sucrose Esters. This caused more, smaller sugar crystals to form when the shell is made. (smaller crystals equal even more nucleation sites. ) The Sucrose Esters also lower the surface tension which also speeds CO2 release.
This is such a fun experiement to do with kids at home! I need to remember this. You really seem to know your science (chemistry in particular). Did you get a science focused college education?
Very useful, scientists can create new ideas based on the information given and shared by other scientists who are interested in the field of making pretty cool stuff happen. I am a scientist who likes making cool stuff but also helping people. Thank you for this video explaining that it was actually the texture and not the sugar found in mentos that developed the reaction. The reaction is all based on texture and other elements.
Thank you for that thought! Your comment will help - videos that receive comments and shares get more traction for sure - but you're right. It's not a meritocracy.
@@ScienceMom Indeed; sadly, meritocracy is a joke*. :-/ But good stuff! I'll definitely be checking out what else you've got. :) (And also, watching this again when I have audio connected, because I don't right now. Heh.) * or, as you may well know, satire. "Although the concept of meritocracy has existed for centuries, the term itself was coined in 1958 by the sociologist Michael Dunlop Young in his satirical essay The Rise of the Meritocracy." (as quoted from wikipedia)
im so glad my mom shared this with meh! this is actually a gud explanation, everyone who i asked said it was a chemical reaction, and i didnt die from boredom! (sry if i sound like an ad 😂 ) thanks science mom!
Wow I always believed it to be a chemical reaction. I actually clicked in the hope to find out what the reagentia and reactionproducts are. But this is very unexpected🧐 Thank you!
Sugar still plays a part right? Since all other candy also produced a fountain. Now I'm curious what will be the difference between sand with sugar and just sand.
Up to a point. Three mentos will produce a higher eruption than one (assuming the amount of carbonation is the same). But if you get beyond five or so, the eruption of bubbles will push extra ones out before they can even fall in.
I’m doing smth like this for my science fair project and I used more sodas and candy did you now you can explode a sprite with smarties? (not the chocolate kind)
I mean, technically this means both are right, since sugar also caused a reaction with the other candy, it's just that the texture is more impactful (?)
@Science mom Hi.... it is me again I just wanted to ask you if i could use other type of soda to make the reaction coz i can't find cocacola in my country What about Pepsi or 7up ?? Is it gonna work?! I really hope you replay coz that would help me a lot
Yes, any type of carbonated beverage will work - mineral water or Pepsi or 7up will all produce a fountain of bubbles. The reason Cocacola is most popular for this demonstration is because it is slightly MORE carbonated than most of the carbonated beverages sold in the U.S. But you will also see good fountains with other types of soda.
@@ScienceMom thank you so much for your help i appreciate it Just in case you're wondering why am i asking these questions here's the thing My school had made a competition between classes it is about the Chimstry reactions.....and they want us to make a Chimstry reaction and explain it And we really want to win it
I know this is an old video but can anyone explain why the other candies reacted in a similar but less spectacular way? I'm left to infer that it also has to do with texture, but I'm wondering if anyone has any better ideas.
It is due to texture- anything that provides nucleation sites for bubbles to form around will produce a reaction. But with smooth candies like the gummy bears it's much milder than with mentos
I don't think there's much you could add that would made a difference - unless you mixed baking soda in with your sand... Most soda has some natural acidity. Adding baking soda to soda alone will cause a decent erruption. If you added vinegar to the soda in advance perhaps it would be even more impressive.
So essentially the process is the dissolved gas rushing to form nucleation sites with the mentos and falling out of solution so rapidly it creates the fountain of foam?
Don't have the money or space to test this out, but how do you think sugar in and of itself would react since it is roughly the same texture as sand? (No pun intended)
hello science mom. i have to do a project each in physics and chemistry for school, and im thinking of doing one on this. i had a question though, do you think it fits under physics or chem? physics, right? please reply c:
Science Mom will be away camping for a few days, so I can try to answer this one. I think this particular experiment seems to fall right between the two fields. I was going to lean towards "chemistry" with my answer, but the descriptions at www.quora.com/What-is-the-difference-between-physics-and-chemistry seem to lean more towards "physics." We'll have to wait a few days for Science Mom to return to weigh in.
Yes @ice cream, you're right. It best fits under physics and the eruption is caused by the dissolved gas interacting with a nucleation site to form larger bubbles. Pretty much any rough texture can serve as a nucleation site. This also explains why if you shake a carbonated beverage, it fizzes up so dramatically -- the shaking causes those dissolved gasses to collide with each other and the side of the container and that produces the same "run-away-reaction" bubble creation, which, again, is all a physical reaction. This is also why when you observe a cup of soda you'll see bubbles forming around the edges of the cup and around the ice, but not in the middle of the liquid. I hope your school project goes well!
