Mentos Explosion!

Thank you to the students who helped us out in performing the Mentos explosion activity. We added mint mentos to three different types of sodas, in an attempt to see which type of soda will explode the best!

Independent Variable: Type of Soda (Diet Pepsi vs. Pepsi vs. Mountain Dew)
Controlled Variables: Amount of soda, Amount of Mentos, Flavor of Mentos
Dependent Variable: How high the soda explodes

Read this wonderful explanation of why the soda explodes. In short, the small bumps on the Mentos serve as "nucleation sites" where the carbon dioxide of the soda can form bubbles and escape!

Now, watch the video and see for yourself what happened!
(YouTube: Wahiawa Mentos)