A year ago, we came about a video showing the reaction between mentos and coke.
We became interested in knowing what had caused such reactions.
Curious, we started our research.
We found out that gum arabic and gelatin were the main reasons for the reaction.
Hence, we decided to conduct experiments to see the results for ourselves.
And this, is our project
Our hypothesis is:
Gum arabic is the component responsible for the reaction in coke.
Our research findings:
When you drop the Mentos into the soda, the gelatin and gum arabic from the dissolving candy break the surface tension.
This disrupts the water mesh, so that it takes less work to expand and form new bubbles.
Each Mentos candy has thousands of tiny pits all over the surface.
These tiny pits are called nucleation sites - perfect places for carbon dioxide bubbles to form.
As soon as the Mentos hit the soda, bubbles form all over the surface of the candy.
Couple this with the fact that the Mentos candies are heavy and sink to the bottom of the bottle and you've got a double-whammy.
When all this gas is released, it literally pushes all of the liquid up and out of the bottle in an incredible soda blast.
A year ago, we came about a video showing the reaction between mentos and coke.
We became interested in knowing what had caused such reactions.
Curious, we started our research.
We found out that gum arabic and gelatin were the main reasons for the reaction.
Hence, we decided to conduct experiments to see the results for ourselves.
And this, is our project
Our hypothesis is:
Gum arabic is the component responsible for the reaction in coke.
Our research findings:
When you drop the Mentos into the soda, the gelatin and gum arabic from the dissolving candy break the surface tension.
This disrupts the water mesh, so that it takes less work to expand and form new bubbles.
Each Mentos candy has thousands of tiny pits all over the surface.
These tiny pits are called nucleation sites - perfect places for carbon dioxide bubbles to form.
As soon as the Mentos hit the soda, bubbles form all over the surface of the candy.
Couple this with the fact that the Mentos candies are heavy and sink to the bottom of the bottle and you've got a double-whammy.
When all this gas is released, it literally pushes all of the liquid up and out of the bottle in an incredible soda blast.
Mentos
The candies themselves come in two varieties. 'Mint' and 'Mixed Fruit'. Taste and color are drastically different between the two, but in every other way they are quite similar.
The shape of a Mentos candy is disklike, with an ellipsical bulge in the middle. They measure 3/4" in diameter, and at it's largest point, 6/16" tall.
Net weight is reported as 1.3 OZ/37.5 g, but this was impossible to confirm at the time of this writing.
Coloring of the mint candies is a chalky white, that extends throughout the entire candy. The fruit variety contains three colors, purple (grape), yellow (lemon), and orange (orange).
The mint flavor variety unsurprisingly taste like mint, and could be considered to possess a breath freshening function as well as a cool, menthol-like aftertaste. Mixed fruit have none of these properties, but are instead quite sweet.
The differences between the flavors contained in a mixed fruit package are small. Color seems to be the only real distinguishable quality.
When chewed, the candies disintegrate into a gum like consistency, and if appropriate, release their breath freshening characteristics.
Packaging:
Mentos candies come in cylinder shaped 'rolls', with 14 included in each roll. The label consists of 'mentos' written in block letters, covering approximately 2/3 of the roll lengthwise. Next to this logo is the flavor identification, (i.e. 'mint' or 'mixed fruit') although flavor identification can be more readily obtained from the background coloring of the label.
Mint has a misty bluish white photograph of many Mentos scattered about, while mixed fruit has a more colorful representation of the same shapes, including purple, orange, and yellow disks. It is important to note that the colors displayed on the package are actually much more vibrant and deep than that of the actual product. Do not be misled, all Mentos have a chalky, very light hue to them, no matter what the flavor.
Ingredients:
Mint: sugar, glucose syrup, hydrogenated coconut oil, gelatin, dextrin, natural flavor, corn starch, gum arabic.
Mixed Fruit: sugar, glucose syrup, hydrogenated coconut oil, gelatin, dextrin, natural and artificial flavor, gum arabic, coloring.
Of all the sweets tested, only TicTac had a reaction with coke.
Gum Arabic is present in TicTac, and therefore, it reinforces our hypothesis.
The ingredient, Beef Gelatine, was found in Fruitips and the Yupi Gummy worms.
This again reinforces our hypothesis that gum Arabic is the only component responsible for the reaction with coke.
The other sweet sample, Skittles, contained neither gum Arabic nor gelatine, hence no reaction was observed when the sweets were placed in the Diet Coke.
After our experiments, we can conclude that gum Arabic is the component responsible for the Mentos eruption with Diet Coke.
However, we are unable to tell fully that gelatine has a played a part in the violent reaction due to the unfortunate fact that the because of the difference in manufacturers, some of the ingredient lists on the back of the sweet packages did not specify whether beef gelatine was used or gelatine.
We are not very certain of the difference between these two items, thus we have decided to conclude that gelatine is not necessary for the reaction to occur between Diet Coke and Mentos.
This is proven the TicTac experiment, where a reaction still occurred despite the fact that neither gelatine nor beef gelatine was in the ingredient list.
The ingredients of Diet Coke are:
• Carbonated Water
• High Fructose Corn Syrup
• Caramel Color
• Phosphoric Acid
• Natural Flavors
• Caffeine
• Aspartame (NutraSweet brand)
• Potassium Benzoate
• Citric acid
Uses of the coke [Fun Facts!]
• In many states (in the USA), the highway patrol carries two gallons of Coke in the truck to remove blood from the highway after a car accident.
• You can put a T-bone steak in a bowl of coke and it will be gone in two days.
• To clean a toilet: Pour a can of Coca-Cola into the toilet bowl and let the "real thing" sit for one hour, then flush clean. The citric acid in Coke removes stains from vitreous china.
• To remove rust spots from chrome car bumpers: Rub the bumper with a crumpled-up piece of Reynolds Wrap aluminum foil dipped in Coca-Cola.
• To clean corrosion from car battery terminals: Pour a can of Coca-Cola over the terminals to bubble away the corrosion.
• To loosen a rusted bolt: Applying a cloth soaked in Coca-Cola to the rusted bolt for several minutes.
• To bake a moist ham: Empty a can of Coca-Cola into the baking pan, wrap the ham in aluminum foil, and bake. Thirty minutes before the ham is finished, remove the foil, allowing the drippings to mix with the Coke for a sumptuous brown gravy.
• To remove grease from clothes: Empty a can of coke into a load of greasy clothes, add detergent, and run through a regular cycle. The Coca-Cola will help loosen grease stains.
• It will also clean road haze from your windshield.
• Farmers in India have discovered that common colas, like Coke and Pepsi, can be sprayed on crops and function as an effective and affordable pesticide.
Although the Coca-Cola corporation says this is impossible, literally hundreds of farmers now claim the soft drinks kill the bugs on their cotton plants as well as any other pesticide. http://www.organicconsumers.org/toxic/pop.cfm
Coke recipes
COCA COLA CAKE
2 c. flour, unsifted
2 c. sugar
1 c. butter
1 c. Coca Cola
2 tbsp. cocoa
1/2 c. buttermilk
2 eggs
1 tsp. soda
1 tsp. vanilla
1/4 tsp. salt
1 1/2 c. miniature marshmallows
Sift flour and sugar into large bowl. In sauce pan, heat butter, cola, and cocoa to boiling point, then pour over dry mixture, stirring until smooth (about 1 minute). Add buttermilk, eggs, soda, vanilla and salt. Add marshmallows; they will float. Pour batter into a greased and floured 13 x 9 x 2 inch pan and bake at 350 degrees for 30 to 35 minutes. Ice and serve.
ICING INGREDIENTS:
1/2 c butter
1/3 c. Coca Cola
2 tbsp. cocoa
1 lb. box powdered sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1 c. pecan pieces
More recipes:http://www.cooks.com/rec/search/0,1-0,cola_ingredients,FF.html
