Air Date: August 9, 2006
Why does dropping Mentos into a bottle of Diet Coke create a geyser effect?
Mostly because the (uncolored/unglazed version of) Mentos provides nucleation sites for the dissolved carbon dioxide in the Diet Coke to escape as a gas. Other active ingredients in the cascade-effect reaction include aspartame (artificial sweetener), potassium benzoate (preservative), and caffeine in the Diet Coke; and gum arabic and gelatin in the Mentos. The ingredients seem to have a perfect compatibility with each other and, when mixed together and added to the nucleation, creates a chemical reaction that forces the soda to release all of its dissolved carbon dioxide at once, thus causing a more violent eruption than carbonated water alone.
(This is the first segment not to be assigned a "busted", "plausible" or "confirmed" rating, as there was no "myth" to be proved or disproved. Adam and Jamie did the tests simply to dissect the process and determine what actually makes a so-called Diet Coke geyser work.)
A stamp placed on the rotor of a helicopter can unbalance the spinning rotors enough to cause it to crash.
busted
A stamp in a controlled scale test did not cause any changes to the helicopter rotor’s rotation. The Mythbusters immediately ramped up the test to the scale of 8,000 stamps, which destroyed the scale model helicopter. The full-sized test also produced the same results as the stamp did not cause the helicopter to crash and, according to the pilot, did not cause any significant change in the way the helicopter flew. A stamp placed on the tail rotor also did not cause any noticeable change.
I have a question. What’s with the addition of dry ice to the Diet Coke + Mentos mixture? Does dry ice as a variable have any effect to Diet Coke + Mentos geyser effect?
June 26, 2007 at 8:31 AMI tried this it doesnt work!!!
July 9, 2007 at 1:32 PMI recently (Jul 07) received an email (not dated) making the following statements that relate to the ‘diet coke geyser’:
July 17, 2007 at 8:07 PMAlexander B. Mergenthaler from the chemical institute l’Institut USP (France) verified and practically proved that the substance from Coca Cola “Light, Acesulfame K INS930, mixed together with the Menthos sweets, releases a deadly chemical reaxtion known as Ta9V4. In a very short time this combination produces and releases huge quantities of gas under high pressure – an explosion!
“..a pupil of primary school Dante Alighieri from São Paulo, Brazil, died..”
“The cause of the child’s death was the mixture of the substances in the two foods.”
How can i find out if this is true?
Isabelle, dry ice is simply solidified Carbon dioxide
July 28, 2007 at 12:21 AMi was just wondering if the reaction would occur much more quickly if the mentos were crushed?
August 4, 2007 at 9:16 AMim doing this for a science project (experement) and i used diet coke, and pepsi. the pepsi worked better than coke, even tho they have the same ingredents, why is that?
August 30, 2007 at 8:28 PM“Andrew:
i was just wondering if the reaction would occur much more quickly if the mentos were crushed?”
Probably, I watched a science show where they used different substances to get the geyser. Salt for example will produce the same effect.
September 14, 2007 at 10:36 PMIm also goin to do a science project on mentos and coke, and i was wondering if i shoud consider the shape and texture of the mento as a variable?
September 17, 2007 at 8:27 PMIm doing this for a science project and we have to get different variables for it. What would be good choices of variables?
September 24, 2007 at 4:33 PMyou probably wanna isolate the ingredients like adam and jamie did and see wich one react thats what im doing
October 7, 2007 at 4:13 PMDoes it have to be Mentos or could it be another kind of mint like Altiods or something? And does flavor matter?
October 18, 2007 at 3:53 PMwhat would happen if you ate a mento and drank diet coke at the same time?
October 21, 2007 at 1:07 AMThe first time I heard about this “myth” (not really a myth, it’s a hoax), I smirked. When I was a child, I did what every curious child would do, I added sugar to my Coke. The result was a lot of foam, the drink released all its gas in a few seconds! It was not explosive, but it was very funny (for a child). When I heard someone died after drinking Coke and eating Mentos, I recalled the Coke+sugar experiment. No big deal, it was an obvious hoax. Adding obscure references like an inexistent Ta9V4 substance and a dead boy in Brazil was just too much (by the way, I live in Brazil and I know that school, there was no such “explosive death”, I assure you all). If you are still adding Mentos to Diet Coke, sorry, but you are doing it wrong. If it didn’t work with sugar and normal Coke, it will never work with Mentos and sugarless version of Coke…
October 22, 2007 at 7:16 AMyo lo intente con mentos y coca cola regular y no jalo ! ——– i tried it with mentos and regular coke, and it does not works !
October 24, 2007 at 6:04 PMWHAT KIND OF MENTOS DOES IT HAS TO BE ?
October 24, 2007 at 6:04 PMuhm can anybody giv tips for a higher geyser. i’m doin this for a science fair thing.
November 3, 2007 at 11:47 PMIt is so cool. My whole 6th grade did it with our Science teacher. It really works. She told us to bring in 2 liter Diet Coke and we did it because we are studying geysers!
November 5, 2007 at 6:43 PMI like mentos :o & coke with my lunch it gives
November 6, 2007 at 6:33 PM` a bit of a fizz to my life
now ive got a question if you had an object about the size of a mento and the same shape (but not a mento) would it technally have the same reaction?
November 6, 2007 at 10:38 PMdoes diet coke and mentos combiened give a explosion?
November 12, 2007 at 11:32 PMi think u have to much time on ur hands i mean who would even bother to test all these things??
November 14, 2007 at 7:46 PMi have to do this for a sience project as well D:
November 14, 2007 at 7:47 PMCoke zero has a better geyser effect than diet coke.
November 18, 2007 at 1:22 PMmy friend and i are doing this for the science fair
November 26, 2007 at 2:58 PMwe are going to win
thanks for the idea peeps
xoxoxoxo ttyl,
gigi & rae
how is that theases 2 mixare compare
December 4, 2007 at 12:11 PMkgkvjgfigjojkbjvj nbfjcgkp j nj hfnche jf itiz98b9tjvkrjmeh djhfj ud dh ndu;zuedjvpn ifuimf
December 4, 2007 at 12:17 PMbitch
December 4, 2007 at 12:18 PMdjfufjfkt kgjti ij mnv fjc ugkvmlypi naaaaaaaaaaaaaaatrso hjigyknkyjlt’fjiipkb gkbiyp gk
December 4, 2007 at 12:24 PMmy name is bnorm
December 12, 2007 at 1:55 PMdo you guys have a video about your guys experiment(s)…
December 13, 2007 at 3:06 PM@ one site it said the coke and mentos is a physical reaction and the guy is a scientist
December 15, 2007 at 2:31 PMIF you add a “dimple” or a hole in the middle and the middle of the other side it proves to be a higher geyser. mine went 11 feet with that and 7 Mentos. I don’t think fruit Mentos work but i know that all these other sites (like sciencebuddies.com) says that you must use mint Mentos.
December 17, 2007 at 5:42 PMYOU MUST USE MINT!!!
December 17, 2007 at 5:43 PMWHAT KIND OF SCIENCE IS THIS?????
December 17, 2007 at 5:43 PMI did this for a science experiment and it was awesome! However, I tried closing the bottle and screwed up. Anybody else try this? Does it burst?
December 17, 2007 at 7:40 PMI am doing this for a science project as a class @ school, i am using diet cherry coke and diet coke…do you think that flavor matters
January 7, 2008 at 9:53 PMMy teacher says that diet seven up works
January 7, 2008 at 9:54 PMwhy dont you put mentos in befor the coke
January 10, 2008 at 6:50 AMhow can you make the boom bigger
January 14, 2008 at 2:07 PMcan you make it into a bomb
January 14, 2008 at 2:11 PMmy teacher says that there are too many non controllable variables in this experiment. can anyone tell me how to stabilze this project. whether i should add some things to it or take some things out!?!?!?!?
January 14, 2008 at 2:21 PMbut if u eat a taco it will work
January 16, 2008 at 12:56 PMlexis yes you need to take some things out.
January 16, 2008 at 12:56 PMok me and my friend matthew are doing the science project on mentos and coke can any won give me any tips on how to do it should i crush it or should i use somthing be sides diet coke i need some tips and you will be in coleded in my science project. shoul i freze the bottle then thath it out or just leave it be.
January 16, 2008 at 1:01 PMshode i put a hole in a mintos is it beter than a hole one if so thank u and i will do it me and my friend will be happey and have a pie if it works and i like pie
January 16, 2008 at 1:04 PMI tried the Diet Coke and mentos geyser for my science fair project…and regular coke works better than the diet coke…my highest point with diet was, i think 4.5 feet…and the regular was like 7.3 feet…anyway…you guys inspired me to do that so thanks for the idea!!!
January 17, 2008 at 1:42 PMwhat ingredients in the mentos and soda cause this reaction
January 17, 2008 at 10:56 PMi just tried it and it didn’t react quite as well as on the show. but my question is since i used a sugar free mentos is that why it didn’t react nearly as impressively as on the show. does anyone happen to know if that is why it didn’t work nearly as well as on the show..
January 20, 2008 at 2:16 AMwe are doing an experiment with coke and mentos, in science and we were wondering what the ingredients are to make this explosion happen. We found out that it doesn’t matter whether we use mint of fruit mentos and whether we use coke or diet coke.
January 22, 2008 at 8:39 AMcould you help us by telling us what we need to mix in order to get the explosion???
Hi! we still have another question in addition to the others… what ingredients should be isolated?
January 22, 2008 at 8:42 AMI am 8 1/2 and your show is my favorite! I picked the coke/mentos experiment for my third grade science project and am really excited to get started. Keep up the good work. PS I got an A in Science for this report card! Brian in Malabar, FL
January 27, 2008 at 6:08 PMyou
January 28, 2008 at 1:12 PMme and one of my friends are doin this for an science project and we tested it and works very good
January 28, 2008 at 7:02 PMwhat size bottles should u use? 2 liters?
January 29, 2008 at 8:04 PMr u supposed to put a whole roll of mentos in at once?
January 29, 2008 at 8:21 PMhey man this thing really does work
February 4, 2008 at 2:43 PMi did it for my science project it got me a 95% so it has to be pretty good lol
made my mark go up but ya thanxz for the idea …
i am doing an experiment also for my 6th grade science fair and i was wondering if anyone knew which soda works best?
February 12, 2008 at 6:56 PMYou guys rock my fav was when you did the so girls fart one on youtube that wuz halarious
February 20, 2008 at 8:50 PMsomeone at my school did that and got in huge trouble.
p.s. he had to clean it up.
March 1, 2008 at 9:32 AMMy God Brother is doing this for his Science Project and we are using fruit mentos and mint, along with other types of soda. so far we know for sure that mint works better and goes even higher with ANY type of diet soda.
March 2, 2008 at 3:26 PMHi, What kind of soda is best?
March 3, 2008 at 3:30 PMand do u crush the mentos Or wot?
dus it haf 2 be mentos at all?
In the Diet coke and Mentos experiments, the Myth Busters attempted to try to find something which would rival the Diet Coke and Mentos “phenomenon” and they put dry ice in an empty 2 liter bottle. They put water in with the dry ice to help it sublimate (turn from a solid into a gas without turning into a liquid) quicker. It caused a large “explosion.”
April 1, 2008 at 10:26 AMThe mythbusters also said that you should use diet coke, and use whole mentos (without crushing them or cutting them).
April 1, 2008 at 10:27 AMRE: Mentos
April 1, 2008 at 1:18 PMI noticed claims on the Wikipedia article for Mentos that gelatin is NOT an ingredient in Mentos, but at the time that this episode aired, it may have been an ingredient in the mentos.
To follow the experiment which the MythBusters performed (and to duplicate the circumstances of which they tested), you should use 2 liter bottles of Diet Coca-Cola and regular mint mentos. However, if the experiment does not work, it may be due to some changes in the ingredients between now and the time the episode aired. (Please note that these instructions are to the best of my knowledge, and that these are the instructions which I can take from the episode.)
April 1, 2008 at 1:22 PMTo all who want to know anout dc&m;
The Ingerdients that need to be isolated are above these comments-”…aspartame (artificial sweetener), potassium benzoate (preservative), and caffeine in the Diet Coke; and gum arabic and gelatin in the Mentos.”
April 7, 2008 at 8:28 AMNot only that, but it needs to be the origional mint Mentos, without the glaze on it. Diet Coke works the best because of the amount of CO2 in it, added with the chemical make-up that make it so unstable.
Salt will work as well, as it too will break the fragile balance between the liquid, and the CO2: however, other sodas will work, but without the same result.
Crushing the mentos gets rid of the nucleation, which is when the bubbles of CO2 form in the small pits on the suface of the Mentos, and then rise to the surface. You will not get as good of an explosion.
By the way, eating a mentos, then drinking soda will still cause the reaction of ingredients, which might make your stomach explode, or just puke.
Any questions, or comments, email me: Fiori_72@yahoo.com
What Chemicals in the soda and the mentos arract
April 11, 2008 at 3:53 PMHi Guys,
I particularly enjoyed the stamp on the helicopter experiment. I would imagine that any engineer worth his salt would design enough fault tolerance into a rotor head and tail rotor to deal with an out of balance of the order of a postage stamp. Would it be conceivable that a similar weight foreign object on a critical aerodynamic area of a blade could cause a failure ? I remember reading an article on propellor blade cracks on fixed wing aircraft eventually traced to landings on unsealed strips resulting in nicks in the leading edges of the blades, pilot inspects prop prior to take off and IAW operations manual smooths the nicks by filing but doesn’t maintain the correct profile of the blade edge, resultant aerodynamic buffetting from turbulence causes fatigue cracking of the damaged blade.
Cheers
Phil
April 14, 2008 at 7:15 AMI am doing an expirement with mentos and diet soda of different brands. I want to see if the different soda has a stronger chemical reaction with mentos any suggestions?
April 15, 2008 at 6:38 AMhi wats this bout im so bored wanna get high and laid oo lala hope my teacher aint behind me shes a dik haha like my yahoo lolness soo bored suposed to be working on my science project but not =]]
April 15, 2008 at 3:32 PMim so cool im giddy =)
June 2, 2008 at 7:14 PMcal me hunny
i be waitng 4 u babe
cocaine 56 trade st
June 2, 2008 at 7:15 PMthat eposide was awesome i saw it and told my teacher and so now we are doing as a test i got sprayed like crazy b/c we are learned about homogenous and heterogenous mixtures well thankx u guys are awesome
June 5, 2008 at 9:25 AMJudging by the comments, Mentos and Diet Coke have some very negative psychological effects which should have been studied before telling millions of impressionable children to combine them!
June 5, 2008 at 5:32 PM