Science question:
What happens when a gas is released from a liquid?
The three states of matter are liquid, gas and solid. In this experiment, we will see what happens when you release the gas from a liquid.
Supplies needed:
- 2-litre plastic bottle of diet soda (any soda works, but a diet soda won’t leave a sticky mess)
- Mentos mints
The experiment:
Put your bottle on the ground outdoors, and have a hose handy – this is messy! Open the bottle and drop in 2 Mentos.
The outcome:
A geyser of liquid will shoot out the bottle.
Why it worked:
Soda is made by dissolving carbon dioxide (CO2) into a liquid, usually by pressure. But CO2 is nonpolar and water is polar. That means they don’t like to stay mixed. When mint is dropped into the soda, it falls to the bottom and carbon dioxide bubbles are freed from the soda. Because the bubbles are lighter than soda, they rise to the surface of the soda – FAST, like in a geyser!
Variation:
Try changing up one of the ingredients in this experiment. You can either use a different type of candy, a different brad of soda or even change the temperature of the soda. How do these changes affect the “geyser”?
Source: The 101 Coolest Simple Science Experiments by Rachel Miller, Holly Homer & Jamie Harrington.