# If I eat Mentos and chug a soda, will I explode? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 20, 2010, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-eat-mentos-and-chug-a-soda-will-i-explode/550923 "2010-08-20T22:42:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2010, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-eat-mentos-and-chug-a-soda-will-i-explode/550923/1 "2010-08-20T22:42:14Z")
Or at least belch really big. If not, why not? ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2010, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-eat-mentos-and-chug-a-soda-will-i-explode/550923/2 "2010-08-20T22:45:45Z")
Expect a lot of belching. You won’t explode because the pressure required to open up your lower esophageal sphincter to let gas escape is orders of magnitude lower than the pressure required to cause you to explode. ---
**Author:** ![AClockworkMelon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aclockworkmelon/32/10803_2.png) [@AClockworkMelon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AClockworkMelon)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2010, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-eat-mentos-and-chug-a-soda-will-i-explode/550923/3 "2010-08-20T22:53:51Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > Expect a lot of belching. > > You won’t explode because the pressure required to open up your lower esophageal sphincter to let gas escape is orders of magnitude lower than the pressure required to cause you to explode. Will that fizzy soapy stuff come surging up his throat? ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2010, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-eat-mentos-and-chug-a-soda-will-i-explode/550923/4 "2010-08-20T22:54:52Z")
Note that you have to swallow the Mentos without chewing it in order for anything to happen. Otherwise, you destroy the surface, and that’s all she wrote. ---
**Author:** ![JSexton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/96bed5/32.png) [@JSexton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JSexton)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2010, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-eat-mentos-and-chug-a-soda-will-i-explode/550923/5 "2010-08-20T22:55:08Z")
You also have to swallow the mentos whole, 4 or 5 of them at once, in order to produce the effect, as well as chug the Diet Coke in such a way as to not lose its carbonation. Both of these might be a bit tricky to pull off. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2010, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-eat-mentos-and-chug-a-soda-will-i-explode/550923/6 "2010-08-20T23:03:56Z")
> [@ultrafilter](#): > > Note that you have to swallow the Mentos without chewing it in order for anything to happen. Otherwise, you destroy the surface, and that’s all she wrote. Wouldn’t your stomach acid destroy the surface immediately? So I think you’d need to hold the Mentos in your esophagus. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2010, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-eat-mentos-and-chug-a-soda-will-i-explode/550923/7 "2010-08-21T00:23:07Z")
Numerous Youtube videos demonstrating this are easily available (didn’t link to any because they might be considered NSFW). ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2010, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-eat-mentos-and-chug-a-soda-will-i-explode/550923/8 "2010-08-21T00:41:01Z")
> [@Inigo\_Montoya](#): > > If not, why not? It has to be Diet Coke. Others do not have the right ingredient mix. ---
**Author:** ![Add99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/977dab/32.png) [@Add99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Add99)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2010, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-eat-mentos-and-chug-a-soda-will-i-explode/550923/9 "2010-08-21T00:41:50Z")
Watch out for Pop Rocks, though. I friend of my cousin knew this kid… ---
**Author:** ![standingwave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@standingwave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/standingwave)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2010, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-eat-mentos-and-chug-a-soda-will-i-explode/550923/10 "2010-08-21T00:47:24Z")
Mythbusters #81: This myth is based on an Internet video where a guy swallows Diet Coke and Mentos and keels over, purportedly because it ruptured his stomach. The build team set out to see if this was reality TV or a work of fiction. [http://kwc.org/mythbusters/2007/06/episode\_81\_grenades\_and\_guns.html](http://kwc.org/mythbusters/2007/06/episode_81_grenades_and_guns.html) ---
**Author:** ![mnemosyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c4cdca/32.png) [@mnemosyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mnemosyne)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2010, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-eat-mentos-and-chug-a-soda-will-i-explode/550923/11 "2010-08-21T03:13:45Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > > [@ultrafilter](#): > > > > Note that you have to swallow the Mentos without chewing it in order for anything to happen. Otherwise, you destroy the surface, and that’s all she wrote. > > Wouldn’t your stomach acid destroy the surface immediately? So I think you’d need to hold the Mentos in your esophagus. In my whole life, especially since I gave up chemistry to study mechanical engineering, I never thought I would \*want \*to have access to a dissolution apparatus.