# menthos and soda **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 20, 2006, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/menthos-and-soda/373346 "2006-09-20T00:11:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![solkoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/919ad9/32.png) [@solkoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solkoe)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2006, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/menthos-and-soda/373346/1 "2006-09-20T00:11:58Z")
Most people have seen what happens when a menthos tablet is dropped into a bottle of soda. Gas explosion. Go to Youtube and witness a video if you haven’t seen it. My question is, will any porous substance (like chalk) work? How is the gas released so quickly? ---
**Author:** ![spingears](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ebca7d/32.png) [@spingears](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spingears)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2006, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/menthos-and-soda/373346/2 "2006-09-20T00:18:12Z")
[QUOTE=solkoe] Most people have seen what happens when a menthos tablet is dropped into a bottle of soda. Gas explosion. Go to Youtube and witness a video if you haven’t seen it. My question is, will any porous substance (like chalk) work? How is the gas released so quickly? [/QUOTE] WAG The sugar in the Menthos may provide the sites for rapid release of the CO2 and subsequent high pressurization of the bottle and following explosion or expulsion of liquid. ---
**Author:** ![Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/96bed5/32.png) [@Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patty_O_Furniture)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2006, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/menthos-and-soda/373346/3 "2006-09-20T00:18:23Z")
The key factor is the large amount of surface area that is exposed to the carbonated liquid. The exact mechanism responsible for the large sudden production of carbon dioxide is still under debate: [Mentos Eruption](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mentos_eruption) ---
**Author:** ![Tristan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tristan/32/18058_2.png) [@Tristan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tristan)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2006, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/menthos-and-soda/373346/4 "2006-09-20T00:25:16Z")
Indeed. Mythbusters did this one recently, and what they discovered was that “nucleation”, which is to say the high surface volume of the candies due to a rough surface, combined with the Aspartame, Caffeine, and… uh… High Carbonation, led to the eruption. Soda water also erupted, but not nearly as high. There may have been one other element that added to the geyser effect, but I can’t recall it off the top of my head. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Rosewater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/898d66/32.png) [@Mr.Rosewater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Rosewater)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2006, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/menthos-and-soda/373346/5 "2006-09-20T02:19:21Z")
[QUOTE=Tristan] Indeed. Mythbusters did this one recently, and what they discovered was that “nucleation”, which is to say the high surface volume of the candies due to a rough surface, combined with the Aspartame, Caffeine, and… uh… High Carbonation, led to the eruption. Soda water also erupted, but not nearly as high. There may have been one other element that added to the geyser effect, but I can’t recall it off the top of my head. [/QUOTE] The other factor is another property of Aspartame. It is ‘stickier’ than sugar and increases the surface tension in the Diet Coke, enabling it to maintain its cohesiveness and erupt higher. This is not a quote and is most likely phrased wrong, but I hope you can get what I mean from this. Seeing this phenomenon on TV or YouTube is not the same as seeing it in person. I heartily recommend everyone try this at home, but outside. It is completely safe, but very likely messy. ---
**Author:** ![Rysdad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7cd45c/32.png) [@Rysdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rysdad)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2006, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/menthos-and-soda/373346/6 "2006-09-20T02:34:17Z")
[QUOTE=Mr. Rosewater] I heartily recommend everyone try this at home, but outside. It is completely safe, but very likely messy. [/QUOTE] Me, too. The Rykid and I had some fun with it. I drilled a small hole in the screw-on cap and put the Mentos on a string. I screwed the cap on and the kid let the string go. Got some nice height with that method. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2006, 8:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/menthos-and-soda/373346/7 "2006-09-20T08:00:59Z")
By far the best video of this phenomenon on the web is this one: [http://www.eepybird.com/dcm1.html#featured-video](http://www.eepybird.com/dcm1.html#featured-video) ---
**Author:** ![boytyperanma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4491bb/32.png) [@boytyperanma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/boytyperanma)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2006, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/menthos-and-soda/373346/8 "2006-09-20T12:43:21Z")
[QUOTE=Mangetout] By far the best video of this phenomenon on the web is this one: [http://www.eepybird.com/dcm1.html#featured-video](http://www.eepybird.com/dcm1.html#featured-video) [/QUOTE] Yep I agree with that. Even better on that site is the cautionary tale video of pepsi girl.