# Mentos and Diet Coke-Brilliant **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 5, 2006, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mentos-and-diet-coke-brilliant/359436 "2006-06-05T02:24:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![sleestak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/919ad9/32.png) [@sleestak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sleestak)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2006, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mentos-and-diet-coke-brilliant/359436/1 "2006-06-05T02:24:46Z")
I ran across this [link](http://eepybird.com/dcm1.html) over at Slashdot. Diet Coke and Mentos. Absolutely brilliant Slee ---
**Author:** ![Electronic\_Chaos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Electronic\_Chaos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Electronic_Chaos)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2006, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mentos-and-diet-coke-brilliant/359436/2 "2006-06-05T05:28:57Z")
It seems I haven’t heard anything about the Diet Coke and Mentos combination until a few months ago, when I started hearing about it everywhere. Is this a new discovery? Or an old one that’s been brought into the limelight again? ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2006, 6:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mentos-and-diet-coke-brilliant/359436/3 "2006-06-05T06:21:51Z")
That has to be one of the coolest things I have ever seen. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2006, 7:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mentos-and-diet-coke-brilliant/359436/4 "2006-06-05T07:33:51Z")
That’s great - I can’t wait to try it out. I wonder if the results will be any different with our sugar-based Coke (I don’t expect it to be, but you never know) But please - do warn if you’re linking to a page with embedded video. Sometimes Quicktime makes the machine crash. Normally, I can check the URL, but not with an embedded file like that. ---
**Author:** ![Meeko](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e495f1/32.png) [@Meeko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meeko)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2006, 10:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mentos-and-diet-coke-brilliant/359436/5 "2006-06-05T10:49:17Z")
The video is great. Music is good too. The “joke” at the end just makes it perfect. the two “scientists” toast the experiment, and then sprew the coke themselves ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2006, 11:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mentos-and-diet-coke-brilliant/359436/6 "2006-06-05T11:15:46Z")
This isn’t really about “food” or “entertainment” (at least, not in the sense of “arts and entertainment”) so I’m moving it from Cafe Society to MPSIMS. ---
**Author:** ![ParentalAdvisory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/53a042/32.png) [@ParentalAdvisory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParentalAdvisory)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2006, 11:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mentos-and-diet-coke-brilliant/359436/7 "2006-06-05T11:21:08Z")
I kept meaning to ask a GQ about this. Anybody know what the reaction is? Chemicals involved, etc… I’ve seen videos dating back to 2004, so it’s definately not a new fad. ---
**Author:** ![audiobottle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bc8723/32.png) [@audiobottle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/audiobottle)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2006, 11:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mentos-and-diet-coke-brilliant/359436/8 "2006-06-05T11:59:48Z")
> [@ParentalAdvisory](#): > > I kept meaning to ask a GQ about this. Anybody know what the reaction is? Chemicals involved, etc… According to the website, it’s all about the nucleation sites. Apparently Mentos have tons of little areas on it which bubbles can form around. Because it’s heavy enough to float to the bottom it reacts with the entire bottle and all those bubbles add up to one big geyser. ---
**Author:** ![Turek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/turek/32/18782_2.png) [@Turek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Turek)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2006, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mentos-and-diet-coke-brilliant/359436/9 "2006-06-05T12:53:10Z")
> [@audiobottle](#): > > Because it’s heavy enough to \*\*float \*\* to the bottom … AKA “sink”. 😃 ---
**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:** [June 5, 2006, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mentos-and-diet-coke-brilliant/359436/10 "2006-06-05T13:03:59Z")
I like it; it’s got a sort of Blue Man Group vibe to it. Is there a high-quality downloadable version anywhere? ---
**Author:** ![Cluricaun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bb73d2/32.png) [@Cluricaun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cluricaun)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2006, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mentos-and-diet-coke-brilliant/359436/11 "2006-06-05T13:18:57Z")
In the May edition of FHM magazine there is a spread featuring Kari Byron from Mythbusters, and this is one of the things they have her explaining. While wearing a red bikini and a doctors lab coat. I haven’t gotten any Mentos since reading (well, sort of reading, sort of staring) the article, but this is soooo on my to do list. ---
**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:** [July 3, 2006, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mentos-and-diet-coke-brilliant/359436/12 "2006-07-03T22:36:00Z")
I wanted to revive this thread to ask about this experiment. We want to try it as part of the Independence Day festivities tomorrow. We bought several rolls of Mentos and a two-liter bottle of Diet Coke, along with a two-liter bottle of seltzer water. Will it work with seltzer water (which will be less messy, and is cheaper)? Any other advice? And before you go do a web search, I’ve already found [this](http://www.stevespanglerscience.com/experiment/00000109) page with some advice, but would appreciate hearing of any others with advice. ---
**Author:** ![Garfield226](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Garfield226](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Garfield226)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2006, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mentos-and-diet-coke-brilliant/359436/13 "2006-07-03T22:39:28Z")
> [@Dewey Finn](#): > > I wanted to revive this thread to ask about this experiment. We want to try it as part of the Independence Day festivities tomorrow. We bought several rolls of Mentos and a two-liter bottle of Diet Coke, along with a two-liter bottle of seltzer water. Will it work with seltzer water (which will be less messy, and is cheaper)? Any other advice? > > And before you go do a web search, I’ve already found [this](http://www.stevespanglerscience.com/experiment/00000109) page with some advice, but would appreciate hearing of any others with advice. I don’t know about the seltzer water, but might I suggest store-brand diet soda? I don’t think there’s anything specific about the Coca-Cola brand itself, and store-brand soda can be very cheap. (no guarantees, as I haven’t tried it myself…just a suggestion) ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2006, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mentos-and-diet-coke-brilliant/359436/14 "2006-07-03T22:41:26Z")
> [@Dewey Finn](#): > > I wanted to revive this thread to ask about this experiment. We want to try it as part of the Independence Day festivities tomorrow. We bought several rolls of Mentos and a two-liter bottle of Diet Coke, along with a two-liter bottle of seltzer water. Will it work with seltzer water (which will be less messy, and is cheaper)? Any other advice? > > And before you go do a web search, I’ve already found [this](http://www.stevespanglerscience.com/experiment/00000109) page with some advice, but would appreciate hearing of any others with advice. Based on what **Cecil** says, I’d say that Diet Coke is going to work waaaaay better. > [@](#): > > However, scientific tests conducted at the legendary Straight Dope labs have proved conclusively that they do in fact exist. Moreover, it is clear that not only do NutraSweetened beverages produce more foam, but the foam lasts longer. The ecological significance of this development is too awful to contemplate. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2006, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mentos-and-diet-coke-brilliant/359436/15 "2006-07-03T22:49:09Z")
Here’s [another experiment](http://www.davideodesign.co.uk/pepsigirl.htm) that didn’t go off quite as well. It features an attractive lady in a tank top instead of nerds in labcoats, though, so I like it better. ---
**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:** [July 3, 2006, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mentos-and-diet-coke-brilliant/359436/16 "2006-07-03T22:49:20Z")
Thanks. I’m also wondering about the appropriate number of Mentos. The page I linked to suggested dropping a whole roll of Mentos in at once, perhaps using a tube. Will it work with one or two tablets? What if I use a 20oz bottle of diet soda? ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2006, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mentos-and-diet-coke-brilliant/359436/17 "2006-07-03T22:51:06Z")
I’ll just mention that a couple weeks ago, at my sister’s place in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, we tried the Mentos-Coke experiment. I don’t think we performed it correctly, however. We used a single Mento per bottle and tried it on 20-oz. bottles of Diet Coke (and Diet Pepsi, for comparative purposes). In both cases, we got a massive foaming reaction which left only about 20% of the original liquid volume in the bottle, but no geyser. We did not get around to trying other combinations of fluid volume and number of Mentos, but either there wasn’t enough liquid, or not enough Mento, or both. I’m going to try it again tomorrow, with more Mentos and different-sized bottles, and see what’s up. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2006, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mentos-and-diet-coke-brilliant/359436/18 "2006-07-04T00:45:18Z")
> [@El\_Kabong](#): > > I’ll just mention that a couple weeks ago, at my sister’s place in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, we tried the Mentos-Coke experiment. I don’t think we performed it correctly, however. We used a single Mento per bottle and tried it on 20-oz. bottles of Diet Coke (and Diet Pepsi, for comparative purposes). In both cases, we got a massive foaming reaction which left only about 20% of the original liquid volume in the bottle, but no geyser. The guys in the video cheat a little bit. They drill a small hole in the cap bead three or four Mentos onto a string, then put them under the cap and screw the cap back on. When they let go of the string, the Mentos drop into the soda and the foam shoots out the little hole. ---
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2006, 7:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mentos-and-diet-coke-brilliant/359436/19 "2006-07-04T07:07:49Z")
Big deal…we’ve been doing this in in Las Vegas for years. Check out the [Las Vegas huge Menthos/Diet Coke display](http://www.bellagio.com/pages/attrac_highfountain_noflash.asp#). ---
**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:** [July 4, 2006, 8:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mentos-and-diet-coke-brilliant/359436/20 "2006-07-04T08:16:44Z")
> [@friedo](#): > > The guys in the video cheat a little bit. They drill a small hole in the cap bead three or four Mentos onto a string, then put them under the cap and screw the cap back on. When they let go of the string, the Mentos drop into the soda and the foam shoots out the little hole. Not sure if I’d call that cheating; the video makes it pretty clear that’s how they set it up, and there’s no way they’d have been able to arrange the video without doing that. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mentos-and-diet-coke-brilliant/359436.md?page=2)