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Soda And Mentos Research Paper

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Most people see the famous soda and Mentos eruption and think it has something to do with chemistry or that it is a chemical reaction. Well, this is completely wrong because the reaction is actually a physical reaction. Unlike a physical reaction, a chemical reaction is a process that rearranges the molecular or ionic structure of a substance. That is different from a change in physical form or a nuclear reaction, which is a physical reaction. The reason the soda and Mentos reaction is a physical reaction instead of a chemical reaction is because the physical form of a carbon dioxide molecule is being changed to a bubble.
One key component of soda and Mentos reaction is that soda and Mentos are two inert materials. Inert means chemically inactive. This meaning that if combined with other materials they would not create a reaction, physical or chemical. The main reason that Mentos and soda are so reactive together is the ingredients. The coating of Mentos, which holds the tiny bumps or nucleation sites is made up of sugar, aspartame, and potassium benzoate. These materials reduce the work it takes to form bubbles, creating a rabid succession of carbon dioxide bubbles. Other mints like altoids have some of these ingredients like sugar, but not the others such as …show more content…

The surface of a Mentos is coarse and bumpy, these bumps are called nucleation sites. These sites can be any bumpy surface like sandpaper or even the ridges of a finger, but since there are so many bumps on the surface of a Mentos they are perfect for this experiment. Soda is full of carbon dioxide, and normally, carbon dioxide molecules are separated, however when offered a nucleation site the molecules come together and form a bubble. Since the volume in this bottle greatly increases because of the production of bubbles the bubbles can not be contained, so they erupt out of the top of the

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