Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

Will soda and mentos still erupt if the soda is poured into a different container first?

my3kidsarefirst,

Welcome to the forum. Great question and one that can be tested quite easily with the scientific method. First, the reaction you see between soda and mentos is due mostly to a process called nucleation. This is where the carbonation in the soda reacts with the porus surface of the mento causing a rapid escaping of the gas trapped in the liquid. I would expect some carbonation would be lost as a result of pouring the soda from one container to another. It would be an interesting experiment to see the reduction in the observed reaction given reducing levels of carbonation (i.e. how does the reaction reduce as the soda becomes more "flat"). Also, given the same carbonation, how does the size of the mento affect the reaction. Both these lines of experimentation would require several samples of soda and a couple tubes of mentos, perhaps a video camera to video the reactions for comparison.