Science Smarts: Science Fair Eruptions

By Medicine Hat News on January 25, 2025.

All I can say is that “Science Fair Season” is here!

I am so excited to be able to go around to the schools in southeastern Alberta and assist teachers and students with their science fair projects.

Schools are already planning their in school science fair days before the 50th annual Regional Science Fair on March 22.

It is exciting to see some twists on old classics, which is what inspired me this week.

Let’s get started!

*Remember to ask an adult before doing this experiment.

Materials

• 2 L diet cola

• 2L regular cola

• 2L generic/store brand soda

• 2L of soda of choice

• several rolls of mint Mentos

• outdoor location OR tarp/plastic to cover indoor area

• meter stick

• science notebook

• pencil

• science helper

Procedure

1. Ideally, select an outdoor location, which has a flat area. If not, find an indoor area BUT cover it with a tarp to contain the mess.

2. Have your science helper hold the meter stick next to the bottle of soda as they will be measuring how high your eruption for each soda is.

3. Open the bottle of diet cola and position the bottle on the ground so that it will not tip over.

4. Place seven Mentos candies in your hand.

5. Place your hand next to the mouth of the soda.

6. Count down . . . 1 2 3 . . drop the Mentos in the bottle.

7. Most important step – – – RUN AWAY!

8. Repeat with the other varieties of soda.

9. Record your results in your science notebook.

10. Finish your science fair project.

11. Register for the Regional Science Fair on March 22!

What is going on?

Each Mentos candy has thousands of tiny pits all over the surface.

These tiny pits are called nucleation sites – perfect places for carbon dioxide bubbles in the cola to form.

As soon as the Mentos hit the cola, bubbles form all over the surface of the candy and then quickly rise to the surface of the liquid.

Couple this with the fact that the Mentos candies are heavy and sink to the bottom of the bottle and you’ve got a double-whammy.

When all this gas is released, it literally pushes all of the liquid up and out of the bottle in an incredible cola blast.

I just created a simple science fair project out of an old favourite of mine!

You simply added variables (the thing you changed OR the types of soda used).

It is that simple.

Science fair does not have to be complicated, often times, we overthink and get worried.

There is no need, and if you need support, or have questions, never hesitate to reach out anytime.

Patty Rooks, senior scientific consultant PRAXIS, “Connecting Science To The Community.” Contact Praxis at praxis@praxismh.ca, http://www.praxismh.ca, Tweet or follow us @PraxisMedHat, or friend us on Facebook. Address: 12 826 11th Street SE, Medicine Hat, AB, T1A 1T7 Phone: 403-527-5365, email: praxis@praxismh.ca.

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