What you need:
- Binder Clip
- Paper Clip
- Mint LifeSavers
- 2 Liter of Diet Soda at room temperature
This experiment should be done outside in an open area because it can get messy!
What to do:
1. Straighten out the paper clip to form a hook.
2. String 5 LifeSavers on the paper clip.
3. Clamp the end of the paper clip in the binder clip.
4. Carefully open the soda bottle without causing
too many bubbles.
5. Suspend the LifeSavers in the bottle with the binder clip resting on the rim of the bottle.
6. Pinch open the clip and RUN.
What’s the science?
Mint LifeSaver candies have a million microscopic pits on them that allow for a process called nucleation. Nucleation is a phase change. In this case the phase change is a bubble forming from a liquid. The little pits on the candy are places where bubbles can form. The bubbles in the soda are carbon dioxide. When a candy is dropped into the soda all of the carbon dioxide will rush to the candy and form lots and lots of bubbles. There are so many bubbles that the pressure builds up and pushes the soda out of the top of the bottle.
What will happen if . . .
- you use more or fewer LifeSavers?
- you use another kind of candy like Sweet Tarts or Mentos?
- you use cold soda?
- Choose one thing to change (that’s the variable), and predict what you think will happen, then test it.
Extreme Pepsi Fountain
Lifesaver warning. I used
Lifesaver warning. I used to do a similar experiment all the time for my classes. I would use a hammer and nail to put a hole in a similar 2 liter soda bottle lid. Then I would use thread to tie about 5-6 lifesavers, pulling it through the hole in the lid so that there would be a tail of string outside of the bottle with the lifesavers inside. I carefully unscrewed the current lid and put on my 'modified' one, scotch taping the tail to the side of the bottle. Then I would go teach my class and then bring them outside when I was ready. I would pull off the scotch tape and let go of the string and run backwards. Having a hole in the lid made the fountain last longer and go higher.
WARNING: But lately I haven't been able to find any lifesavers that are small enough to fit through the top of the bottle! The first year this happened to me, I didn't even notice they didn't fit, until about 1/2 hour before my class when I was setting up the experiment. I ended up breaking up the lifesavers into pieces and just dumping them into the bottle. There was a fountain, but not as good as the one I was used to. Sigh...
I gave up two years ago and now do the typical mentos fountain. It still doesn't work as well as those lifesavers on a string. I'm hoping to do broken up lifesavers in a mesh bag tied with the string. Maybe that will work better. ;-)
Mrs. P.
Mrs. P., The technique you
Mrs. P.,
The technique you describe is similar to how we did our Extreme Pepsi Fountain. We used a drill to make soda caps with various sized holes.
You are correct about the size of the life savers that you get in bags, they are too big. However, we found the over 2,000 roll-sized life savers in the check out lanes of local grocery stores in Toledo. We pretty much cleaned out the supply in the city!
If you're careful you can also drill a small hole through the mentos candy. You have to watch out for the drill catching the mentos which kinda melts as you drill it. Also be careful not to crack the mint. We just found it much easier to use the life savers.