Making a rocket with Diet Coke and Mentos

Video: How To Launch a Mentos Soda Rocket

Content

To step
Part 1 of 4: Preparing the materials
Part 2 of 4: Making the Mentos Pattern
Part 3 of 4: Loading and launching the missile
Part 4 of 4: Experimenting with the missile
Tips
Warnings
Necessities

Dropping Mentos in a bottle of Diet Coke creates a reaction: as the candies fall through the soda, they break down the bonds between the carbon dioxide and the water (the combination that causes soda to have bubbles), causing the carbon dioxide to rise. and escaped from the bottle. If you put Mentos in a diet soda bottle and then screw on the cap or push a cork in the neck, the gas will remain in the bottle and create pressure. Then if the bottle falls hard to the ground, the cap will fly off and the pressure will escape from the bottle, sending the bottle into the air.

To step

Part 1 of 4: Preparing the materials

Buy a two-liter bottle of Diet Coke. Diet Coke is used in this example, but you can use any diet Coke or diet soda drink as long as it contains aspartame.
- Hot soda will give you better blasts, so don't use cold soda from the fridge. For best results, buy soda at room temperature and let the bottle sit outside in the sun or in a pan of hot (not boiling) water for several hours before using it.
Buy a pack of Mentos. Experiments show that with the original peppermint flavored Mentos you get a longer explosion, but that fruit flavored Mentos causes a slightly shorter but more intense explosion. Other experiments have shown that peppermint flavored mentos candies are the better choice because the gum arabic in the peppermint coating around the candies reduces the surface tension and causes the carbon dioxide to escape from the bottle more quickly. This causes a more violent explosion.
- Because a rocket has to fly fast, it is better to use Mentos with peppermint flavor.
- If you have the time and money, why not try a bottle of Peppermint flavored Mentos and a fruit flavored Mentos bottle to compare the results?
Buy a roll of masking tape. You probably already have this at home, but if not, you should be able to buy a roll almost anywhere. You will certainly be able to find it at a hardware store.
Buy safety glasses. Wearing safety goggles protects your eyes from not only the soda and Mentos mixture, but also other flying objects (e.g. the cap) that could fly out of the bottle if it hits the ground and explodes.
Look for a place with a lot of space to build the rocket. Your rocket will likely bounce around a lot, so make sure you have room for that. If you are in a parking lot, make sure there are no cars within 15 meters or more.
- If there is a lawn or other clearing near you, go there to craft your rocket. Of course, you don't want to risk damaging someone's home or car, as the repair can cost the insurance company a lot of money.
Wear appropriate clothing. You may get wet from the sticky Diet Coke and Mentos mixture. Wear clothes and shoes that you don't mind getting wet and sticky - preferably clothes and shoes that are easy to wash.

Part 2 of 4: Making the Mentos Pattern

Gather your supplies. Bring your two-liter bottle of Diet Coke, your pack of Mentos, the masking tape, and goggles to the place where you decided to build your rocket.
Cut two strips of masking tape four inches long. Place the masking tape strips on a flat surface with the sticky side up. Make sure they don't stick together.
Remove five to seven Mentos candies from the roll. The more candies you use, the better the explosion. However, the candies should not fall too deep into the Diet Coke, otherwise the explosion could start before you can twist the cap on the bottle.
Place the Mentos candies on one of the four-centimeter strips of masking tape. They should look the same as in the package, namely stacked on top of each other like a roll of coins.
Place the other strip of masking tape on top of the Mentos candies. Do not cover the sides of the candies.
Cut an eight-inch strip of masking tape and roll it around your finger with the sticky side out. You use this strip to attach the candies to the cap, so make sure it is small enough to fit in the cap.
Stick the rolled up piece of masking tape on top of the candies. Take the eight centimeter strip of masking tape that you just cut and rolled up and tape it on top of the roll with candies and masking tape. You have now created a "loaded" Mento Cartridge that you can put in the soda bottle.
Stick the Mento pattern on the bottom of the soda bottle cap. Place the cap on a flat surface with the bottom side up. Stick the Mento Cartridge sticky side up into the cap and push to stick.
- Be careful not to push too hard or candies may fall out of the cartridge.
Stick the cartridge even better to the cap. This step is not mandatory. If you are concerned that the candies will fall into the cola too soon, you can make the pattern even better by sticking an extra strip of masking tape around the entire roll, including the cap.

Part 3 of 4: Loading and launching the missile

Screw the "loaded" cap on the Diet Coke bottle. The cap should be snug on the bottle, but not too tight. If the cap is too tight, it will not pop off the bottle when you throw it away and the missile will not work. When tightening the cap, make sure that the Mentos candies do not come into contact with the cola yet.
- If it looks like the candies are getting into the Coke anyway, you can pour a small amount of Coke from the bottle before closing the cap, put fewer Mentos candies in your cartridge or gamble on it, and screw the cap on the bottle as soon as possible.
Shake the bottle. Shake so that the Mentos candies fall into the Diet Coke, then keep shaking. Keep doing this for at least a few seconds.
Launch the missile. There are a few different methods of launching your rocket:
- A popular and effective way is to throw the bottle high in the air and drop it on the floor (preferably on a hard surface like concrete). This is the best way if you are worried about getting hit by the missile, because you can throw the missile far away and run the other way.
- Another method is to toss the bottle sideways so that the cap flies off when the bottle hits the ground with the cap.
- Another method is to throw the bottle at a 90 degree angle with the cap down on the floor.
Try again. You can skip this step if your missile works on the first try. If the missile doesn't explode after throwing, grab it and loosen the cap a little before throwing it away again. Just be careful not to loosen the cap too much, otherwise you will probably spray cola on yourself.
Enjoy the spectacle. When the bottle hits the ground, the cap should fly off and the Coke and Mentos mixture should squirt out of the opening. As a result, the bottle should fly high into the air. Depending on how you throw the bottle, it can also bounce around for a few seconds.
- When you launch the rocket sideways, it usually bounces and slides low over the ground.
- If you launch the rocket vertically and thus throw it straight up into the air and drop it on the ground, the rocket often flies higher.
- If the bottle is still full of Coke and Mentos, but has stopped moving and is on the ground, you can try launching it again to see if it can fly further.
Clean up your mess. Don't forget to clean up your mess when you're done with your experiment. Clean up any pieces of masking tape and Mentos wrapping that fell to the ground while building the rocket. Get the missile too. Clean and recycle the bottle.

Part 4 of 4: Experimenting with the missile

Experiment with different amounts of Mentos. The more candies, the bigger the explosion. Put different amounts of Mentos candies in the Coke bottle to see what gives you the best blast.
Combine peppermint and fruit flavored Mentos candies in the same pattern. Studies show that Mentos peppermint candies and fruit flavored Mentos candies cause different explosions. Combine them in a single cartridge and put them in the diet Coke bottle to see what kind of explosion they cause when you mix them together.
Make a bigger rocket. Fill an empty jerry can that contained milk with four liters of Diet Coke (two two-liter bottles). Leave enough room at the top for at least eight candies.
- Just like with a regular rocket, stick the Mento cartridge to the cap of the jerry can, close the cap, shake the jerry can to drop the candies into the cola and throw the jerry can high in the air and release it. fall hard on a hard surface.
Make it a competition. Gather your friends and each make your own rocket. Hang a flag or think of another way to measure the height. Have someone look and determine who the winner is.

Tips

Rock salt and regular sugar also react with Diet Coke and also cause an explosion, but the explosion is less than when using Mentos.
Putting Mentos in regular Coke and other regular soft drinks also creates an explosion, but Diet Coke works best. Scientists believe this is because the aspartame in diet soda makes bubbles more easily.
Resist the temptation to cut the Mentos into pieces. Putting pieces of Mentos in the Diet Coke still creates an explosion, but it is less large and violent than an explosion caused by whole Mentos candies. This is because the explosion is partly caused by the large surface and the density of the candies. By cutting them into pieces, the candies become smaller and the density is less.

Warnings

Stay away from the missile. It can fly off quite quickly and can cause real damage.
Wear eye protection.
Do this in a parking lot or any other place without houses and cars. Windows are expensive to replace.