3rd Grade Science Fair Project

By Ezra Lerman
Will changing the
type of liquid
affect the size of
an eruption when
Mentos are added
to soda?
The Experiment
 ● 20 fl oz bottles of Coke, Dr.
Pepper, Sprite, Fanta, water
● Construction paper
● Scissors
Materials ●
●
Plastic straws
Painters tape
● 2 rolls of Mentos - mint flavor
● Hole puncher
● Stop watch
● Camera
 Safety ● Do the experiment outside
Precautions ●
●
Away from foliage
Need to have an adult present
● Wear safety goggles
Procedure
1. Gather 20 fl oz bottles of Coke, Dr.
Pepper, Sprite, Fanta and water
2. Cut a 3in x 2in rectangle of
construction paper.
3. Wrap paper around closed Mentos
container and tape it together.
4. Pull Mentos container out so you have
a paper cylinder.
5. Make 2 hole punches on the same end
of the cylinder but on opposite sides.
6. Cut a plastic straw in half and stick it
through the holes to block the Mentos.
Procedure
7. Unscrew the bottle and put the cylinder
inside the opening of the bottle with
the straw side facing down.
8. Tape cylinder to opening of bottle to
keep it in place.
9. Place 2 Mentos in each cylinder.
10. Pull straw out and scoot back.
11. Record observations.
12. Time how long each eruption takes.
13. After eruption, measure the amount of
liquid remaining in each bottle to
determine how much liquid was used
in each eruption.
Background
I chose this science experiment because I have never done a science fair project or a
science experiment alone. I wanted to create an eruption because I love seeing chemical
reactions happen.

What I know is that soda is unhealthy for the human body. Soda does have a lot of carbon
dioxide dissolved in the liquid creating carbonation. Carbonation is the process of using
cold carbon dioxide gas under high pressure.

What happens when Mentos are put into a soda bottle is actually a physical reaction, not
a chemical reaction. This means that all of the chemicals that start in the reaction are still
there after the reaction, but they are just switched around.

On the outside of the surface of Mentos, there are little bumps that can only be seen with
a microscope. The rough surface is important because this causes the connections between
carbon dioxide and water to separate. This causes more carbon dioxide bubbles. This is a
physical reaction.
Hypothesis
I think the bottle
of Dr. Pepper will
have the largest
eruption because
it has the most
sugar.
 Sprite:
Coke: 64mg sugar
65mg sugar 110mg sodium
75mg sodium

Fanta:
Dr. Pepper: 45mg sugar
66mg sugar 50mg sodium
95mg sodium
Hypothesis support
I think this is what’s going to happen
because…

Dr. Pepper has the most sugar, but not by

much. So I think the sugar will cause the
explosion.
Variables
Independent Variable: Dependent Variable:
What I Controlled/changed What I measured
● Type of liquid ● Size of eruption
● Amount of liquid used in eruption

Constants:
Control:
A variable that shouldn’t react at all ● Same size container of liquid
● Water ● Volume of liquid
● Temperature
● Location outside
● Number of Mentos
The experiment
iVideos
V
Results

Liquid Time (sec) Volume remaining Volume used

(fl oz) (fl oz)

Water 0 20 0

Fanta 13.06 12.5 7.5

Sprite error 10.5 9.5

Coke 14.76 11.5 8.5

Dr. Pepper 13.07 8 12

Conclusion
In this science experiment, I wanted to see an eruption with Mentos and soda. I
wanted to see which soda would have the biggest eruption. I started measuring this
by measuring the amount of time it took for the eruption to complete. What I found
was that there was human error in timing the eruption because it was hard to tell
when the reaction stopped. So then I decided to measure the amount of liquid used in
the physical reaction. The Dr. Pepper used up the most liquid in the reaction.

Even though I thought the reaction was because of the amount of sugar in the soda,
that has nothing to do with the cause of the eruption. The eruption was actually
caused by carbon dioxide bubbles made when the Mentos were placed in the soda
bottle. This is called a chain reaction. The Dr. Pepper had the most carbonation.
Future Experiment Ideas
In the future, I want to see how big the eruption is when I change different
variables. I could use liquids with different amounts of carbonation or I could change
the number of mentos used in different trials.

If the independent variable was the amount of carbonation in different liquids, I

hypothesize that the liquid with the most carbonation would create the biggest
eruption.

If the independent variable was the number of Mentos, I hypothesize that the liquid
with the highest number of Mentos would create the biggest eruption.
Bibliography
Carbonation. (2003). Scientific American.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/agricultural-and-biological-sciences/carbonat
ion#:~:text=Carbonation%20is%20the%20saturation%20of,CO2%20under%20hi
gh%20pressure.

Mentos and Diet Coke. American Chemistry Society. (2023).

https://www.acs.org/education/whatischemistry/adventures-in-chemistry/experime
nts/mentos-diet-coke.html

Spurting Science: Erupting Diet Coke With Mentos. (June 14, 2012).
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/bring-science-home-coke-mentos/