• Question: what makes an explosion happen when to things dont mix , for example mento's and coke ?

    Asked by seanod56 to Julia on 10 Jun 2011. This question was also asked by marks7r2.
    • Photo: Julia Griffen

      Julia Griffen answered on 10 Jun 2011:

      I had to look this one up! I am familar with the reaction of mento’s but never knew why!!… UNTIL NOW!!!
      This is where I found the best answer:

      http://www.uhh.hawaii.edu/~geology/mentos.php

      So fizzy drinks have carbon dioxide dissolved into them to make them fizz. This is released when it comes in contact with a surface i.e the sides of a glass.
      The mento’s causes a rapid release of the carbon dioxide in the fizzy drink. Basically its an exaggerated version of shaking a bottle of coke and opening it. The sugar in the sweets makes it a ‘stickier’ foam.

      So what makes an explosion happen??? A reaction occurring too quickly! either large amounts of gas or heat are given off very quickly. It is uncontrollable and not safe! We try to avoid explosions in the lab!

      Hope that helps to answers your question!

Comments

  • Photo: Drew

    Drew commented on :

    One thing Julia doesn’t mention is why mentos? It’s because the surface of mentos is really bumpy, making lots of spots where carbon dioxide can form into bubbles.

    A lot of explosions are like this – things that are very bumpy or in very fine particles have a lot of surface area for reactions to happen.

    Two of the common ones are flour – flour silos are very dangerous and used to blow up all the time; and aluminium powder.

    NEVER EVER use compressed air to clean aluminium powder off a desk. A teacher learned that one the hard way.