The Coke Mentos Geyser with Brandi & Kristi

You ever wonder why combining mentos and diet coke produce eruptive results? The science crew at Paikea Productions offer their explanation to this classic science experiment.

Many scientists think the primary cause of the eruption reaction may be
caused by the physical makeup of the Mint Mentos candy itself and the
nucleation on the surface. Nucleation on the surface of the mint Mentos is
evidenced by all of Carbon Dioxide bubbles that form around the surface of the candy.

In order to get that massive eruption, an enormous amount of bubbles must be allowed to form so that the CO2 gas can shoot out the liquid. To create bubbles in the first place, the surface tension of the liquid must be lowered. Surface tension is basically the attraction that water molecules have to each other. For example, when you leave a bowl of soup to sit for a moment, you may notice a thin layer of "soup skin" form on top. This is surface tension. One way to break the surface tension is to add soap. When you add soap to water, it breaks down the surface tension resulting in bubbles.

In the Diet Coke/Mentos Geyser experiment, soap is obviously not used, but both Diet Coke and the Mentos have ingredients that lower surface tension. There is a special sweetener in Diet Coke called aspartame that lowers surface tension, and the surface of mentos is covered by a layer called gum arabic that also lowers surface tension. So a combination of these factors when mixed together creates a huge volume of bubbles in the coke bottle, resulting in the classic geyser we've all come to know.

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Qwik Science - Season 2 Episode 3: The Mentos Geyser