As a homeschool student, I have always enjoyed Apologia sciences. My younger sister is doing their Exploring Creation: Chemistry and Physics course at the moment. It is a introduction to Chemistry/Physics. I am doing Apologia’s Chemistry course right now myself.
My sister and I decided to do one of the experiments that she hadn’t done yet and my mom asked us to blog about it. This is what we did:
Fizzy Mentos Experiment
We chose a simple, easy experiment to do which was to make a bottle of Diet Coke erupt in fizzy bubbles with Mentos. So we went to the store, got a liter of Diet Coke and searched for regular Mentos. We couldn’t find them anywhere, so we picked up a fruity pack and some of the peppermint Mentos gum, hoping one of them would work. When we got home, we decided that the gum would be the best option. After following step one, which was to glue some Mentos together, we prepped our sink because it was far too cold to do the experiment outside.
With the sink is ready, and the unopened Diet Coke in place, we quickly took off the cap, and just as fast, dumped our stick of Mentos into the bottle. And to our delight, the bottle did erupt.
We watched as the fizz died down, and decided to try the fruity Mentos. And to our surprise, it worked. It actually worked better than the gum and the eruption got onto the counter. Sadly, I didn’t have the camera ready, and by the time I did, the eruption already stopped.
What We Learned:
I learned about physical and chemical reactions. This experiment showed a physical reaction because no chemical change happened. ~ Ris
What mom thinks about Apologia Chemistry and Physics:
Our family has used all of the Exploring Creation series. This book is a great addition to the series. We also have the companion notebooking journal which is a wonderful tool to have while using this book. Since my daughter is older using this book, she is able to do a big portion independently. She loves the variety of experiments included throughout the book. I like that it is a nice introduction to both Chemistry and Physics.
Have you done any of the chemistry and physics experiments? Which was your favorite?
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We learned this experiment last year. We ended up purchasing 10 bottles of soda and a BIG box of mentos, so we could practice…outside. After the first couple tries, my son and husband invented a pvc pipe attachment that holds the mentos. When the pipe is positioned correctly, they pull the nail. The fountain is really high. My husband asked my son how they could make it go higher, ideas were suggested and the tried them. They adapted the tip to have a smaller hole. They fountain nearly doubled its height. It ended up being a favorite activity to do on any random Saturday, or when cousins and friends visit. 🙂
That is awesome!