Mentos + Diet Coke

Ready for a fun and sticky explosion? You have come to right place.

This is one of the most popular demos to do since Steve Spangler popularized it in 2005. The materials are cheap and accessible. The explosion is impressive. Give it a try for yourself!
All you need is a bottle of Diet Coke and a few Mentos candies. Drop the Mentos into the Diet Coke and either stand back quickly or be prepared to get wet and sticky!

The mint flavor works better than the fruit flavors of Mentos. Any carbonated beverage will work, but Diet Coke or Coke Zero give the most impressive results. Feel free to experiment, though! Try out different carbonated beverages, including some diet and some regular, try out different candies, different delivery mechanisms, and so on!

The Mythbusters give a fantastic explanation of why this experiment works. I highly recommend watching the video in the link (it's less than two minutes long) to understand what is going on at the molecular level. They explain it much better than I can. :)

We tried several sodas and delivery mechanisms and found that Diet Coke/Coke Zero + mint Mentos does give the best results. Check out our little experiment below.
Eepy Bird has a fantastic page with all kinds of Diet Coke + Mentos demos including synchronized eruptions and soda-powered cars. These will keep you entertained for quite awhile!

Have you ever tried this experiment? How did it work for you?