Fun at-home experiments to do with your kids during the virus outbreak from ABC-7 StormTRACK

I’m excited about our latest experiment, a soda geyser eruption (my son was hyped-up about this one). This is a messy, but fun experiment to try with your kids. So, be prepared for yourself and your children to get a little wet. This experiment really only takes a few minutes to set up and it’s a great way to learn about chemical reactions.

Here’s what you’ll need:

2-liter bottle of Diet Coke (don’t throw the soda bottles away when you’re done with them, because we’ll use them to make tornados in a bottle.)

Mentos

Towels

Water hose (optional)

What did you see?

What makes soda drinks bubbly is the carbon dioxide inside of the bottle. It doesn't get released from the liquid until you pour it into a glass and drink it. This means that there is a lot of carbon dioxide gas just waiting to escape in the form of bubbles.

When you drop the Mentos into the Diet Coke it speeds up this process by breaking the surface tension of the liquid and also allows bubbles to form on the surface area of the Mentos. Mento's candy pieces are covered in tiny dimples (like a golf ball), which increases the surface area and allows bubbles to form.

It’s spectacular and actually pretty simple!

Challenge your kids and try a number of variables and challenges for them to record their findings.

Some examples:

Which type of soda creates the highest geyser?

Do fruit Mentos also cause the same reaction?

What happens when you add more Mentos?

🧫: If you have any fun STEAM experiments send them my way. We can bounce some ideas off of each other with fun videos and pictures http://kvia.com/share/. 🤗