Weberence.com

An urban legend is going around Internet about a kid that died after consuming Coca Cola and Mentos Mints. It was said that the kids stomach burst from a chemical reaction that was caused from the combination of those two products. This rumor probably begun back in 1979, but came back to life through the marvel of Internet and Youtube.

People (scientists ?) have speculated that the Gum Arabic that is found in Mentos helps to break the surface tension that keeps the carbon dioxide bubbles from escaping rapidly. Other items such as pennies (that do not contain Gum Arabic) are also known to cause violent soda foaming.

It seems that the primary cause for this effect is the ruff surface of a Mentos (at a microscopic level) provides a high surface area within a very small volume. That’s where bubbles will form! The Mentos weight takes them all the way to the bottom of the Coca Cola bottle hence more of the liquid has time to react and create bubbles. In fact the pressure builds up so fast that you end up with an explosion in the form of a geyser !

If you want to try this check out this How-To pdf guide on how to create our Diet Coke and Mentos nozzles!

Personally I would not try to experiment by consuming Cola with Mentos! Nevertheless experimenting with Mentos and Coca Cola is an excellent opportunity for loads of fun (and mess) as you can see from the video below.