- Extreme Mentos Geyser Tube
- A soda eruption that can go 30 feet into the air
- Comes with 3 additional caps to change the eruption shape
- Simply pull the pin to release the Mentos, and run for cover
Geyser Tube Product Description
The Geyser Tube Experiment Explained
Soda is made from sugar (or artificial sweeteners), water, flavoring and preservatives. The bubbles inside the sodas are made from carbon dioxide gas (CO2), which is added in the bottling plant by using tons of pressure in low temperatures. The gas stays suspended in the liquid until the bottle is opened. When a Mentos mint is dropped into a bottle of soda, the gelatin and gum from the dissolving candy surface breaks the surface tension of the dissolved gas, disrupting the water mesh. The bubble formations are exacerbated by the thousands of tiny micro-pits (nucleation sites) all over the candy’s surface, providing more places for the CO2 bubbles to form. With the candy at the bottom of the bottle and the release of the gas, the liquid is pushed up and out of the bottle in an incredible liquid blast! With our Geyser Tube, we harness the power of this blast into a massive geyser that will amaze children and adults alike.
Geyser Tube + Mentos = Fun!
The Geyser Tube™ is a loading tube for the now-famous Diet Coke geyser powered by Mentos. If you’ve ever tried experimenting without a Geyser Tube, you know how difficult it can be to drop the Mentos into the bottle before the reaction takes off… and you’re soaking wet. With the addition of the Geyser Tube, you will get a perfect launch every time with enough time to stand back and stay dry.
Attach the Geyser Tube to any bottle of soda (but diet soda works best because it’s not sticky – no sugar!) Secure the trigger pin in place. Load the Mentos into the Geyser Tube, lock the special pressurizing nozzle in place and pull the pin. Oh, by the way, it’s best to pull the pin and then run away. The Mentos drop into the bottle, and the powerful soda geyser comes shooting out the top with enough pressure to reach an incredible height of 30 feet. That’s a record!
Improvements to the Geyser Tube have taken the geyser-creating tool to a whole new level. The trigger mechanism now has a double pull pin action, making sure there are no unwanted eruptions. When you’re ready to pull the pin, a tighter seal means that you can achieve a 30-foot geyser with as few as two Mentos candies.
In our deluxe Extreme Geyser Tube Kit, you have the option of attaching three different Geyser Tube caps. Pick your triple cap to create a three-spout geyser that resembles a fountain, the turbo cap to launch as high as possible or the soaker cap. Let’s just say you won’t want to stick around to see the shape that the last one makes.
What’s Included:
Extreme Geyser Tube®
- New and improved Geyser Tube
- Double pull pin action
- Pressurizing nozzle
- Improved threading
- Roll of Mentos chewy mints
- Triple geyser cap
- Turbo geyser cap
- Soaker geyser cap
- Instructions for creating the ultimate soda geyser
How Does It Work?
Speaking to large crowds of buyers in New York, Steve Spangler shared a condensed history of the original geyser experiment. “Science teachers have been doing this experiment for years and years, but the original method used Wintergreen Lifesavers. When the manufacturer of the candies changed the diameter, making them larger than the opening of the 2-liter bottle, teachers went looking for a substitute.” Steve explained that Mentos candy did the trick, but dropping them into the bottle and getting away before being covered in soda was difficult. “That’s why we created the Geyser Tube. Now you get a perfect drop every time without getting drenched.”
Experiment:
- You’ll need a 2-liter bottle of diet soda (diet doesn’t make a sticky mess) and an outdoor location for your geyser. Select a flat surface to place the bottle.
- Pull the double-action trigger pin to the “out” position and drop 2-5 Mentos candies into the Geyser Tube. Once the candies are in the tube, push the trigger pin to the “in” position, locking the candies in the tube. You can also add the Mentos into the Geyser Tube by untwisting the red cap atop the tube and dropping the candies in that way.
- Once the candies have settled into the tube, unscrew the 2-liter soda bottle’s cap and replace it with your Geyser Tube.
- Warn everyone to stand back. Countdown… 3-2-1… and pull the trigger. The Mentos will drop, and the soda will go flying into the air!
- Pour out the remaining soda and take a look at the Mentos. You can see where the soda has eaten away at the surface of the candy. No need to waste the candy… they still taste great.
Geyster Tube & Mentos: Take the Taste Test
You’ll notice that there is still some soda left in the bottom of the bottle. Twist off the Geyser Tube and taste the soda. Beside tasting minty fresh, you’ll probably notice that all of the bubbles of carbon dioxide are gone. The soda is flat. Very interesting!
The Science Behind the Fizz
What made the soda shoot up so much higher? You already know why the soda erupts. Look closely at the cap on top of the Geyser Tube. Do you notice the small hole in the top? That’s the secret! The smaller hole caused the soda to build up more pressure, and the result was a 20-to-30 foot soda geyser.
You may have also noticed the clear plastic sleeve that slides back and forth on the Geyser Tube. When you pull the pin, the sleeve drops down to cover the two holes at the bottom of the Geyser Tube where the pin used to be. Without the sleeve, lots of soda shoots out from the two holes and keeps the geyser from going higher. Steve Spangler worked on many ways to keep the soda from shooting out of the holes and the sleeve method is the one he liked the best (and so did the attorneys who filed the patent for the Geyser Tube).
The Geyser Tube® is a registered trademark of Steve Spangler, Inc. All right reserved.
Science Fair Connection:
Setting off a Mentos Geyser isn’t, by itself, a science fair project. There are some very easy ways to make experimenting with geysers a great science fair project, though. The key to creating an awesome Mentos Geyser-themed science fair project is isolating a variable. A variable is a component of the experiment that changes and, hopefully, alters the experiment. Some examples of possible variables with the Mentos Geyser include:
- Try different brands or types of soda and find a way to measure which erupts the highest.
- Test different numbers of Mentos to find the number of Mentos that creates the tallest geyser.
- Find out what temperature is best for geyser eruptions.
These are just examples of variations that you can try to turn the Mentos Geyser Tube into a science fair project. Remember, you have to keep all other factors the same. If you’re testing different brands of soda, make sure the number of Mentos you use is always the same and that the sodas are kept at the same temperature.