Here is the experiment!
Which of these ingredients make the best rocket?
Task/Hypothesis
Test different solutions of two different ingredients (a liquid and a solid) and see and record how high the rocket of each one goes. The higher the rocket goes, the better the rocket it make.
Equipment
Prediction
As a group we predict that Coca Cola and Mentos will work the best to make a rocket. We think this because we have heard stories about it working very well. Also, we think this because Coca Cola has a high amount of acidity and carbon dioxide. This gas will release its energy during the reaction with the Mentos. We thought that Coca Cola (with sugar) would be better because it had sugar in it.
Next we predicted that Diet Coke and Mentos was the 2nd best. Our reasoning behind this was that diet Coke would have a similar effect as Coca Cola and Mentos however, we thought that the extra sugar in the Coca Cola could help in the reaction of when gas is being released, making Coca Cola slightly better with Mentos.
Lastly, we put Vinegar and bicarbonate Soda last and we thought it would make the worst rocket. We thought this because we had never heard of any stories to tell us it worked and also we thought that even though vinegar had a lot of acidity and the bicarbonate of Soda had sodium, hydrogen, carbon and three atoms of oxygen making carbon dioxide we thought the amounts of acidity in the Diet Coke was more (which is true), therefore we put this as the worst. The ph of Diet Coke is 3.2 but the ph of vinegar is 3.0.
Method
The results
The results were different to our prediction by a great deal!
The Diet Coke and Mentos: The reaction went 45cm high
The Coca Cola and Mentos: The reaction went 20cm high
The vinegar and Bicarbonate of Soda: The reaction went 35cm high
Picture
Which of these ingredients make the best rocket?
Task/Hypothesis
Test different solutions of two different ingredients (a liquid and a solid) and see and record how high the rocket of each one goes. The higher the rocket goes, the better the rocket it make.
Equipment
- Vinegar - 250ml
- Bicarbonate Soda - teaspoon of 2.7 grams
- Diet Coke - 250ml
- Coca Cola - 250ml
- Mentos - 2.7 grams each
- Measuring tape/stick
- Sticky tape
- Recording equipment
Prediction
As a group we predict that Coca Cola and Mentos will work the best to make a rocket. We think this because we have heard stories about it working very well. Also, we think this because Coca Cola has a high amount of acidity and carbon dioxide. This gas will release its energy during the reaction with the Mentos. We thought that Coca Cola (with sugar) would be better because it had sugar in it.
Next we predicted that Diet Coke and Mentos was the 2nd best. Our reasoning behind this was that diet Coke would have a similar effect as Coca Cola and Mentos however, we thought that the extra sugar in the Coca Cola could help in the reaction of when gas is being released, making Coca Cola slightly better with Mentos.
Lastly, we put Vinegar and bicarbonate Soda last and we thought it would make the worst rocket. We thought this because we had never heard of any stories to tell us it worked and also we thought that even though vinegar had a lot of acidity and the bicarbonate of Soda had sodium, hydrogen, carbon and three atoms of oxygen making carbon dioxide we thought the amounts of acidity in the Diet Coke was more (which is true), therefore we put this as the worst. The ph of Diet Coke is 3.2 but the ph of vinegar is 3.0.
Method
- Firstly, you get three Mentos and tape them together so that when you put the Mentos into the Diet Coke/ Coca Cola the all go in at the same time because the reaction is fairly instant. or if you are Doing the bicarbonate Soda and vinegar test you put the bicarbonate of soda (measured out as 2.7 grams) in a teaspoon.
- Next, you open up the bottle and you put the three Mentos in to the bottle all at the same time. As soon as you do this, the reaction will take place so run away immediately making sure you have your measure stick up and the camera man filming. If you are doing the vinegar and bicarbonate of Soda solution put do the same thing but put the bicarbonate of soda straight away into the vinegar as soon as you open it and then run away and be ready to record the results down.
- Lastly, record the results up and look at your recordings to show how high the explosion is.
The results
The results were different to our prediction by a great deal!
The Diet Coke and Mentos: The reaction went 45cm high
The Coca Cola and Mentos: The reaction went 20cm high
The vinegar and Bicarbonate of Soda: The reaction went 35cm high
Picture
Graph
Here is a graph of our results.
Conclusion
We completed the task because we found out the best two ingredients for making a rocket which is Diet Coke and Mentos. We know this because the rocket went the highest from the 3 solutions we tested making it the rocket able to go the highest. Our prediction was wrong because we thought that the reaction was to do with the acidity in the liquid but we were proven wrong. This will be explained in further depth on the sub page explaining the reactions. Our prediction was wrong because we thought that Coca Cola and Mentos was the best combination but it was actually Diet Coke and Mentos. In fact, Coca Cola and Mentos came last in the results and proved to be the worst rocket. Then in the prediction we put Vinegar and Bicarbonate of Soda last, however it proved to be just worse than the Diet Coke and Mentos by 10cm.
The variable for this test was the ingredients. Because we only had one change this make it a fair test. The stuff which stayed the same were the amounts of all of the stuff, the place where it was filmed, the measuring equipment and more. However, the test might not be fair because the bottles were different heights and when we opened the drinks we might have not put the Mentos in straight away which meant that some of the Carbon dioxide from the Coca Cola or the Diet Coke could have escaped. Also, we could have measure them slightly inaccurately because it was really hard to measure them because the experiment was quiet a messy one and also the reactions happened instantly.
The problems that we faced were that half way through the experiment we needed more drinks because we wasted the Diet Coke and the Coca Cola because we didn't know exactly how to do the experiment properly. Also the other problem we faced was that there was no vinegar so we had to go and get that from the shops too.
In the future, when we do this experiment again we will be more organised and make sure we have a big enough supply of everything. In the future because we have done it before we will know how to do it properly. Also when we do this experiment again, if we do actually do it again we will try to make it more of a fair test by improving the things that we wrote that potentially made our experiment a bit more unfair.
We completed the task because we found out the best two ingredients for making a rocket which is Diet Coke and Mentos. We know this because the rocket went the highest from the 3 solutions we tested making it the rocket able to go the highest. Our prediction was wrong because we thought that the reaction was to do with the acidity in the liquid but we were proven wrong. This will be explained in further depth on the sub page explaining the reactions. Our prediction was wrong because we thought that Coca Cola and Mentos was the best combination but it was actually Diet Coke and Mentos. In fact, Coca Cola and Mentos came last in the results and proved to be the worst rocket. Then in the prediction we put Vinegar and Bicarbonate of Soda last, however it proved to be just worse than the Diet Coke and Mentos by 10cm.
The variable for this test was the ingredients. Because we only had one change this make it a fair test. The stuff which stayed the same were the amounts of all of the stuff, the place where it was filmed, the measuring equipment and more. However, the test might not be fair because the bottles were different heights and when we opened the drinks we might have not put the Mentos in straight away which meant that some of the Carbon dioxide from the Coca Cola or the Diet Coke could have escaped. Also, we could have measure them slightly inaccurately because it was really hard to measure them because the experiment was quiet a messy one and also the reactions happened instantly.
The problems that we faced were that half way through the experiment we needed more drinks because we wasted the Diet Coke and the Coca Cola because we didn't know exactly how to do the experiment properly. Also the other problem we faced was that there was no vinegar so we had to go and get that from the shops too.
In the future, when we do this experiment again we will be more organised and make sure we have a big enough supply of everything. In the future because we have done it before we will know how to do it properly. Also when we do this experiment again, if we do actually do it again we will try to make it more of a fair test by improving the things that we wrote that potentially made our experiment a bit more unfair.