Wednesday 30 November 2011

Coke Combined with Mentos Lab

Guiding Question: How does the flavor of mantoes affect the reaction it has with Coke Zero?

Hypothesis: Fruit mantoes will be less reactive than others, they will just froth and foam. Whereas i think the coke will be slightly reactive. And then the mint very reactive.


Materials:  
- 1 Coke Zero Bottle
- Fruit Mantos
- Mint Mantos
- Granulated Cylinder
- Goggles
Process:
1. Pour 50 ml of Coke Zero into the gradulated cylinder.
2. Drop 1 fruit mentos in and observe the reaction.
3. In a different cylinder filed with 50 ml of Coke Zero, drop 1 mint mentos.
4. Do this for every flavor of mentos.
5. Observe the reaction in each case.
6. Create data table of reactions.
7. Draw conclusions and further inquiry.
Data Table:

Materials
PredictionsObservations Before ReactionObservations During ReactionObservations After Reaction
Mint Mentos + Coke ZeroA lot of fizzing up probably biggest reaction1 Mentos and 50 ml coke zero Fizzed for a long time. However didn’t bubble up very high in the cylinder. mentos sunk to the bottom and stayed there. While coke went back to its original state.
Crushed Mint Mentos + Coke ZeroI think that there will be a bigger reaction than the whole mint mentos because it is powder and it will dilute/ dissolve in the coke.1 crushed mentos and 50 ml coke zero basically same reaction but happened faster and mentos didn’t sink to bottom stayed floating on top. For the crushed mentos the coke remained looking slightly foamed at the top while the crushed pieces reacted and then sunk to the bottom of the measuring cylinder.
Grape  Mentos + Coke ZeroI think they are going to have a similar reaction to the other fruit flavors quite a lot of fizzing but not as much as the mint mentos are going to have.1 Mentos and 50 ml coke zero Fizzes up to 60 ml on the cylinder and then goes back to 53. happens very quickly. mentos sunk to the bottom and stayed there. While coke went back to its original state.
Crushed Grape Mentos + Coke ZeroI think that there will be a bigger reaction than the whole grape mentos because it is powder and it will dilute/ dissolve in the coke.1 crushed mentos and 50 ml coke zero hardly any reaction For the crushed mentos the coke remained looking slightly foamed at the top while the crushed pieces reacted and then sunk to the bottom of the measuring cylinder.
Strawberry Mentos + Coke ZeroI think that this reaction will be very strong because the strawberry mentos is very sweet.1 Mentos and 50 ml coke zero nothing much of a reaction. Fizzes a small amount mentos sunk to the bottom and stayed there. While coke went back to its original state.
Crushed Strawberry Mentos + Coke ZeroI think that there will be a bigger reaction than the whole strawberry mentos because it is powder and it will dilute/ dissolve in the coke.1 crushed mentos and 50 ml coke zero fizzes a lot more than the other one. quite a largre reaction. we found this very surpirsing. For the crushed mentos the coke remained looking slightly foamed at the top while the crushed pieces reacted and then sunk to the bottom of the measuring cylinder.
Orange Mentos + Coke Zero I’m not sure what will happen with the orange mentos, probably a medium reaction.1 Mentos and 50 ml coke zero barely anything happens mentos sunk to the bottom and stayed there. While coke went back to its original state.
Crushed Orange Mentos + Coke ZeroI think that there will be a bigger reaction than the whole orange mentos because it is powder and it will dilute/ dissolve in the coke.1 crushed mentos and 50 ml coke zero nothing happened they just stayed at the top and coke bubbled slightly. For the crushed mentos the coke remained looking slightly foamed at the top while the crushed pieces reacted and then sunk to the bottom of the measuring cylinder.
Watermelon Mentos + Coke Zero The watermelon mentos is very sweet so I think it will make a big reaction.1 Mentos and 50 ml coke zero Fizzed for a long time. However didn’t bubble up very high in the cylinder. mentos sunk to the bottom and stayed there. While coke went back to its original state.
Crushed Watermelon Mentos + Coke ZeroI think that there will be a bigger reaction than the whole watermelon mentos because it is powder and it will dilute/ dissolve in the coke.1 crushed mentos and 50 ml coke zero fizzed for a long time same thing as non crushed happened. For the crushed mentos the coke remained looking slightly foamed at the top while the crushed pieces reacted and then sunk to the bottom of the measuring cylinder.
Pineapple Mentos + Coke Zero I don’t realy know what will happen to the pineapple mentos as it is not as sweet as the others. It’s more bitter. Maybe this will affect the reaction.1 Mentos and 50 ml coke zero very quickly starts fizzing (quicker than the others) but not a lot of bubbling up. mentos sunk to the bottom and stayed there. While coke went back to its original state.

Crushed Pineapple Mentos + Coke Zero
I think that there will be a bigger reaction than the whole pineapple mentos because it is powder and it will dilute/ dissolve  in the coke.1 crushed mentos and 50 ml coke zero A lot of fizzing happened. but the coke had been sitting out for a while so it had losts most of its bubbles. For the crushed mentos the coke remained looking slightly foamed at the top while the crushed pieces reacted and then sunk to the bottom of the measuring cylinder.
Raspberry Mentos + Coke Zero I think that the reaction will be less reactive than watermelon but still very big because raspberry mentos are very sweet.1 Mentos and 50 ml coke zero Most reactive out of all (including mint) reacts quickly and over flows stays overflowing for a while! mentos sunk to the bottom and stayed there. While coke went back to its original state.
Crushed Raspberry Mentos + Coke ZeroI think that there will be a bigger reaction than the whole raspberry mentos because it is powder and it will dilute/ dissolve in the coke.1 crushed mentos and 50 ml coke zero Again along with the green apples it had one of the biggest reactions For the crushed mentos the coke remained looking slightly foamed at the top while the crushed pieces reacted and then sunk to the bottom of the measuring cylinder.
Green Apple Mentos + Coke Zero I think that there will be a big reaction because there is a lot of sugar in the green apple mentos.1 Mentos and 50 ml coke zero. Nothing really happens about the same reaction as the orange. mentos sunk to the bottom and stayed there. While coke went back to its original state.
Crushed Green Apple Mentos + Coke ZeroI think that there will be a bigger reaction than the whole apple mentos because it is powder and it will dilute/dissolve in the coke.1 crushed mentos and 50 ml coke zero. It happend about the same as the crushed rasberry mentos. For the crushed mentos the coke remained looking slightly foamed at the top while the crushed pieces reacted and then sunk to the bottom of the measuring cylinder.

Data Analysis (Emily): As it turns out our predictions were correct, the crushed mentos would reacts quicker with a larger reaction compared to the whole mentos. We realized when each reaction was over when the coke stopped bubbling and the mentos began sinking to the bottom (this is for crushed). As for the whole mentos you knew when it was over because the coke which rose slightly during the reaction would then return to its original state of 50ml. I also noticed that the state of the coke changed slightly becoming more diluted. also the mentos color had completely faded away leaving them a light whitish cream color.

Conclusion (Emily): How does the flavor of mantoes affect the reaction it has with Coke Zero? What seems to have the largest effect is the fruit mentos especially the more sugar filled ones (such as the raspberry). Once the reaction was over there was no new substances made they only returned to they’re original chemical state but their physical state was different (for example the color of the mentos). However the chemicals and sugar in the coke and mentos that caused the reaction did eventually exhaust themselves thus bringing the reaction to an end so i guess some of the chemical properties changed but not enough to make a new substance.

Further Inquiry (Emily): I think that one of the ways our data could have been more accurate is if we hadn’t left the coke sitting open for so long which gave it time to distill causing less of a reaction than we could have had. Also if we had timed how long the reaction would have gone on we could have managed to judge better which flavors worked better. Because if you look at our data table you can tell that some of the reactions were almost identical which would mean it would be easier to judge which was larger/which was smaller.




Coke combined with mentos


Sunday 27 November 2011

The Evolusion of Poison Dart Frogs Skin Patterns!

Nearly all the brightly colored frogs that you find in a tropical forest are poisonous. Their bright colours send out the clears message, "I'm poisonous!"Of course the frogs aren't just one color, they have many patterns positioned all over their backs. Researchers have found "When predators see that their targets are of a different species, they attack. Over the long term, that explains how patterns and colors become uniform in an area," said Bernard Angers, who directed Chateau's doctoral research.
One of the things that surprised researchers the most is the small spatial scale where the evolutionary process as been. Around 10 Kilometers of separation was enough for a completely different adaption to take place.
"This process could be at origin of the wide range of colour patterns that are observed not only in frogs but also many species of butterflies, bees, and other animals. I am in fact currently undertaking post-doctoral research into the Heliconius genus of butterfly. Considering that this kind of project requires regular field work, I have taken up residence in the small town of Tarapoto, where I am responsible for the opening of a research centre that will facilitate the study of neotropical butterfly mimicry," he said.
 I knew that there were a lot of colorful poisonous frogs in the rainforests but i had no idea that their colors are becoming uniform/recognized in certain places around the rainforest. Its amazing!



Natural selection has played a role in the development of the many skins patterns of the tiny Ranitomeya imitator poison dart frog. (Credit: Copyright Mathieu Chouteau)