1. Nucleation! How do microscopic nooks & crannies affect carbonated beverages?

2. Background Information  A nucleation site is a place where a gas is able to form bubbles.  Nucleation sites can be scratches on the surface of an object, specks of dust, tiny particles, or anywhere that creates a high surface area and a very small volume.  Some liquids, like carbonated beverages, are supersaturated with a gas. The gas has the ability to escape when bubbles form at nucleation sites.  Increasing the number of nucleation sites therefore increases the number of bubbles that can form.

3. Information Gathering  Watch the Diet Coke & Mentos video at http://eepybird.com/http://eepybird.com/  Read the article entitled: Why do Mentos mints foam when you droop them into soda pop?

4. Guiding Questions (record your answers in your own words)  Nucleation is…  Nucleation affects carbonated beverages by…  Examples of nucleation in the real world include…  Nucleation is an example of a physical change because…

5. Nucleation Lab

6.  Problem How will the presence of vegetable oil and sugar impact nucleation?  Research Refer to the guiding questions, background information, and information gathering slides to help you understand the definition of nucleation and how it works.  Hypothesis Record your hypothesis using complete sentences in the space below.

7. Nucleation Lab  Experiment Materials – beaker, vegetable oil, carbonated beverage, granulated sugar Procedure  Coat the inside of a small beaker with vegetable oil. Move the glass around to get a nice, smooth coating of oil.  Pour in a soft drink & observe what happens.  Now sprinkle in some granulated sugar & observe what happens. Data – Record your observations in the space below.

8. Nucleation Lab  Conclusion Write your conclusion in paragraph form. Your conclusion must include…  A discussion of your hypothesis.  Your detailed answer to the original problem question.  A description the data you collected during the experiment to help you support your conclusion.