It’s an oft-mentioned story that Coca-Cola used to contain cocaine. So, in this edition of Periodic Graphics in C&EN, we take a look at the unexpected compounds that some of our favourite sodas once contained and explore how water is carbonated to make sodas in the first place. View the full graphic on the C&EN site.
It’s one of the most popular science demonstrations: Pop a handful of Mentos candies into a bottle of Coke, and a fountain of bubbles rapidly spurts from the open bottle, often over a metre into the air. Originally the explanation for the effect was thought to be quite simple. However, scientists are finding that there’s more to this spectacular demonstration than meets the eye.
Over the past week, you may well have seen a couple of graphics purporting to explain the effect that drinking a can of Coke or Diet Coke has on your body. They’ve been picked up by a range of online news and media sites, and as a result circulated widely. Unfortunately, although some of the information contained in them is correct, a lot of it is sensationalised, hyperbolic, or just plain wrong. This graphic is an attempt to sort the fact from the fiction, and give a clearer picture of what’s going on when you drink a can of Coke.
