Watch the video and read the scenario to create a hypothesis for this experiment.

Mixing chewy mint candies with a carbonated drink such as diet cola will produce a fountain of soda that spews from the bottle. You decided to do an experiment using diet cola and different types of chewy mint candies. You decided to use a diet soda instead of a regular soda so that your clean up is easier; it won’t have the sugary, sticky residue that comes from regular sodas. Below is the procedure and results that you observed.

1. Obtain mint and fruit-flavored chewy mint candies
2. Examine both types of chewy mint candies under a stereoscope
3. Draw a picture of what you see
4. Obtain two bottles of diet cola; both need to be the same size
5. Place one mint chewy mint candies into a diet cola
6. Place one fruit-flavored chewy mint candies into the other diet cola
7. Record your observations

In your observations about the chewy mint candies, you notice that there are small pits all over the surface of the chewy mint candies, but the fruit-flavored chewy candies have a smooth coating on them. In your observations, you write that the diet cola with the mint chewy candies looked like a geyser as the diet cola was streaming from the bottle. You note that the diet cola with the fruit-flavored chewy candies remained intact and unchanged.

What is the independent variable (the part of the experiment that you changed) in this experiment?

Identify the independent variable.Interactive popup. Assistance may be required.

Check Your Answer

The types of chewy candies (fruit and mint)

What is the dependent variable (the part that you measure because of the independent variable) in this experiment?Interactive popup. Assistance may be required.

Check Your Answer

The height that the soda will spew from the bottle

Write a testable hypothesis in your notes for the scenario above.

Check Your Answer

If two types of chewy candies (mint and fruit) are placed in diet cola, then the diet cola with the mint chewy candies placed in it will spew the highest.