Oakridge Science Fair!!!!

So this year just before we moved we got to do the science fair at Oakridge Elementary. Taylor decided to do the "science" behind why Diet Coke and Mentos erupt! And Anna did what makes nails rust? Taylor found out that the rough surface of the Mentos, lots of tiny little holes all over, cause a reaction with the carbonation (C02 bubbles form) and the soda erupts in a huge fountain. Diet Coke works better than most because of a few reasons... caffeine, Aspartame, and potassium benzoate. We also tried Regular Root beer, it went up about 6 feet, and Diet Root beer, and it went up about 10 ft. Diet Root beer worked better than regular because of the aspartame but Diet Coke worked the best... 15ft or higher! It's the "perfect combination"!

Anna did her project by putting giant nails into six different jars filled with six different liquids. Water and vinegar, water and baking soda, tap water, cola, lemon juice, and salt water. Tap water rusted the most and the fastest of what was in the liquid. But in fact the Water and vinegar rusted the most above the liquid. What was in the water and vinegar didn't rust at all until we took it out. We discovered that because of the acid in the vinegar the rust that was in the water was eaten away and the oxygen and evaporation above the water caused the top of the nail to rust really quickly! Crazy huh? Taylor did a great job and got great scores from the judges. Anna was a finalist for her grade level! One of the top ten. She didn't make top three but she did awesome! Almost all of the top ten in 4th grade came from Mrs. Mcaslands class. She is an awesome teacher and Anna was so blessed to be in her class for a short time. Way to go guys!!!!! Great science!!!