In this activity, students learn about the fundamental principle of density (amount of mass per volume) bycomparing the buoyancy of two types of cola.
See Also
3 Secrets to the Best Root Beer Float for Your Ice Cream Shop - Frozen Dessert SuppliesLesson 3.5: Density: Sink and Float for Liquids - American Chemical SocietyWhen you place a can of cola in water it will sink. A can of diet cola, however, will float. Thisshows that they have different densities.
The amount of aluminum in each can is the same,as is the amount of fluid (355 ml) and the amount of carbon dioxide. What varies betweencola and diet cola is the sweetener. For example, a can of co*ke Classic contains 39 gramsof sugar and a canof Diet co*ke contains 0.1 grams of aspartame.
It takes 390 times moresugar to make a drink taste as sweet as a drink sweetened with aspartame. This additionalsugar makes the regular cola more dense.
