Sink Or Swim Soda (Funky Physics Experiments)

You will need:

1. A can of regular
   sweetened soda (i.e.
   Coke or Pepsi)
2. A can of diet soda
   (preferably of the same
   company, i.e. diet Coke
   or diet Pepsi)
3. A large bucket of water

Next time, you run out of games to play, challenge your friends to answer this question and find out not just how many were right but their reasons for their answers too.

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Ask your friends which can will float and which one will sink, and why.
2. Fill a bucket with water and place both the cans of soda into the bucket.

RESULT

The can of diet soda floats to the top, while the can of regular sweetened soda sinks to the bottom. When both the cans are unopened and both weigh the same in millilitres, why is there a difference? The difference exists because of the mass and density of sugar and sugar substitutes, in spite of all other ingredients being the same. Sugar (unlike sucralose or aspartame or any other sugar substitute) is much denser and has more mass. As a result, the can with sugar (the regular sweetened soda) sinks to the bottom, while the can of diet soda floats.