Question: You are having a debate with a friend about the science behind the Diet Coke and Mentos phenomenon. Your friend thinks that since the volume of matter after the experiment (the big mess] seems to be more than what was originally present in the individual components {soda/Mentos) before they were combined, that the "explosion" is the result of carbon dioxide being produced (made) by the reaction. Is this true? Does the amount of carbon dioxide increase through this reaction? Use what you've learned this week to verify or debunk your friend's argument.