why do bubbles in carbonated drinks appear out of nowhere and always start at the bottom of a glass?

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why do bubbles in carbonated drinks appear out of nowhere and always start at the bottom of a glass?

In: Chemistry

4 Answers

Anonymous 0 Comments

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Anonymous 0 Comments

Bubbles need something rough to form around, which is why they tend to form on the edge/bottom of a glass (but can form around impurities in the liquid too).

Also, as you heat up a liquid less gas can be dissolved within it (the opposite of how sugar dissolves well in a hot drink) so bubbles will tend to form where it is warmer.

These 2 combined help to explain why they commonly form at the bottom of the glass.

Anonymous 0 Comments

When the container is closed, its contents are under pressure and most of the carbon dioxide (CO2) is dissolved into the liquid just like salt dissolves in water.

When you open the container, the pressure is released. CO2 doesn’t like to stay dissolved to liquids when it’s under normal pressure, so it starts to form bubbles.

The easiest place for the bubbles to form is any spots with irregularities. The sides and bottom of the container have a lot of irregularities, so that’s where most of the bubbles form.

Anonymous 0 Comments

On a related note, if you drop a bottle of soda that’s been opened but still has the cap on, *don’t* remove the cap right away. Leave the bottle still for an hour or so and the CO2 that was released by the agitation of the fall will re-absorb back into the soda.