Why does beer bubble up and “explode” when you tap the top of it?
In: Chemistry
If the beer sits the gases are at the top of the can. If you stir up the gas with the beer, it’ll mix. So when some of the gas is mixed with the beer and you open the can, the gases rise quickly because of the low pressure outside of the can and take some of the beer with it creating the bubbles
I’m assuming you’re referring to the effect when someone taps the top of a beer bottle with another beer bottle and the beer erupts and overflows. Basically, when you hit the top of the bottle, the bottle moves downward, but the beer inside it doesn’t. This creates an area in the bottle where there isn’t beer, and there isn’t air. It’s called a “cavitation” and when the cavitation collapses, it can release an intense shockwave. This shockwave will knock the dissolved carbon dioxide out of the beer which leads to the foaming.
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