Dear apusparadise-ga;
That?s an excellent (and fun) question. It just so happens that I saw
an experiment only a few days ago that explains the whole thing
clearly (You?re gonna love this, and if you?re anything like me,
you?ll give it a try yourself before the day is out):
?Mad Scientist? Steve Spangler explains in layman?s terms how
carbonation seeks out the imperfections in a container to adhere to.
The more imperfections there are to trap gas bubbles, the more gas
bubbles there will be. Even in a seemingly smooth soda can there are
just enough imperfections to trap a sufficient amount of carbonated
bubbles to give the soda drink the ?fizz? that one experiences when
the can is opened and help it to maintain that fizz throughout the
entire drink. This accounts for why the drink doesn?t immediately go
flat when we open them.
To prove this, Steve offers an experiment where he shakes the heck out
of a soda can so that no one in his right mind would want to open it
for days. Then he simply flicks his finger against the outside of the
can a couple of times to dislodge the trapped gasses from the
imperfections inside of the can, and viola! The soda can is
miraculously opened uneventfully without even one spurt of gas from
the can. Try it yourself. Click on the video to see his simple
explanation of how this works:
STEVE SPANGLER
?SODA CAN SHAKE-UP?
http://www.stevespanglerscience.com/experiment/00000024
Wasn?t that a cool party trick?
To further prove that these imperfections cause excessive gasses to be
trapped, in this experiment you?ll see Steve drop a few Mentos candies
in a shaken carbonated drink. The plastic container doesn?t have as
many imperfections so it can be vigorously shaken and still opened
relatively safely (which also explains why they tend to go flat faster
than soda in cans does). However, because the candies have an
abundance of irregular shapes on their surface, dropping them in an
agitated carbonated drink causes an immediate (and funny) explosive
result.
STEVE SPANGLER
?MENTOS FOUNTAIN?
http://www.stevespanglerscience.com/experiment/00000109
ALSO SEE THE AMAZING VIDEO
http://wm.gannett.speedera.net/wm.gannett/kusa/1089666994091-6-18-Spangler%20635am.wmv
The answer: Styrofoam cups have many imperfections on their surface.
When you pour soda into a Styrofoam cup it agitates the carbonated
gas, which in turn clings to the sides of the cup in such abundance
that the soda expands (in what appears to be foam) and often overflows
if one is not patient and careful.
I hope you find that my answer exceeds your expectations. If you have
any questions about my research please post a clarification request
prior to rating the answer. Otherwise I welcome your rating and your
final comments and I look forward to working with you again in the
near future. Thank you for bringing your question to us.
Best regards;
Tutuzdad-ga ? Google Answers Researcher
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STEVE SPANGLER
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