does champagne fizz due to the contamination of dust or other
substances in the room when the bottle is opened

Dear action12345-ga,

Champagne fizzes because of the release of carbon dioxide gas which
was produced during the fermentation process. When the bottle is
opened the gas is released from the liquid in the form of bubbles.

Adam Hart Davis has written a good book on this and similar scientific
questions. This is his explanation.

"What keeps the fizz in champagne?
Champagne is made like ordinary wine, by fermenting grape juice, so
that the sugars in the juice are gradually converted by yeast into
alcohol and carbon dioxide. Ordinary wine is then bottled and stored,
but with champagne the last stage of fermentation is allowed to happen
in the bottle, so that carbon dioxide is trapped in the wine, and the
gas pressure builds up. The bottles are thicker than normal wine
bottles, and the cork has to be wired on.

The solubility of carbon dioxide gas depends on its pressure; it's
more soluble at high pressure. That is why when you release the
pressure you immediately make the solution super-saturated, and the
gas bubbles out of solution. The same thing happens when you open any
bottle of fizzy drink, especially if it is warm and if you shake it
first. However, in those soft drinks, the carbon dioxide is pumped
into the liquid under pressure, rather than being generated by
fermentation.

Once the cork has been released the champagne gradually loses its fizz
as the carbon dioxide escapes."

Telegraph Tech updates web site through Google cache
http://64.233.161.104/search?q=cache:5VFW5v1phgIJ:www.tech-updates.com/headline.php%3Fid%3D208120+%22Why+Does+a+Ball+Bounce%22+champagne&hl=en

Why Does a Ball Bounce? by Adam Hart-Davis (Ebury)
http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0091902681/026-8946572-7800448

This article may also be of interest.
http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1200/is_19_157/ai_62724340


I hope this answers your question. If it does not, or the answer is
unclear, then please ask for clarification of this research before
rating the answer. I shall respond to the clarification request as
soon as I receive it.
Thank you
answerfinder


Search strategy
"carbon dioxide gas"  champagne fizz open
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Specific to the idea of dust particles being involved in champagne
bubbles, there's also been recent research indicating that dust
particles within a glass or champagne flute are involved in the
champagne's signature effervescence:

" "Plunged into a liquid supersaturated with carbon dioxide molecules,
as champagne or other carbonated beverages are in general, the
cellulose fiber (which is a dust particle from the atmosphere or
remaining from drying the glass) is a tiny 'bubble gun,'" said Gérard
Liger-Belair, lead author of the study, which is published in the
current journal Physical Review E.

" He added, "The fiber is a kind of hollow tube that can entrap a tiny
gas pocket when liquid is poured into the glass. Then this tiny gas
pocket sucks the dissolved CO2 around and blows it into the form of
bubbles. The more cellulose fibers that are stuck on the glass wall,
the more generous the effervescence is."

http://dsc.discovery.com/news/briefs/20051003/champagne.html

(I vaguely remember seeing some TV news coverage where they out a
flute of champagne in one of those super-scientific clean rooms with
absolutely no dust particles, and the champagne didn't fizz. But I may
be misremembering that one...)

Basically I agree with Tr1234 that the discussion about dust or other
contamination causing bubbles relates to the fizzy once it has been
poured into a glass.  This applies also to soda water and beer, the
reason why one sees bubbles rising in a series from one point.
As I remember, this phenomenon does not necessarily indicate dust or
contamination but can be due to spots on the surface of the glass that
are ionic abnormal (?), which is where I sign off, 'cause I don't
understand such.

As others have pointed out, at ambient pressure, champagne, like other
carbonated beverages, is a supersaturated solution of carbon dioxide
(and other stuff).  "Supersaturated" means that there is more carbon
dioxide dissolved in the liquid than should be present at equilibrium.
 The carbon dioxide therefore "wants" to come out of solution (i.e.,
fizz).

There are two ways a bubble can form:  1) by opening a cavity entirely
within the liquid and filling it with gas that undissolves (this is
called "exsolution") from the liquid; or 2) opening a cavity in the
liquid at a place where the molecular structure of the liquid is
already "disturbed", such as at a surface, or a solid particle
suspended in the liquid.  The first process is called "homogeneous
nucleation" and the second is called "heterogeneous nucleation".  It
turns out that it takes a certain amount of energy to do either of
these things, but it generally takes less energy to open a cavity in a
place where the liquid is already "disturbed" than it does to open a
cavity in a "pristine" liquid.  For small degrees of supersaturation,
such as is the case for champagne, heterogeneous nucleation is by far
the dominant mechanism for bubble formation.  As others have pointed
out, nucleation can occur on the surface of the glass holding the
champagne (particularly on specks of dirt, or defects on the surface),
or on particles (e.g., small bits of yeast cells) suspended in the
champagne.

There was an excellent scientific article discussing the physics of
bubble nucleation, growth, and movement in champagne in Europhysics
News in 2000 (Vol. 33 No. 1).  The article can be found here:
<http://www.europhysicsnews.com/full/13/article3/article3.html>

yep ur all correct but saying it in a layman language would be better
for some one from non science background to understand it easily.
So what i see the simple one which u can visualise is..
champagne has high % of co2 dissolved in it. and the atmosphere
contains 0.001 to 0.03% of co2.
so when co2 which is at high pressure gets into equilibrium with
atmosphere where there is less % of co2 the co2 gas try to get in
equilibrium with co2 gas of atmosphere in that process it comes out
voilently leading to fizzing of champagne.
this is case of any gas which let free from high pressure to low pressure.
here is an excellent article to read
from non science background.
http://miless.uni-duisburg-essen.de/servlets/DerivateServlet/Derivate-98?XSL.ContextID=