Fizzy drinks
Flat sales
With its core product losing ground, can a new, ethical approach save them, or is Coke losing its fizz?
Steam
How does water seem to disappear? Discover what happens when things get hot and start to steam.
Ice
How does something runny and wet turn into an iceberg capable of sinking a ship? Find out how water changes state into ice.
How molecules interact
What happens when molecules get together? Find out how molecules interact.
Find out what's really in those bubbles and fizzy drinks
The bubbles in fizzy drinks are caused by carbon dioxide (CO2). Carbon dioxide is a colourless odourless gas that dissolves in water under pressure. The carbon dioxide forms a very weak carbonic acid, (H2C03) which causes the tingly sensation on your tongue. The amount of carbonic acid created depends on the pressure. Removing the top from a carbonated drink bottle releases pressure and causes the excess carbon dioxide molecules to come out of solution, as bubbles. The liquid is, however, still supersaturated and will continue to release the carbon dioxide until it goes "flat".
Carbon dioxide is a very stable compound, which doesn’t burn or support combustion. If it’s cooled to -79.9 degrees Celsius it immediately forms a solid called ’dry-ice’. There is no liquid phase. Conversely, warming dry-ice turns it directly back into a gas by a process called ’sublimation’.
Content last updated: 14/02/2005
