• This topic has 27 replies, 13 voices, and was last updated 12 years ago by DrP.
Viewing 28 posts - 1 through 28 (of 28 total)
  • Why does 'flicking' the bottom of a dropped can of fizzy drink stop it frothing?
  • psychle
    Free Member

    What’s the physical process going on to stop the CO2 coming out of solution? Or is it just magic? Certainly seems to work, just wondering why?

    philconsequence
    Free Member

    magic, definitely magic.

    give me your Ibis Mojo thingy and i’ll tell you the magic secret.

    clubber
    Free Member

    It doesn’t. It just gives the drink a little longer to ‘settle down’.

    http://www.snopes.com/science/sodacan.asp

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    McHamish
    Free Member

    That’s where the Bubble Fairies live…flicking the can wakes them up and they collect the bubbles ready to be released as you drink it.

    philconsequence
    Free Member

    SHUT IT HAMISH!!! i was in with a chance for his bike before you came along and gave the game away! edit your post and i’ll share the bike with you, christmas and birthday type agreement…

    Cougar
    Full Member

    Certainly seems to work,

    A guy is spotted by a neighbour, sprinkling white powder around his garden. Intrigued, the neighbour asks what he’s doing.

    “Well, it’s to keep the lions away,” says the chap.

    “Lions? There’s no lions around here!” replies the neighbour.

    “I know,” says the chap, “good stuff, isn’t it?”

    McHamish
    Free Member

    SHUT IT HAMISH!!! i was in with a chance for his bike before you came along and gave the game away! edit your post and i’ll share the bike with you, christmas and birthday type agreement…

    Too late…just noticed you were upset about me letting the cat out of the bag…now my comment is here for all eternity.

    philconsequence
    Free Member

    i hope the bubble fairies give you wind… wind i tells ya!

    psychle
    Free Member

    And I was just about to email you Phil and work out the deal for the secret… thanks McHamish for saving me my bike! you’re a legend 😀

    McHamish
    Free Member

    Somebody had to tell the truth.

    psychle
    Free Member

    I appreciate your honesty, I really do. Now to work out how to trap one of the little buggers, gotta be worth something on the black market surely?

    philconsequence
    Free Member

    racist.

    thepurist
    Full Member

    randomjeremy
    Free Member

    tapping the top of the can with a finger nail does the same thing, no idea why, but it works.

    psychle
    Free Member

    So, the Bubble Fairys have it in for Cat’s as well do they? weird… something has to be done about this menace! 👿

    Cougar
    Full Member

    tapping the top of the can with a finger nail does the same thing,

    Correct.

    no idea why, but it works.

    Incorrect.

    TheSouthernYeti
    Free Member

    Psychle… in the interest of science.

    Shake 2 cans of coke really hard. Tap the bottom of one. Open both. Report back to us.

    This has got Nobel Award written all over it.

    Cougar
    Full Member

    Ig Nobel Awards, maybe.

    randomjeremy
    Free Member

    yes yes i’m sure you’re both oh so clever, but it works.

    philconsequence
    Free Member

    cougars just in a bad mood, he has been since the great fizz-over of 1998.

    TheSouthernYeti
    Free Member

    If it works then there is no harm in a little experiment.

    Probably best completed inside a car, next to a wasp factory.

    slimjim78
    Free Member

    it does not work.

    randomjeremy
    Free Member

    works for me maybe you’re doing it wrong

    DrP
    Full Member

    Opening a can of pop causes the bubbles that are formed in the liquid to expand. As they expand quickly, they can’t rise fast enough and force the liquid up too – hence the chaos of opening a shooken (!) can..,.

    Tapping the can ‘knocks’ the bubbles that are stuck to the sides of the can off, and they then float to the top and ‘release’ into the space at the top. Then, when you open the can, all (well, most) of the pressurised free air is at the top, and can escape easily. Hence, no fountain of pop!

    So, the science works, but you need to leave it a few seconds for the bubbles to float up to the top of the can..

    DrP

    Coyote
    Free Member

    And he’s a doctor so he knows. Just for clarity were you wearing a lab coat and safety glasses whilst holding clipboard when telling us that? It could be important.

    Can you actually see that happening on a clear plastic pop bottle ?
    I’ve never tried it and I haven’t got one handy to experiment now.

    RealMan
    Free Member

    DrP
    Full Member

    Yes – also, tap a glass of lemonade and you’ll see the bubbles all fall off (well, up!).

    DrP

    None of this knowledge came in useful when there were 15 patients waiting to be seen in A+E last night……

Viewing 28 posts - 1 through 28 (of 28 total)

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