by James Hunt
From Coca - Cola to carbonated water , there is n’t a fizzing drink around that tastes well once it has go savourless . As presently as you break away the seal on the feeding bottle , it ’s a wash against clock time to finish off your mild drinking before the treasured bubble that make the drinktaste betterare exhaust . The last matter you require to do is speed up that mental process .
That ’s why we had to know : Does put a bottle on its side make a soft drinking go directly more quickly ? Or is it nothing more than a event - free direction to cram more and more of them in the electric refrigerator ?
To reckon out the answer , you first have to understand why fizzy drinks go flat at all . The carbonation in soft drinks is a outcome of extra carbon dioxide being dissolved into the liquid , which is then sealed under pressing . When the container is opened , the difference in pressure allows the carbon dioxide to form into bubbles , which then rush to the surface and escape back into the air . As each bubble explosion , the drinkable becomes a minuscule less fizzy .
This process can theoretically continue until the drink contain the same amount of carbon dioxide as the atmosphere around it — though the boozing will seem flat long before that full point .
So does it weigh if the container is on its side ?
The answer : Not really . While it ’s true that a bottle that is lying down will have a expectant area of liaison between the liquid and the atmosphere inside the feeding bottle , that ’s a small enough broker that any effect on the f number of C dioxide dissolution will be paltry . Since carbon dioxide bubble form , or " nucleated , " on the side of the bottle , increasing the open arena between the drink and the strain might actually make it go flat slightlyslowerif the bottle is on its side — but again , this effect is n’t judge enough to make much of a difference over anything other than very short time scale .
Whatreallymatters when it come to keeping a deglutition fizzy is the pressure inside a sealed container . As the atomic number 6 dioxide elude , it builds up the pressure in the air within the nursing bottle , until it ’s high enough to prevent bubbles shape , which keeps the liquidity fizzy . The pressure inside an opened bottle of soda that has been reseal is virtually the same , whether or not it ’s standing up or on its side .
Things thatdohelp keep drinks fizzy admit chilling ( carbon dioxide dissolve into air more promptly at higher temperatures ) and screwing the capital on tightly to serve keep the pressure within the bottle high .
squash the nursing bottle does n’t aid , unless you keep it squeezed until the next time it ’s opened — otherwise , the carbon dioxide will just elude the liquid and deform the bottle back to its original shape . Indeed , the fact that there ’s no atmosphere inside the bottleful will effectively give suck extra C dioxide out of the drink in an attempt to equalize pressure inside the container , so constrict the bottle actually makes the drunkenness go straight more apace than the option .
And in conclusion , those repressurizing heart ? They ’ll only work if you pump in something that contains more carbon dioxide than the drink . Air does n’t , so the extra tune you pump in creates a high - air pressure mix of mostly oxygen and nitrogen , which — if anything — helps forcibly displace the carbon copy dioxide in the boozing by encouraging O and nitrogen to dissolve .
Whew . live all that , the main peak for keeping your drink from exit flat before you end up it ? Keep it cold until you ’re quick to booze it , then chug it down . Your dentist and doctors might not give thanks us , but your taste bud will .
Have you get a Big Question you ’d care us to serve ? If so , have us know by emailing us atbigquestions@mentalfloss.com .
