When you open a bottle of sparkling water, the carbon dioxide gas in the bottle form bubbles. If the bottle is left open, the water will eventually “go flat.” Explain these phenomena in terms of atmospheric pressure.

What would be an ideal response?


Ans: In a sealed bottle of sparkling water, carbon dioxide gas is kept dissolved in the water under a very high pressure. When you open the bottle, the pressure of the gas above the liquid changes from artificially high to normal atmospheric pressure. The dissolved carbon dioxide gas expands, and rises in bubbles to the surface. When a bottle of sparkling water is left open, it eventually goes flat because its gases continue to move out of solution until the pressure in the water is approximately equal to atmospheric pressure.

Anatomy & Physiology

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