What is the cloud that forms at the top of carbonated beverages when they're opened?
Whenever I open a bottle of something carbonated, be it seltzer, soda, or beer, I notice a little mist gathers at the top of the bottle. Does anyone know what that cloud is made of? Is it just water vapor, and how/why does it form when I open the bottle?
it's carbondioxide
Actually, it is water vapor. The release of the carbonation into the air causes the liquid surface to cool. Water vapor in the vicinity is cooled as well and so condenses.
@nortonsark: So it's not tiny little Who-verses that come in & out of existence in a blink of an eye?
CO2 and the water vapor it carries into the air above the fluid surface...
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