Friday, February 19, 2010

Got Science?

Hey! Pippin here, and there are some issues that I need to clear up before I start the answer to this week's question. First, how many of you readers want extra credit over goodie bags? According to the poll, nobody wants regular goodie bags, and yet nobody answers when only extra credit is offered. Does anyone what to clear that up for me?

Also, I want to comment on some of the answers- (get it? comment? answers? Never mind) Great answers from everyone! You're all explaining and everything. However, some mistakes to look out for:
For whatever reason, if you forget a link, please go back and post it so we can make sure that you did the research to find the answer
Also, I'm sure this is unintentional, but make sure you don't copy and paste stuff- I'll be on the lookout, and we don't tolerate plagiarizing on this blog.

Finally, some answers are pretty straightforward, while some, I have to point out, are really nice and fun to read. I'm looking for quality answers as well, and they're just more fun to read. Even adding a "Ever wonder what makes your Coke explode in your face?" makes the entire answer a lot more interesting. Check out njguy's and iluvmusic comment on the last soda question, those are great models of a fun answer.

Now, to this week's question: what makes soda fizz? Of course, I have a question: what exactly do I mean by fizz? Like, the bubbly feeling that you get in your mouth when you drink it, or that hiss and the bubbles that come when you first open it, or the big explosion you get when you shake up a bottle and open it in your friend's face? (Note: shaking a bottle of soda and opening it in anyone's face has an extremely high likelihood of making a mess and upsetting that person. I DO NOT advise you try it unless you have the permission of the person and the person who owns the area you are currently in.) However, the answer is the same for all of my question(s): carbon dioxide, or CO2. Basically, soda makers put in carbon dioxide into soda at a really high pressure to keep the carbon dioxide dissolved, sealing it tightly and quickly. When we open it, or shake it, or put ice cubes in it, the carbon dioxide is disturbed and forms bubbles and floats to the surface (if it has enough energy) once it's no longer under high pressure. All of the bubbles that float to the surface is fizz. Although it's starting to make me wonder: what would happen if we froze soda? Would we see the bubbles in the ice cube? Or what if we froze it all the way down to the freezing point of carbon dioxide? Would the carbon dioxide stay in the soda? And why do they use carbon dioxide to carbonate the water? Why not, say, oxygen? And what would happen if we used frozen CO2 to chill our soda? Would anything unusual happen? Well, I never thought so much about soda before today, but there you go! And now I have to work on my ISN before I get in big trouble. Hope you learned something today!

http://www.sciencetheatre.org/ask_st/033094.html
http://www.knowswhy.com/why-does-soda-fizz/
http://www.physlink.com/education/askexperts/ae441.cfm

4 comments:

  1. Hi, Pippin. Just wondering, about the poll, are you going to post the results after it ends? I'm not exactly sure what people want as a reward, but I think that giving both the extra credit and the goody bag is certainly working because 17 people answered the last question, not including those who posted it on your blog.Also, some people want goody bags, and others want extra credit so by giving both everyone's happy. Hopefully more people are going to answer this week's question. I have to research that right now but I just wanted to give my input on the rewards you want to give.

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  2. Actually, only thirteen people answered. I think that an issue might be that people don't know that extra credit IS being given out (FYI, for those of you who don't know, extra credit is given for your second answer and beyond). Also, I think that the goodie bag may be grabbing people's attention, but by the time they answer the question, they want extra credit instead. It's all very confusing. :)

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  3. I just wanted to say that this is a very good way of getting people to answer your blogs questions. To offer extra credit and goody bags.

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  4. Well, I like getting the goodie bags and the Beta bands that come with them! I guess its down to how much extra-credit you can receive but like iluvmusic said it might be a good idea to give out both.

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