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I’m not trying to be too nerdy here, but the claim about why more bubbles form is basically right. Bubbles need nucleation sites to form, so any inhomogeneity on the surface of the glass creates new nucleation sites (e.g. deposits from a towel or other drying agents).
For alcoholic beverages, this is mostly fun and games. But, like you mentioned in your post, there are many other applications where having excess bubbles form is a bad thing. One example is on a boat’s propeller. Sometimes bubbles can collapse very violently, and when they do, they can generate a lot of damage. Collapsing bubbles can eat entirely through a stainless steel propeller in a matter of months if not guarded against.
The reason bubbles don’t collapse so violently in your drink is because the pressures are much lower. When a boat’s propeller spins very quickly, it generates very high pressures near the surface of the propeller blades, and then you can run into problems. The champagne example allows you to study a bit about how and why bubbles form without worrying about collapsing bubbles eating through your glass, though that would be a pretty awesome party trick.
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October 12th, 2006 at 7:12 pm
I’m not trying to be too nerdy here, but the claim about why more bubbles form is basically right. Bubbles need nucleation sites to form, so any inhomogeneity on the surface of the glass creates new nucleation sites (e.g. deposits from a towel or other drying agents).
For alcoholic beverages, this is mostly fun and games. But, like you mentioned in your post, there are many other applications where having excess bubbles form is a bad thing. One example is on a boat’s propeller. Sometimes bubbles can collapse very violently, and when they do, they can generate a lot of damage. Collapsing bubbles can eat entirely through a stainless steel propeller in a matter of months if not guarded against.
The reason bubbles don’t collapse so violently in your drink is because the pressures are much lower. When a boat’s propeller spins very quickly, it generates very high pressures near the surface of the propeller blades, and then you can run into problems. The champagne example allows you to study a bit about how and why bubbles form without worrying about collapsing bubbles eating through your glass, though that would be a pretty awesome party trick.
October 12th, 2006 at 8:38 pm
That’s quite interesting, and don’t worry. Nerdiness is welcome here.