Why do warm sodas fizz more than cold sodas when opened?

1 Answer
Feb 21, 2017

The solubility of a gas in water varies inversely with temperature.

Explanation:

And thus at atmospheric temperature, a gas should be less soluble in a liquid at room temperature than when the liquid is chilled. Usually, when a soft-drink (or beer, or more spectacularly sparkling wine) is bottled it is bottled with an overpressure of carbon dioxide gas, so that the opened bottle fizzes as it comes to equilibrium.

If you are really interested, see if you can get this #"pdf"# from your librarian: K. J. Mysels, "Textbook Errors: The Solubility of Gases in Liquids", Journal of Chemical Education, 32, 399 (1955).