eli5 Why do carbonated drinks go stale in an airtight bottle?
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They don’t, provided the air gap is small and the carbonation level is high enough to begin with.
Carbonation is the process of dissolving a gas in a liquid past the point where it would normally dissolve. This is done with pressure. If the pressure is released, the gas dissolved in the liquid begins to bubble out of solution. Once you close the bottle again, the gas continues to bubble out until it reaches a pressure equilibrium with the interior of the bottle. This may taste “stale” to you, but it is still carbonated albeit less than it was earlier.
A fully carbonated soda will not go stale as long as the bottle or can remains unopened.
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