eli5 – why does tapping the top of a pop can make it fizz less? Or is that just a myth I’ve been practicing for 30+ years?

Question

What the title says. Pop means soda btw.

In: 1560

Answer 1

The explanation which makes the most sense to me is this: cans have bubbles clinging to the side, tapping the can encourages them to the top. The closed can is under pressure. Since liquid is fairly incompressible, the effects of that pressure makes the bubbles small. When you open the can, the pressure drops, so the bubbles expand. If they are at the sides, they push the contents out of the way, where it goes out the only place it can go, the opening. If the gas under pressure is instead at the top of the can, it has no liquid to push ahead of itself, so just gas come out.