I have really searched all over the internet, it doesn’t exist. I believe I can’t be the first one to think of that trick, so there must be a reason for that. Can anyone illuminate me by explaining like I’m really 5, as I’m a chemistry alien. Thanks!
In: Chemistry
Wouldn’t something like Idrolitina or Brioschi count? https://www.bellaitaliafoodstore.com/ristora-idrolitina-20-buste-200-gr.html
Soda is an aquious solution of carbonic acid. So in order to make a tablet to make soda you need a tablet of carbonic acid. It is possible to make carbonic acid in solid form. The problem is that carbonic acid is very unstable and will easily react to form carbon dioxide and water. So if you make carbonic acid you need to keep it in conditions where this reaction will not take place. For solid carbonic acid this requires you to cool it down to negative 80 degrees. At this temperature water is not liquid and you can not mix the carbonic acid tablets with the water. In fact carbonic acid is not even stable in aquious solution. In order to keep soda stable you need to keep it under pressure so that the carbon dioxide will react with the water to form carbonic acid at the same rate as the carbonic acid turns back into carbon dioxide.
Do you mean that you want a tablet that adds carbon dioxide to water to make it sparkling the same way that a reusable soda siphon does by using a cartridge of CO2 gas?
A solid tablet would have to make carbon dioxide from two solid chemicals that react together when wetted. That would typically be an acid substance with carbonate salt, often sodium bicarbonate. Some acids that could be used are citric acid from citrus fruits, ascorbic acid (vitamin C) or tartaric acid. However whatever reaction you used, they always have by products, the things that are left behind from the chemicals that is not CO2.
The only way to add carbon dioxide as a solid without other things would be to drop in a pellet of dry ice, CO2 that is cold enough to freeze solid at -78°C. Could be done but it’s hard to control, there is a danger of cold burns and you can’t stop it evaporating away in a domestic environment as even a freezer is too warm.
First you need to understand what makes water or soda sparkling.
You take water and carbonic acid (which is a gas, H2CO3).
Then you mix those two under pressure which effectively dissolves the gas in the water. If you just mix them without the pressure you won’t be able to push the gas particles between the water particles and your drink will not be sparkling.
When you open a bottle or can you remove the seal and gas is lost. Leaving the drink out open for longer and over time all the dissolved gas will dissipate.
So why no tablets? It’s just not physically feasible to throw in a tablet and dissolve the gas so that it will stay “inside” the water. 55PSI = approx 3.8bar is needed to leave enough gas inside the water to have a serving pressure of 12PSI = approx. 0.8bar (1 bar is generally atmospheric pressure).
The reason sparkling water fizzes is because dissolved gas (CO2) in the water leaves solution and bubbles out. To get that CO2 dissolved into the water you need to squeeze it in, which is what a sodastream does, because at normal pressure the gas escapes the water as fast as it dissolves.
Tablets that fizz do so because they produce CO2 (sometimes other gases) when something in them reacts with the water (or two things in them react with each other, but can only do so when wet). At normal pressure that gas doesn’t stay dissolved so immediately bubbles away. Only the water *right next to* the tablet is fizzy because the CO2 can’t move far through the water before it comes out of solution.
You need to get carbon dioxide into the water. CO2 is a gas. You can’t really put a gas into pill form. However, CO2 is a fairly simple gas, and is produced in many reactions. You could, for instance, make a tablet out of sodium carbonate and citric acid. When it dissolves in water, it immediately begins to form CO2.
The trouble here is that you’re also dissolving other stuff into your water. You’re going to have some sodium citrate flavored water, described as “tart” by wikipedia. Whatever combination you use, you’re going to be adding something else to the water.
Additionally, you’d need to seal your bottle to make the CO2 dissolve. This runs the risk of the bottle exploding if too much is produced – something which is difficult to regulate with tablets in various-sized bottles.
Fizziness in drinks comes from dissolving carbon dioxide in the water. In order to do this, the water must be pressurised, because water doesn’t like having that much carbon dioxide in it under normal conditions. That’s why fizzy drinks go flat by themselves once you release the pressure by opening the bottle/can: The now depressurised water is simply returning to the state it “wants” to be in – not fizzy – by getting rid of the carbon dioxide.
All a tablet would be able to do would be able to replicate the *taste* of fizzy water at best. To make it actually fizzy, you’d need to pressurise it to increase how much carbon dioxide the water can dissolve.
Also, since fizzy water is already cheap, there’s probably not much of a market for things that try to fake fizziness by releasing large amounts of gas when dissolved (this is what happens when you see certain kinds of tablets bubble when placed in water). If you were going to make tablets to make water fizzy, it’d be easier for you to just sell pre-fizzied water.
The gas needs to be contained while it escapes from the pellet, which forces it into dissolving in the liquid. You see Co2 bubbles in carbonated liquid because the carbon is escaping. Water carbonators require the bottle to be sealed so that the co2 is able to dissolve into the liquid. If you just put a tablet it water all the co2 will escape into the air
They do!
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Overall, though, as many have said, is due to pressure. Like the vitamin c taps, the effervescence is gone as soon as the tablet is dissolved.
Unlike soda stream, which forces the CO2 intro the water as a gas, the tablets use chemicals like citric acid and baking soda. On top of the lack of pressure to make the fizz “permanent”, it’s difficult to make the chemical reaction on the tablets flavorless. So it works for a one serving like the vitamin c tablets or the root beer which are also delivering a flavor. Not so great for something like sparkling water that you want to just taste like water with bubbles
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