Why does an open can of soda stay carbonated for longer in the fridge, than it does at room temperature?

Question

Why does an open can of soda stay carbonated for longer in the fridge, than it does at room temperature?

In: 1

Answer 1

Parking the temperature aspect to one side initially; the CO2 won’t stay dissolved in the drink at atmospheric pressure – once the can is opened the previously dissolved CO2 starts to turn back into a gas which then bubbles to the surface and escapes. This is a chemical reaction.

Adding temperature into the mix, the warmer temperature means everything is moving faster (at a molecular scale)
CO2 become bubbles and escapes faster too.

Finally add to this as the drink gets warmer less CO2 can actually be dissolved (for the same pressure), so system with CO2 still dissolved is more over-saturated (even less stable) and it is more prone to forming bubbles and the gas escaping.

TLDR: CO2 doesn’t want to be in your drink at atmospheric pressure, and even less of it wants to be in a warmer drink. Everything happens faster at warmer temperatures so the CO2 escapes faster.