Opening a soda 19 meters under the sea?

In 2012, a video was published in which astronaut Chris Hadfield, during his stay in the Aquarius underwater laboratory (NEEMO 14 mission), vigorously shook a small can of soda; however, contrary to what we might assume, the soda does not shoot out. Why does this happen?

It is commonly believed that when a can or a bottle is shaken, it will explode because the internal pressure will increase with movement. However, this information is incorrect. The reason behind this phenomenon comes from the difference between the pressure inside the bottle and the pressure of the environment where it is opened.

When you shake your soda in an everyday environment, the CO2 bubbles break loose and act as nucleation sites, ending up stuck to the walls, ready to escape. Then, because of the pressure difference (the pressure outside is lower than the pressure at which the bottle was packaged), the explosive escape effect occurs: the bubbles expand and push the liquid along with them (Boyle's law). That is, the bottle does react, but the pressure inside it does not increase, and that is not why it reacts: the belief is a myth.

Soft drink producers bottle their drinks at pressures greater than 1 atm. Under the sea, in the hands of Chris Hadfield, the can is in an environment with a pressure equivalent to 2.5 atm, so the higher ambient pressure "neutralizes" the explosive effect: despite the shaking, the pressure manages to contain the CO2 bubbles.

Now you know the science behind that everyday phenomenon. Keep eating science cookies with chocolate chips!