Predict what will be observed in each experiment below. A student sees tiny bubbles clinging to the inside of an unopened plasti
c bottle full of carbonated soft drink. The student squeezes the bottle. A. The bubbles will shrink, and some may vanish. B. The bubbles will grow, and more may appear. C. The bubbles won't change. D. I need more information to predict what will happen to the bubbles.
Squeezing the bottle creates negative pressure inside the bottle because of the plastic's elasticity that will hasten the extraction of the carbon dioxide from the soda.
The bubbles are formed because the carbonic acid of the soft drink decomposes and forms carbon dioxide gas, which has low solubility in liquids. The decomposition reaction is a reversible reaction:
H₂CO₃(l) ⇄ CO₂(g) + H₂O
When the bottle is shaken, the molecules of the drink became more agitated, so the pressure of it will increase. The increase of pressure in a reversible reaction shifts the equilibrium of the formation of the less gas molecules (Lê Chatelier's Principle). So, the CO₂ will dissolve in liquid, and less bubbles will be seen.
