Why does warm soda fizz up so much when you pour it on ice?

Question

Cold soda only fizzes a little. Even like 1/2 a cup of warm soda almost overflows the glass.

Answer 1

Soda water has dissolved carbon dioxide in it. The carbon dioxide is not very soluble and it is bottled or canned under a pressure of carbon dioxide.

When you open the soda, the excess pressure of carbon dioxide over the liquid escapes. The supersaturated solution now strives to equilibrate by removing excess disolved carbon dioxide.

Pouring over ice spreads the solution out so it has more intimate contact with the atmosphere and this hastens carbon dioxide evolution producing the fizz.

Answer 2

Soda contains dissolved carbonic acid, H2CO3. The formation of carbon dioxide from H2CO3 is expressed by the ff equation:

H2CO3 ----> CO2 + H2O

Now, the bubbles creating the fizz are actually CO2.

Carbonic acid seems to be more stable in the liquid at higher temperatures. In other words, H2CO3 prefer to be dissolved in liquid soda when warm. When poured on ice (which has a lower temperature), warm soda gradually becomes colder. thus, H2CO3 tends to produce CO2. A warm soda produces more fizz than a cold one because in the former, there is more H2CO3 dissolved in the liquid capable of undergoing the above reaction.

Answer 3

The previous answer is correct in the basics of CO2 coming out of solution. What is missing is the relationship between temperature and liberation rate.

As the solution (in this case the soda) heats up, the gases escape at a higher rate. [As the Temp of the solution approaches the Boiling Point Gas Solubility approaches Zero.]

This is because liquids become energetic as they become warmer making it easier for gases in solution to escape. Conversely, at low temperatures the gases are trapped.

Answer 4

The oxygen molecules in the ice are releasing the Carbon Dioxide (Co2) in the soda. The bubbles rising to the surface are Co2