Pippin's Question Box

What makes soda fizz? Best

Well, this was a fairly easy question, especially because we just learned about carbonation. It's also exciting, because I can finally answer a question with mostly prior knowledge. First of all, soda fizzes because of the common gas called carbon dioxide. To create the fizz, Pepsi, Coke, Sprite, and all soda manufacturers squeeze big amounts of carbon dioxide and water (mixed with other materials to create the flavor) into a can at high pressures, thus creating the fizz.

When the can/bottle is closed, there are barely any bubbles, so there is no fizz, because the gas particles are all compressed together at such a high pressure that they can't move and are fully dissolved in the liquid, comparable to the particles of a solid, which is very different from how gas usually behaves. Like all gas particles, when the pressure of the soda is released by opening the can, they burst out at a high speed and now freely travel through the open air.

The potential energy stored inside the soda from the pressure is now converted into the kinetic energy that causes the soda to burst out. This kinetic energy overpowers the force that is preventing the carbon dioxide and the liquid from separating, and the carbon dioxides exits the mixture, leaving the soda safe to drink. This is why you hear the "sss" sound after opening a can of soda. When you shake the soda, the molecules jump around the bottle, gaining more energy to burst after the soda is opened. That is why you get a huge explosion after shaking a can of soda and opening it. So, it's probably better not to shake a can of soda before drinking it, unless you want soda to drip on your clothes and skin.

Also, when you pour out a newly opened can of soda into a cup, you see that the fizz is rising to the rim of the cup, and then vaporizes in the air. That's why the soda tastes bad until the fizz leaves the cup. Blowing the cup doesn't help speed up the process of vaporization. Believe me, I've tried it before. In addition, adding ice cubes to the cup doesn't speed the process up, because it only adds more fizz, since it releases the dissolved gas.

Reading all of this science-y stuff can get a little confusing, but you can try it out for yourself by experimenting with soda. Although, you probably want to back away quickly if you're going to shake the bottle of soda and open it. For those of you who don't like science much, I hope that reading this will show you that science can be fun!!!

I got my information from:

http://www.letusfindout.com/why-does-soda-fizz/

http://www.livescience.com/mysteries/061010_soda_fizz.html

http://www.answers.com/topic/what-makes-soda-pop-fizz

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Why_does_soda_pop_fizz_when_opened

Pippin

Pippin's Question Box

Can you get drunk by walking into a room full of alcohol fumes?

This question was a little confusing. Getting drunk by walking into a room full of alcohol fumes really depends. First, how strong is the alcohol? If it is very strong, then it definitely is possible to get drunk. Although alcohol isn't an inhalant, taking a few whiffs of it is still harmful. But the main question is, if you're walking into the room, are you directly inhaling the alcohol fumes? If you are, then it's very easy to get drunk because the alcohol is delivered into your bloodstream directly from the lungs. This is because the alcohol fumes are inhaled by your lungs, and delivered to your bloodstream with the oxygen. Breathing in the fumes can definitely allow big amounts of alcohol to enter the body.

I got my information from:

http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/health-news/health-drunk-but-not-a-drop-passed-my-lips-did-you-know-that-you-can-get-tipsy-simply-by-breathing-in-the-fumes-from-other-peoples-booze-rob-stepney-looks-at-the-risks-and-possibilities-of-passive-drinking-1469632.html

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=An9F.49DXdAXODurLO4M5zd66xR.;_ylv=3?qid=20080608072225AATU1JJ

Pippin's Question Box

Do all plants have seeds? Best

First of all, I think that not all plants have seeds. This is because there are some plants that reproduce without using seeds. So, these plants never end up having seeds. Two examples of seedless plants are ferns and mosses. Unlike spermatophytes, which are plants that use seeds to reproduce, ferns and mosses reproduce by releasing spores. Other seedless plants may replicate by producing rhizomes, tubers and other structures. A rhizome is the horizontal stem of a plant, and since rhizomes grow rapidly, plants that grow from them grow quickly, which is why they don't live well in pots. Therefore, some plants do not have seeds.

I got my info from:

http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-a-rhizome.htm

and

http://www.superseedsite.com/seeds_general/why_do_plants_have_seeds.html

Pippin's Question Box

What is a gravity wave? Most Scientific

A gravity wave is a vertical wave moving through a stable layer of the atmosphere. A gravity wave is basically a general classification for all types of waves, such as sound waves, electromagnetic waves, lee waves, mountain waves, and much more. Just like electromagnetic waves, gravity waves travel at the speed of light. Considering light travels at 186,000 miles per second, that's really fast. A gravity wave looks like a undulating wave, meaning that it travels an up and down motion. It looks a little like a ripple in water, which forms when you throw a rock in it. It is much harder to detect gravity waves than electromagnetic waves, and although a number of experiments have been performed, we still have not been able to detect gravity waves directly.

http://fofweb.com/Science/default.asp?ItemID=WE40

http://www.theweatherprediction.com/habyhints/64/

http://www.crh.noaa.gov/glossary.php?letter=g

Literature: 5 Fables

For literature, we had to read five fables and write what we think the moral of the fable is. I think that the maxim, or moral, of The Fox and the Goat is that you should think before you act and you shouldn't blindly trust someone. If the goat considered that the fox could have been lying, he wouldn't be tricked into getting stuck at the bottom of the well. The maxim of The Crow and the Pitcher is little by little does the trick because by gradually placing the pebbles into the pitcher, he was able to raise the water level enough so that he could quench his thirst. If he threw the pebbles in quickly, most of the water would have fallen out, and his efforts would go to waste. The moral of The Fisher and the Little Fish is that it is better to have something little in your hand than to possibly have something big because if the fisher didn't catch a bigger fish, he would have regretted letting the little fish go. I think that the maxim of The Four Oxen and the Lion is that united we stand, divided we fall because the oxen were able to defend themselves together, but when quarreling, they were defenseless and were therefore attacked. Finally, the moral of The Wolf in Sheep's Clothing is that appearances can be deceiving, and because the wolf appeared to be the lamb's mother, the lamb was tricked into following him. Those are the maxims/morals of the five fables.

Ask A Geneticist

By reading these websites, I learned many facts about chromosomes and DNA. A chromosome is a package containing a chunk of a genome, which is an organism's genes. A chromosome is similar to a package which helps a cell to keep a large amount of genetic information neat, organized, and compact. Chromosomes are made of DNA and proteins. Some simple organisms, such as bacteria, can package their their entire genome (the genetic information) in a single chromosome. However, for more intricate organisms, such as humans, the genome is much larger, and more chromosomes are required to store all of the genetic information. The amount of chromosomes that an organism has depends on the species, and is therefore not a fixed amount. Closely related species usually to have a similar number of chromosomes. For instance, chimpanzees, our closest cousins, have 48 chromosomes in each of their cells, while we have 46 chromosomes. It is expected for more complex organisms to have more chromosomes, but nature doesn't work that way. Surprisingly, goldfish, who are fairly simple organisms, have 96 chromosomes, in comparison to humans, who have 46 chromosomes. The number of chromosomes that an organism has is unique to its species, and it is not very specific.