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Applied Fizzics Research Notes
Applied Fizzics Research Notes (AFRN) are living technical investigations into the physics of carbonation, bubbles, pressure, fluid dynamics, and related phenomena. Unlike the Applied Fizzics Field Notes—which present polished explanations for a general audience—Research Notes document the scientific process itself.
These documents are intentionally evolutionary. As new experiments are performed, models are refined, or new questions arise, individual Research Notes may be revised and expanded. Revision history will be maintained, allowing readers to follow the evolution of each investigation over time.
Field Notes explain what we've learned.
Research Notes show us learning.
Aug 18, 2026
RN #2 - Partition of CO₂ Between Liquid and Headspace
A sealed bottle of carbonated liquid contains carbon dioxide in two obvious places: dissolved in the liquid and as gas in the headspace above it. How much resides in each?
The result is surprisingly. For pure water, there are approximately 1.45 times as many CO₂ molecules in solution per unit volume as there are in the headspace at refrigerator temperatures of ~5C. For Champagne, the ratio is closer to 1.25.
This simple result also raises a second question: Is the large liquid fraction caused by conversion of dissolved CO₂ to carbonic acid? As we shall see, that appealing explanation does not account for the effect.
Jul 15, 2026
RN #1 - Diffusive CO₂ Loss vs. Bubbles in Champagne
References in the literature can be found suggesting that 80% of the CO2 loss in a flute of Champagne is due to molecular diffusion at the liquid-air interface, and only 20% is lost due to visible bubbles. In this Applied Fizzics Research Note, we examine this proposition in detail.
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