Popping a champagne cork fires gas at supersonic speeds
A computer simulation has revealed what happens in the microseconds after uncorking a bottle of champagne in full detail, uncovering how different types of shock waves form before the drink is ready to pour
6 June 2022
Gas can exit a champagne bottle at nearly 1600 kilometres per second
Jakub Gojda / Alamy Stock Photo
Uncorking a cold bottle of champagne releases carbon dioxide gas in a series of shock waves, many of which are faster than the speed of sound.
Champagne uncorking may seem simple, but high-speed images have previously shown that high-pressured, cold carbon dioxide gas escapes in a more complicated series of steps than expected. “Champagne should be considered a ‘mini’ laboratory for the physics of fluids,” says Robert Georges at the University of Rennes 1 in France.
Georges and his …
