Why Are Champagne Bubbles So Tidy?

Visit brilliant.org/... to get started learning STEM for free. The first 200 people will get 20% off their annual premium subscription and a 30-day free trial.
Have you ever noticed that the bubbles in your glass of Champagne are just.... fancier than other sparkling drinks? They form those lovely little columns of bubbles in a way that nothing else does - and it turns out there's some neat physics going on in that champagne flute. Cheers to that!
Hosted by: Stefan Chin
----------
Support SciShow by becoming a patron on Patreon: / scishow
----------
Huge thanks go to the following Patreon supporters for helping us keep SciShow free for everyone forever: Matt Curls, Alisa Sherbow, Dr. Melvin Sanicas, Harrison Mills, Adam Brainard, Chris Peters, charles george, Piya Shedden, Alex Hackman, Christopher R, Boucher, Jeffrey Mckishen, Ash, Silas Emrys, Eric Jensen, Kevin Bealer, Jason A Saslow, Tom Mosner, Tomás Lagos González, Jacob, Christoph Schwanke, Sam Lutfi, Bryan Cloer
----------
Looking for SciShow elsewhere on the internet?
SciShow Tangents Podcast: scishow-tangen...
TikTok: / scishow
Twitter: / scishow
Instagram: / thescishowfacebook: / scishow
#SciShow #science #education #learning #complexly
----------
Sources:
SOURCES:
www.annualrevi...
www.eurekalert...
journals.aps.o...
arxiv.org/pdf/...
oceanexplorer....
IMAGES
www.gettyimage...
www.gettyimage...
www.gettyimage...
www.gettyimage...
www.gettyimage...
www.gettyimage...
www.gettyimage...
www.gettyimage...
commons.wikime...
www.gettyimage...
www.gettyimage...
www.gettyimage...

[@SciShow]

Visit brilliant.org/scishow/ to get started learning STEM for free. The first 200 people will get 20% off their annual premium subscription and a 30-day free trial.

[@andyman127]

pls... stop with the bright white add roles

[@Pressity1]

SciShow never fails to prove that our world is endlessly interesting and entertaining!

[@simonh8441]

Was this just a cleverly disguised excuse to drink at work for the SciShow team?

[@Guru_1092]

110% yes.

[@jasonremy1627]

Next up, what makes whiskey so tasty...

[@bbbb98765]

​@@jasonremy1627I mean, that would actually be a good video! Whiskey is complicated 😂

[@Aragorn7884]

🥂🥴

[@ramimxss]

@@jasonremy1627 up next, why cracks feel so good

[@Chaos3183]

So crazy how studying something random like this can help society at large in ways you never think of

[@Jenn12141983]

Hopefully that champagne was used to celebrate Hank finishing his chemo ❤

[@HeisenbergFam]

Asking the questions you randomly think of at 3 AM

[@thisischris5351]

Lol, he said ‘fizz-ics’ 🙈

[@MagierMax]

The way he tried to get me to do maths instead of drinking alcohol 😂

[@yeetoburrito]

Pretty cool

[@hoodieguy9279]

fancee bubl

[@cillianwilliamson16]

Fizzics

[@castleanthrax1833]

Kemistree.

[@naranjo5277]

Yeest

[@darleenross710]

Love the humor in these videos.

[@garyyencich4511]

As a champagne drinker I found this fascinating. Now what property causes some champagne to have relatively larger bubbles while some has tiny mousse-like bubbles?

[@jjab99]

Another great video, many thanks. Have a great day and stay safe, Joe

[@Jobobn1998]

1) Anyone else notice similarities between this phenomenon and that of Cooper Pairs? Obviously a drastically different scale, but it does remind me of them. 2) I feel like Scishow decided make an excuse for some day-drinking at work, and I'm 100% okay with this.

[@holymackerel]

I've noticed the same thing with Miller High Life, the Champagne of Beers. The bubbles follow each other. Unless it's the glass (the bottle or the glass I use), the nucleation sites might be concentrated. I'm not sure.

[@erikjohnson1412]

It’s very important to differentiate between Champagne and sparkling wine. The bubbles are based even further, tldr fancy yeast, with champagne region sparkling wine. It’s an actual difference. Cheaper is bigger/fizzier bubbles, champagne is delicate light small bubbles.

[@stewart2449]

Champagne is sparkling wine from the region Champagne, correct, but I don’t agree that it’s inherently superior. There are sparkling wines that are just as good using the same method from Spain and, honestly, England. And, to be fair, a lot of Champagne is over-priced crap (hello, Laurent Perrier).

[@RainbowMama143]

SciShow out there answering the real questions

[@starrywizdom]

Can scientists PLEASE call the physics of how bubbles behave in liquid "Fizzics"? Or, if that would require too much disambiguation, "Fizzyology"!

[@awaredeshmukh3202]

But that one sounds like physiology!!

[@Cherb123456]

Thank you!

[@serta5727]

The more you know ❤

[@Brown95P]

TIL champagnes and bubbly sodas contain surfactants. No wonder my mouth hates them so viscerally then.

[@brunorojas3992]

Same with some mineral waters like perrigrino or perrier and club soda.

[@7gate627]

Sounds fancy

[@purplealice]

The procedure that forms the characteristic champagne bubbles is known as Methode Champagnois, and you can't call a wine "champagne" if it wasn't produced by Methode Champagnois in the CHampagne region of France.

[@eriks2962]

actually some producers in the us have the right to produce champagne because of a trade exception that date back to world war 1 i think

[@adpirtle]

"fizzics"

[@brendakrieger7000]

Fascinating🍾🥂

[@bobthegoat7090]

You never answered the question of why surfactants cause the vortices to swirl a specific way. I don't have access to the study, so I can't find out for myself. Please help!

[@alberthung6191]

I was curious about that myself. There's a link to an open pre-print (arXiv) version of the study in the description. It's still a bit dense, but here's how I think it goes (non-expert, so take with a grain of salt): (1) As bubbles of a certain size float up, some liquid directly in front and in back gets pushed/pulled up with it, while liquid to the side gets pulled down to compensate (in some very bubbly systems, you might see smaller bubbles get pulled down by this downward flow). This up/down flow creates a certain vorticity pattern around the bubble and in its wake. For millimeter scale bubbles without surfactant, this vorticity pushes bubbles to the side, out from behind each other. (2) Large bubbles flatten out as they travel up, thus the induced upwards liquid flow in its wake is significant, and the vorticity pattern changes to favor bubble trains (the direction shown in the video). (3) Surfactant on the bubble causes stiffening of the bubble surface (see: Marangoni effect) and prevents slipping of the liquid. That means that the liquid that would otherwise travel downwards around the sides of the bubble instead gets grabbed and pulled upwards with the bubble. This effect also changes the vorticity pattern similar to that for large bubbles, favoring bubble trains.

[@bobthegoat7090]

@@alberthung6191 Thank you. They also linked to the study in a way where you could only see the abstract so thought the full version was not available. Thank you for letting me know. Will make for some interesting reading.

[@mrtienphysics666]

interesting physical chemistry!

[@cocotheix2664]

why does weed make more smoke than tobacco?

[@jonadkins4339]

The chemicals?

[@Elizabeth_Paz]

​@@jonadkins4339so chemicals in tabacco make less smoke?

[@longline]

Gotta define your terms, "more visible smoke", could be a differential in particle size. Even better, "What makes tobacco and weed smoke look different?"

[@TheRealSkeletor]

Cigarettes have filters which catch a lot of the smoke. Joints usually don't.

[@hewhohasnoidentity4377]

​@@TheRealSkeletorfilters aren't designed to trap smoke or chemicals. They add chemicals to alter the flavor.

[@jakes9708]

Fizzics!

[@jfinney225]

I would argue the bubbles only APPEAR “fancy” to us because I believe the majority of people look at champagne as a fancy drink, something drank only at special occasions and holidays. Therefore we attribute the classiness of all its characteristics.

[@jfinney225]

But I’ve also typed out this comment before watching the video so let’s see if my mind is swayed. Lol

[@bbbb98765]

​@@jfinney225Ha ha. How'd it go?

[@KOKO-uu7yd]

Was my thought too

[@nedludd7622]

A similar thing could be said about other things we have quality evaluations about. So, what is the point?

[@bobthegoat7090]

Bubbles neatly in a column also seems more fancy

[@TheReaverOfDarkness]

they just look like bubbles to me

[@nissanslut7870]

Ok, stupid question, id manufactures add extra sugar and yeast before bottling, how is the champagne clear and how is there nothing on the bottom of the bottle?

[@flamencoprof]

Not a stupid question. Look up "riddling" and "disgorgement".

[@longline]

Yo. I paused on the glass to check for the bubble trails. That's not apple juice? I mean, not a lot of frames to go on, but that looks like a straight line of bubbles?... Please confirm or deny. What was in the glass?

[@3800S1]

I always notice how the bubbles come from the same point in the drink. I assumed this is because there are small particles in the liquid that are the nucleation sites? When the video talked about the string of bubbles, champagne didn't even come to mind but rather natural mineral water that is carbonated already out of the ground. I don't really drink alcohol so I never associated this with champagne . I can't even recall the last time I saw champagne let alone drank it.

[@jallomoth]

I I be poppin bottles

[@radagast6682]

Home made beer can have the same kind of bubbles as Champagne. Mine does.

[@StYxXx]

So why do the vortices swirl in opposite directions at all?

[@edwardskerl5774]

I've made my best beer with cuvee yeast

[@uplink-on-yt]

Getting closer to explaining why air bubbles in Coke feel so different from air bubbles in Pepsi.

[@user-yu7lk4hl3y]

Nice video and interesting topic but I feel betrayed. You skip THE most important point: Why do the vortices turn in different directions depending on the surfactant? Thats what produces the difference to beer, coke etc

[@MrClivesinger]

Have a look at some of the links in the description. I've got a background in this area, so some of what I've quickly read suggests the issue is that SciShow tried their best to come up with a simple description for what's going on, but it's really not simple at all, and the description they've given actually doesn't make much sense for me. I think the best answer (in a comment) is that a surfactant lowers the energy required to grow a bigger bubble, and also then makes the bubble more deformable once grown. The deformable bubble then interacts with its own wake a little differently, which through a series of complex fluid mechanics steps, leads to a streamlining of the flows, which also then streamlines the bubble separations.

[@user-yu7lk4hl3y]

@@MrClivesinger Thanks for your response.!

[@marym7104]

Within 6 days!

[@50-50_Grind]

Fancy looking? They're just bubbles.

[@sween187]

The glass plays a big roll in this for nucleation sites, also "Champagne" is regional like Tequila, (just a fun fact),

[@antontxu]

and why do the bubbles form in the same spot?

[@nitricoxidegod]

🎉

[@janetf23]

👍for🍾🥂

[@allythearts5439]

I like non alcoholic champagne 🥂

[@MeepMeep88]

LEGEND has it... If you swim in a glass of champagne and fart.. bubbles turn into FLOWERS.... SCIENCE!

[@Merennulli]

I'm surprised you didn't link the sham pain (champagne) surfactants to sham poo, and then link that to the potential sewage treatment use for this research.

[@masterimbecile]

Da best fizz in da bizz

[@marym7104]

53,901th viewer of this video!

[@Gothead420]

Maybe it's just because marketing has done it's job by letting you think that friggin' bubbles in a glass look fancy...😅 I mean, to each their own, I guess...🤷🏻‍♂️

[@jlammetje]

Too much champagne on set? You said the vortices go the same direction, but the animation showed opposite. Which would also make more sense

[@awaredeshmukh3202]

I think they mean same as in "out and up", so rotationally symmetric around the bubble. As opposed to some of them being out and up and some of them being out and down

[@josepaez_2]

Dude, cure to cancer is waiting haha, why are we having these type of studies? hahaha

[@OceanBagel]

What does it even mean for the vortices to spin in opposite directions? That explanation doesn't really sound believable...

[@ashergoney]

Are You Citra Super Cooler Like MD , CD and 7up

[@ashergoney]

No Bar Licences At Jimmy's Kitchen Recall, Plain Old Bootleggers Used To Roll In , Roll By..

[@mastnes1]

Alcohol is poison, and why the science in this video is interesting you could have just focused on that and not have promoted the consumption of poison as a celebration. Down vote from me.

[@markedis5902]

The worst hangovers come from champagne Must be the surfactant

[@d.b.1176]

It's because the carbonation is pretentious.

[@michaelward6333]

Lazy writing at scishow I notice every other show for two shows damn. There is bacteria that can eat gasoline and styrofoam is that true? So why not? Can we do that?

[@fgialcgorge7392]

they're not