Monday, April 15, 2013

Why does it burn when you burp through your nose? After Drinking Soda ?

Why does it burn when you burp through your nose? After Drinking Soda ?

The gas that you burp up is mostly carbon dioxide from the carbonation of the soda. This carbon dioxide gas is acidic and will burn as it passes through the sensitive membranes in your nose. Fortunately it doesn't cause any permanent damage.

I know it's the carbon dioxide because out of curiosity, I checked to see if carbon dioxide had any odor to it. So I stuck my nose into a bucket that had dry ice, which is just carbon dioxide in solid form rather than a gas. Because of its properties, dry ice doesn't melt at room temperature. Instead it turns directly to gas. So there is a layer of pure carbon dioxide gas just above the dry ice in the container. This is what I stuck my nose in to sniff.

Boy did I regret it. It was exactly like the burn from a soda burp!


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