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Sunday 22 December 2013

Carbonated Water

The chemist and church minister, Joseph Priestley developed carbonated water using sulfur acid and chalk. Priestley created this soda water after watching the formation of gases during fermentation when he lived next door to a brewery. The beer mattered little to him, but the fumes diffused by the ferment grain aroused his curiosity. He found that this gas could be dissolved in water to produce a fizzy drink that tasted pleasant.

In 1772 he demonstrated to the College of Physicians in London. It was suggested for use on James Cook’s second voyage of exploration in order to make pleasant tasting drinking water for his men.

A Swedish chemistry professor Torbern Bergman succeeded the same time in making carbonated water. He had been looking for a cheaper alternative to drink than spring water when ill.

In America carbonated beverages became more popular in the 1830s as a result of an apparatus John Mathews had invented. His device for charging water with carbon dioxide gas facilitated the growth  of the American soda industry especially in the New York area where he was based.

Carbonated water, with nothing else in it, can dissolve limestone, talc, and many other low-hardness minerals.

Carbonated water is the main ingredient in soda pop.

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