Carbonated water facts for kids
Carbonated water is just water with tiny bubbles of carbon dioxide gas mixed into it. You might know it as sparkling water, fizzy water, club soda, or seltzer water.
This bubbling process is called carbonation. It makes the water fizzy! Sometimes, other things like salt are added, but seltzer water is usually just water and carbon dioxide.
You can buy carbonated water in bottles, often as soft drinks. But you can also make it yourself at home using special soda maker machines. Some mineral water even becomes naturally carbonated deep underground!
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How Carbonated Water Affects Your Health
Plain carbonated water generally has little effect on your health. Even though it's a bit acidic, your saliva quickly makes it neutral.
However, if you drink a lot of carbonated water, the gas might make you feel a bit bloated or gassy. This is because the carbon dioxide gas is released in your stomach.
It's important to know that regular carbonated soft drinks, like colas, are different. They often have a lot of sugar and other ingredients. These sugary drinks can be much more damaging to your teeth than plain carbonated water. They can also affect bone density in older women.
Cooking with Fizzy Water
Chefs are starting to use carbonated water more and more in cooking. They add it to doughs and batters to make them lighter and fluffier.
A food scientist named Kevin Ryan from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign explains why. The tiny bubbles of carbon dioxide gas get trapped in the dough. When you cook it, these bubbles expand, making the food airy and light.
Does it Remove Stains?
You might have heard that club soda is great for cleaning up spills, especially red wine stains on clothes. Many people believe this!
However, this idea is mostly based on stories, not on science. There's no special chemical reason why club soda would be better at removing stains than plain water. So, if you spill something, regular water might work just as well!
Images for kids
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Joseph Priestley was a scientist who first figured out how to make carbonated water in the 1700s.
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This is some of the equipment Priestley used to experiment with gases and make fizzy water.
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An old newspaper from 1786, showing how long carbonated water has been around.
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This is a soda siphon from around 1922, used to serve fizzy water.
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A fancy seltzogene from the late Victorian era, also used for making and serving carbonated water.
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The Codd-neck bottle has a marble inside that seals the fizz in!
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A common soda maker you might see in stores, used to make fizzy water at home.
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A modern soda gun used in bars to mix drinks with carbonated water.
See also
In Spanish: Agua carbonatada para niños
