Know why peanuts sink and float when dropped in a pint of beer
Scientists have finally solved the mystery of beer and peanuts
For long, dropping peanuts in a pint of beer and waiting a few moments before it sinks and later comes out floating at the top has been a fun, little game among drinking circles. Though a neat party trick, scientists have finally uncovered the fascinating science behind it.
In a research study published in the journal Royal Society Open Science, Luiz Pereira, the study's lead author states he first had the idea of solving the mystery when passing through Argentina's capital Buenos Aires to learn Spanish.
Pereira, who is a researcher at Germany’s Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, said it was a common 'bartender thing' in the city to drop a few peanuts into a beer glass and wait for them to pop back, much to the amusement of buzz-filled bar hoppers.
Peanuts are denser than beer
He said the phenomenon takes place because peanuts are denser than beer. It is one of the reasons why they sink down to the bottom of the glass when thrown in.
However, once down at the bottom, hundreds of tiny carbon dioxide bubbles form on the surface of the peanut, acting as buoys which drag them upwards with the characteristic pop sound as the bubble bursts. According to Pereira, each peanut, when down at the bottom, becomes what is called a "nucleation site".
“The bubbles prefer to form on the peanuts rather than on the glass walls,” explained Pereira.
The fascinating dance of peanuts going down and popping up continues until the carbon dioxide runs out of the glass, or better, someone gulps down that pint of beer.
The researchers expanded the areaof their experiments and examined how roasted and shelled peanuts fared in lager-style beer as well. They determined that larger the "contact angle" between the curve of an individual bubble and the surface of the peanut, the more likely it was to form and grow. However, the scientists added the caveat that it cannot grow too much and that a radius of under 1.3 millimetres was ideal.
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Similar phenomenon at play in other areas
According to the experts, the science involved in the process was similar to the one used to separate iron from ore. Moreover, the same process can be used to explain why magnetite rises to higher layers in the crystallised magma of the Earth's crust.
Akin to peanut, magnetite is denser than magma and ideally should sit at the bottom. However, the greater contact angle means that the mineral rises through the magma with help from gas bubbles.
(With inputs from agencies)
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