Champagne cork popping revisited through high-speed infrared imaging: The role of temperature

Abstract

Champagne cork popping out of standard 75cL bottles was examined through high-speed infrared imaging for three various champagne temperatures (namely, 4, 12, and 18°C). The cloud of gaseous CO2 gushing out of the bottleneck while cork popping (invisible in the visible light spectrum) was visualized. Both the volume of gaseous CO2 gushing out of the bottleneck, and its overall dynamic behavior were found to depend on the champagne temperature. The velocity of the cork popping out of the bottleneck was also measured, and found to logically increase with the champagne temperature. By considering that gases under pressure in the bottleneck experience adiabatic expansion while cork popping, a thermodynamic model was built that accounts for the major physical parameters that influence the volume of gaseous CO2 gushing out of the bottleneck, its drop of temperature, and its total energy released while cork popping. Only a small fraction of the total energy released while cork popping was found to be converted into the form of cork’s kinetic energy (only about 5%), whatever the champagne temperature.