A Mexican Curiosity

While we were touring Acuitzio on Tuesday, our guide Moi was nice enough to buy us drinks from a store we passed by. On Cherith’s suggestion, I got Manzanita, which is basically carbonated apple juice. Not bad at all. Here’s what it looked like:

Bottle of Manzanita soda (2009-03-03)

Note the shape of the bottle: It’s a bit thinner and taller than the 20oz bottles common in the US. On our drive to the airport Saturday night, we stopped at a gas station in order to get coffee to keep David awake and all of us alive, and I got some 7 Up for myself. It tasted slightly different from what I remember from the States, though I don’t know when I last had any actual 7 Up. I finished it in the Morelia airport while waiting at the gate, after the baggage-searcher said I should drink it before boarding the flight (not that it would really matter). I tossed the empty bottle in my backpack as a souvenir. (I had considered swiping the Spanish Coke can from the flight in, to complement the Swedish one my dad brought home from a business trip.) When I got home and unpacked, I found something curious.

Squished 7 Up bottle (2009-03-08)

The bottle was now squished, having done nothing but taken two airplane flights with me back to Rochester. The top has been on tight ever since Mexico, and I still haven’t opened it even now, perhaps in case I ever need a sample of Mexican air (not to mention a nice example of physics in action). I pondered why this might have happened for a few minutes, and then asked my dad what he thought. He asked one question, and I suddenly realized what was going on. I wonder, how many of my readers are astute enough to figure it out? (I have no doubt that my physics and engineering friends at RIT will have no trouble with this.)

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3 Responses to A Mexican Curiosity

  1. fendeilagh says:

    I want to say that the bottle is squished due to a change in elevation or temperature. (aka: Mexico was hotter and higher than Rochester) Usually in the airplane the air pressure (even in the pressurized cabin) is lower than atmosphere and so the bottle swells, then on landing it contracts, but it always seems to contract to smaller than the original. I’ve seen this happen on both the initial and return journeys of a trip, however, which slightly confuses me…

  2. Tim says:

    Yes, I do believe this particular instance was caused by the fact that there’s a 6000 foot difference in elevation between Morelia and Rochester. However, if you open the bottle while airborne (which I did not), then the bottle will contract upon landing no matter what your destination. (That’s unless you’re flying to La Paz, Bolivia, the world’s highest commercial airport, which is situated at 13,300 ft compared to the cabin pressure which is usually equivalent to 8,000 ft. In that case the bottle would expand upon landing — and you might experience related problems if you’re not accustomed to such altitudes.)

  3. A Stalker says:

    I am a stalker who is stalking you. Feel stalked.

    I’m not an engineer and never studied physics, but I’ve traveled a lot. It got squished because of the change in air pressure when flying. Also, the reason the 7-up tasted different in Mexico is because in the U.S., most carbonated beverages are made with high fructose corn syrup as a sweetener, while in most other countries, cane sugar is used instead. This causes subtle differences in taste.

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