# tapping pop cans
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tapping-pop-cans/67519
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [June 4, 2001, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tapping-pop-cans/67519 "2001-06-04T14:24:08Z")
**Posts on this page:** 7
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@isabellab](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/isabellab)
#### Post date: [June 4, 2001, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tapping-pop-cans/67519/1 "2001-06-04T14:24:08Z")
My friend Tom and I discovered that we both tap the tops of our pop cans out of habit.
Does this action really help keep the can from exploding or spilling over when opened?
I have heard that tapping the can with a metal object actually does help.
Thanks!
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### Author:  [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)
#### Post date: [June 4, 2001, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tapping-pop-cans/67519/2 "2001-06-04T14:34:37Z")
[Will tapping a pop can keep the carbonation from exploding on opening?](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=73055)
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### Author:  [@Arken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arken)
#### Post date: [June 4, 2001, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tapping-pop-cans/67519/3 "2001-06-04T15:36:52Z")
Tapping on the can causes death from drinking it with Pop Rocks. It killed the kid from Leave it to Beaver before he was killed again in Vietnam.
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### Author:  [@JeffB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JeffB)
#### Post date: [June 4, 2001, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tapping-pop-cans/67519/4 "2001-06-04T19:29:14Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Arken \*
> \*\*Tapping on the can causes death from drinking it with Pop Rocks. It killed the kid from Leave it to Beaver before he was killed again in Vietnam. \*\*
**Arken** , we’re trying to fight ignorance here. It was Mikey from the Life commercials who died of drinking soda with Pop Rocks.
And here’s a link to Cecil talking about [tapping](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a4_198.html) (both cans and cigarettes).
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### Author:  [@Arken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arken)
#### Post date: [June 5, 2001, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tapping-pop-cans/67519/5 "2001-06-05T04:14:53Z")
> [@](#):
>
> Arken, we’re trying to fight ignorance here. It was Mikey from the Life commercials who died of drinking soda with Pop Rocks.
I thought Mikey went on to make porn films? Or was that Eddie Haskell? Hell, maybe it was both… together. I haven’t been to Snopes in a while.
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### Author:  [@JeffB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JeffB)
#### Post date: [June 5, 2001, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tapping-pop-cans/67519/6 "2001-06-05T12:42:05Z")
Wouldn’t it be more appropriate if the Beaver went on to make porn films?
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### Author:  [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)
#### Post date: [June 5, 2001, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tapping-pop-cans/67519/7 "2001-06-05T13:16:42Z")
…I had read somewhere that tapping on the can dislodged the micro bubbles that are clinging to the sides of the can allowing them to get back into solution more quickly than they otherwise might.
Looking for backup to this I found [this](http://www.howstuffworks.com/question602.htm) link which describes this effect. It also mentions that it is difficult to know how successful you are prior to opening the can thus, as Cecil and others have mentioned, the best course of action is to let the can sit awhile before opening.