# To drown or face carbonic doom **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 29, 2004, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-drown-or-face-carbonic-doom/262133 "2004-08-29T22:21:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Greenback](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/2bfe46/32.png) [@Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Greenback)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2004, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-drown-or-face-carbonic-doom/262133/1 "2004-08-29T22:21:51Z")
I went perusing through the archives and stumbled on some [threads](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/search.php?searchid=389107) about Coca-Cola and its acidity. [Snopes](http://www.snopes.com/cokelore/acid.asp) had some information to debunk the extreme stuff but the fact remains that Coke is acidic. If we took a person who is a very strong swimmer and them swim in a pool of Coke, would they get tired from swimming and drown before the acids took their toll or would the swimmer succomb to the Cola first? ---
**Author:** ![gtbiehle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/5f8ce5/32.png) [@gtbiehle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gtbiehle)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2004, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-drown-or-face-carbonic-doom/262133/2 "2004-08-29T23:51:27Z")
When you say succomb to Coke, so you mean by drinking its refreshing coolness? (Sorry, couldn’t help myself.) Coke is not acidic enough to appreciably protonate the proteins on skin, so a swimmer could last in Coke forever, as far as any deleterious effects of Coke contact are concerned. (Is this what you mean?) A strong swimmer is aware of methods of staying afloat indefinitely, and could nourish herself with the Coke. She would eventually die of malnutrition from lack of protein and vitamins. If the swimmer were made of iron, however, that is another story. ---
**Author:** ![Tentacle\_Monster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ba9def/32.png) [@Tentacle\_Monster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tentacle_Monster)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2004, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-drown-or-face-carbonic-doom/262133/3 "2004-08-29T23:57:49Z")
And due to the carbonation, it’d be easier to stay afloat. Remember the raisins-in-the-7up trick? ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2004, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-drown-or-face-carbonic-doom/262133/4 "2004-08-30T00:00:14Z")
Neither. Hypothermia. ---
**Author:** ![Padeye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@Padeye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Padeye)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2004, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-drown-or-face-carbonic-doom/262133/5 "2004-08-30T00:34:50Z")
Swimming in a pool of carbonated water presents different hazards, asphyxiation from breathing CO[sub]2[/sub]. Have you ever taken a swig from a half empty 2 or 3 litre bottle and gotten a bit of a rush from inhaling the gas in the bottle? In this case swimming in a pool of seltzer would be as deadly as Coca-Cola™ or generic store brand pop. ---
**Author:** ![Greenback](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/2bfe46/32.png) [@Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Greenback)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2004, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-drown-or-face-carbonic-doom/262133/6 "2004-08-30T03:05:58Z")
I forgot about that. Let’s give the swimmer an air hose. So the body’s proteins would still hold up to the Cola? Just wondering… ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2004, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-drown-or-face-carbonic-doom/262133/7 "2004-08-30T03:22:24Z")
> [@Greenback](#): > > If we took a person who is a very strong swimmer and them swim in a pool of Coke, would they get tired from swimming Only if it was caffeine-free diet Coke. ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2004, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-drown-or-face-carbonic-doom/262133/8 "2004-08-30T03:57:12Z")
> [@Tentacle Monster](#): > > And due to the carbonation, it’d be easier to stay afloat. Remember the raisins-in-the-7up trick? Raisins aren’t much bigger than the bubbles. If you tried to swim in a carbonated solution, your thrashing would produce lots of bubbles. Those would decrease the density of the medium, and you’d tend to sink. Here’s a bit on the [hazard that catastrophic release of seafloor methane](http://www.tribuneindia.com/1999/99jan07/science.htm#1) poses to ships: > [@](#): > > If the Hydrate seal from such an accumulation were broken abruptly, the gas along with every fluid gas cut mud would be ejected. Potentially large volume of gas, even entire shallow gas fields, would rush to the surface, breaking into smaller and smaller bubbles during its ascent through the water column. If the gas escape were rapid and localised enough, the effect on the surface would be indentified to that of a blowout caused by marine drilling operations (i.e. there would be a patch of highly agitated, frothy water of very low relative density). Any vessel accidentally encountering such a patch could lose buoyancy and sink very quickly. Now swimming in coke won’t be _that_ bad, but at the very least, the gas released around your arms during a swimming stroke will decrease the efficiency of your movement through the liquid. ---
**Author:** ![MikeS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/919ad9/32.png) [@MikeS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MikeS)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2004, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-drown-or-face-carbonic-doom/262133/9 "2004-08-30T04:24:04Z")
> [@Squink](#): > > Raisins aren’t much bigger than the bubbles. If you tried to swim in a carbonated solution, your thrashing would produce lots of bubbles. Those would decrease the density of the medium, and you’d tend to sink. True, but remember that Coke has an awful lot of sugar dissolved in it. So it’s a good deal denser than regular water, and therefore easier to swim in. Now if you’re swimming in Diet Coke, that’s another story; there’s not nearly as much mass of Nutrasweet in a Diet Coke as there is sugar in Coke. Personal experience tells me that a Diet Coke placed in fresh water will float, while a regular Coke will sink, so they’re on opposite sides of a density of 1.0 kg/litre. ---
**Author:** ![Padeye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@Padeye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Padeye)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2004, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-drown-or-face-carbonic-doom/262133/10 "2004-08-30T05:19:44Z")
Not neccessarily **MikeS**.You have to account for the mass of the metal can and the gas volume inside. You have detrmined that regular coke is denser than diet but not nothing beyond that with certainty. I’m sure both are more dense than distilled water. ---
**Author:** ![tim314](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim314/32/3468_2.png) [@tim314](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tim314)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2004, 6:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-drown-or-face-carbonic-doom/262133/11 "2004-08-30T06:09:35Z")
Am I the only one who saw “carbonic doom” in the thread title and thought it would be something about Han Solo in The Empire Strikes Back? Maybe that’s “carbonitic doom.” 😃 ---
**Author:** ![legion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/838e76/32.png) [@legion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/legion)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2004, 6:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-drown-or-face-carbonic-doom/262133/12 "2004-08-30T06:25:26Z")
The damn wasps would sting the swimmer to death before they had time to drown or melt! ---
**Author:** ![The\_Asbestos\_Mango](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/edb3f5/32.png) [@The\_Asbestos\_Mango](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Asbestos_Mango)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2004, 8:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-drown-or-face-carbonic-doom/262133/13 "2004-08-30T08:25:06Z")
Hmmf. When I read the thread title, I thought it was going to be asking whether a person would die of asphyxiation from the CO[sub]2[/sub] released from the bubbles in the Coke before they drowned. Damn misleading thread titles. Bring on the tentacled monsters!!! ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2004, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-drown-or-face-carbonic-doom/262133/14 "2004-08-30T16:11:27Z")
> [@](#): > > Coca-Cola contains 10.6 grams sugar and 41 calories per 100ml [here](http://www.coca-colabottling.co.id/eng/ourcompany/index.php?act=faq) Density of 10% sucrose is 1.04 g/cc (CRC) Density of classic coke is 1.11 g/cc [here](http://www.elmhurst.edu/~chm/vchembook/121Adensitycoke.html) Density of diet coke is 1.00 g/cc Seawater has an average density of 1.026 g/cc ---
**Author:** ![ZenBeam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/3ab097/32.png) [@ZenBeam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZenBeam)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2004, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-drown-or-face-carbonic-doom/262133/15 "2004-08-30T16:44:10Z")
If swimming in a pool full of Coca Cola was in any way dangerous, they would warn us about it on the label. I say go for it. 😉