Bubbling Disaster | Science of Stupid

Cracking open a bottle of bubbly isn't just for F1 drivers and stock brokers; it's also the perfect way to kick off a Christmas party. But like F1 drivers and stock brokers, champagne bottles are under an awful lot of pressure—around six times normal atmospheric pressure. That's the same as the tires on a double-decker bus. It is surprising, isn't it?

So, popping the cork can be a hairy business. "Me your blade, hang about, what's he up to?" Well, it's a little party trick called sabrage, and it involves slicing the top off a bottle of champagne with a blade—traditionally a saber. This should be good!

Oh, cracking stuff! What has sabrage got to do with science? Well, let's take a squiz at the physics of fizz. To safely contain all of that pressure, a champagne bottle is made with thick glass, making it very strong. The secret of sabrage is to smartly strike the point of concentrated stress where the seam of the bottle meets the angled rim at the top of the neck.

As glass is a brittle material, it only takes a small knock to propagate a crack. With six times atmospheric pressure just bursting to be unleashed, a small crack quickly becomes a clean break. Before you start slicing your bubbly with the bread knife, I must point out that there is a much easier and far safer way to open a bottle of fizz: you just pull the cork out with your hands—no sabers required!