Home > categories > Minerals & Metallurgy > Aluminum Coils > When you open an aluminum beverage can, do particles of aluminum get into the drink?
Question:

When you open an aluminum beverage can, do particles of aluminum get into the drink?

When you open an aluminum beverage can, do particles of aluminum get into the drink?

Answer:

Most aluminum cans these days have a thin polymer coating inside that keeps the aluminum from being exposed to the (usually acidic) soft drinks. Aluminum also inevitably has a thin unreactive oxide layer on its surface. (This can be attacked by liquids, but they must be very acidic.) The only exposed aluminum surface when you open the can is around the hole created by the pull-tab. That has a very low surface area and is quickly coated with the unreactive oxide too. Aluminum content in the drink is consequently very low.
It depends on the type of drink inside the can. Aluminium is a metal in the group three of the periodic table of elements so it has three positive charges when ionized although it has metallic bond between its nucleus and its electrons. If the drink contains too much acid such as HCl with a high concentration the acid may react with the aluminium can if it is not coated or galvanized. Although it may not physically break off for the particles to enter the drink, it may dissolute in the kind of substance inside the drink.
No. Aluminum has metallic bonds, so atoms don't break off that easily.

Share to: