Answer by Researcher davidsarokin on Thu 8 Jan 2009 - 4:02 am UTC:

kreative44,

I've answered your five questions, below.

If there's anything more you need, don't hesitate to ask.  Just post a
Clarification, and I'll be glad to continue working on this.

All the best,

David

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**What purpose does including Potassium chloride in seltzer provide?** 

Seltzer is a name give to carbonated water, which, for the most part,
consists of water and carbon dioxide gas.  It is a manufactured version of
'sparkling waters', effervescent waters that occur naturally. 

Naturally occuring sparkling waters are also known as mineral waters,
because they contain small quantities of minerals that impart a slight
taste to the drink.  Some manufacturers of carbonated water add salts
(minerals) of their own in small quantities to mimic natural sparkling
water.  Common ingredients include sodium chloride (table salt) and
potassium chloride, though many other variants may be added (in small
quantities) as well.

Here's some more background information:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbonated_water
Carbonated water



**Are there any ill effects?**

None that I know of, or that turned up in any of the searches I did.


**I know PC is used for water cleaning (hard water), but a number of
seltzers do not include this. For those that do, why?**

As mentioned above, it's an arbitrary choice on the part of the
manufacturer whether to add any minerals at all, and if added, which
minerals to add.  They are added for taste, and as far as I know, not for
any other reason.


**I wanted to sweeten up seltzer, but when pouring sugar into seltzer
(w/PC) it fizzed violently making it lose its carbonation.  Why does this
occur?**

This phenomenon is known as nucleation.  In a nutshell, any tiny particles
added to carbonated water will cause the water to fizz due to the large
surface area of each particle, and it's affect on rapid bubble-formation
from the carbon dioxide.  This is also part of the reason why carbonated
beverages fizz when poured into a glass, since the surface of the glass
contains nucleation sites as well.  

If you've ever seen the interaction between some sodas like Diet Coke, and
some candies like Mentos, the resulting eruption is an extreme example of
nucleation sites causing the sudden release of carbon dioxide gas.  Here's
some more information about it:

http://www.stevespanglerscience.com/experiment/00000109
"...Each Mentos candy has thousands of tiny pits all over the surface.
These tiny pits are called nucleation sites - perfect places for carbon
dioxide bubbles to form. As soon as the Mentos hit the soda, bubbles form
all over the surface of the candy." 



**Are there any flavorings that are combined with seltzer to get a
"home-made" healthier alternative to soda?**

I don't mean to be vague, but this really depends greatly on your
understanding of 'healthier'.  Some people prefer diet sodas over
sugared-sodas for health reasons, to keep their weight down.  Others recoil
at the thought of chemical sweeteners, and don't consider them healthy at
all.  

Here's some perspective on the debate over trying to make sodas good for
you:

http://content.scholastic.com/browse/article.jsp?id=11653
Healthy Soda?

Let me know if you need more information on this aspect of your question. 
And again, if there's anything more I can do for you on any of these
questions, just let me know.

David