What Is Sprite’s Chemical Formula?
The soft drink Sprite, manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company, is a solution rather than a chemical compound; this means it doesn’t have a chemical formula. Sprite has a list of ingredients that have their own chemical formulas.
Only pure chemical substances can be expressed as chemical formulas. These are substances created by one type of molecule. Water, for example, is comprised solely of water molecules and is therefore a chemical compound.
While Sprite isn’t comprised of individual Sprite molecules, it is comprised of ingredients that have their own chemical formulas. According to Coca-Cola’s website, Sprite contains carbonated water, sugar, citric acid, malic acid, acidity regulator (sodium gluconate), preservative (sodium benzoate), natural lemon-lime flavorings and sweetener (steviol glycosides). These chemicals are mixed into a solution that could be separated out into individual ingredients without going through a chemical reaction, unlike chemical compounds. While Coca-Cola lists the ingredients of its products, the exact proportions of each chemical within Sprite aren’t freely available, as this is a trade secret.
The available chemical formulas of the ingredients found in Sprite include: Carbonated water or CO2 (carbon dioxide) dissolved into H2O, Sugar or C12H22O11, Citric Acid or C6H8O7, Malic Acid or, HO2CCH2CHOHCO2H, Sodium Gluconate or NaC6H11O7, Sodium Benzoate or NaC7H5O2, Steviol Glycosides or Stevioside, which is also known as C38H60O18.
