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Bottle

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A bottle is a narrow-necked container designed to store and transport liquids. To function correctly, a bottle must be made of an impermeable material. This means the material does not allow liquid to leak through its walls. Common materials used for bottles include glass, pottery, porcelain, plastic, and aluminium.

Bouteille
Bouteille

Most bottles feature a mouth at the top of the neck. This opening can be secured using several different methods. These include internal stoppers, external caps, specialized closures, or induction sealing. These various sealing methods ensure the liquid remains contained and safe during movement.

Glass bottles played a vital role in the history of wine production. When glass is paired with a high-quality stopper, such as a cork, it allows wine to undergo long-term aging. This was a major change from earlier methods. Before glass became common, wine was often sold from large barrels or amphorae. Merchants would then move the wine into bottles at their shops. This process created many opportunities for fraud and adulteration. Consumers often had to trust that merchants had not tampered with the contents.

Bottle Iran 16
Bottle Iran 16

To prevent this, the practice of "château bottling" emerged. This is when wine is bottled at the original estate or source. Since 1974, all port wine has been required to follow this practice to ensure quality.

Different types of wine bottles use specific shapes to serve different purposes. The Bordeaux bottle is one of the most common types used worldwide. It features straight sides and a curved shoulder. This shoulder is useful for catching sediment, which are tiny solid particles. It also makes the bottles easier to stack. The Burgundy bottle is quite different because it lacks a shoulder. Instead, its sides taper down about halfway to a short cylindrical section.

Bouteille
Bouteille

Finally, Champagne bottles are built with a wider base and a much heavier construction. This extra strength is necessary to withstand the internal pressure caused by carbonation.

In 1872, an inventor named Hiram Codd changed how carbonated drinks were packaged. Codd lived in Camberwell, London, and patented a unique design for soft drinks. The Codd-neck bottle uses a marble and a rubber washer, also known as a gasket, inside the neck. To fill the bottle, workers turn it upside down. The pressure from the gas inside the bottle pushes the marble against the rubber washer. This creates a tight seal that keeps the carbonation trapped inside.

Image-Codd bottle
Image-Codd bottle

The neck is pinched into a special shape to create a chamber. This chamber allows the marble to be pushed aside so it does not block the liquid when pouring.

While the Codd-neck bottle was once very popular in Europe, Asia, and Australasia, it eventually declined in use. Many children used to smash these bottles to retrieve the marbles inside. Because of this, original Codd bottles are now quite rare and are considered collector items. In the United Kingdom, a cobalt-colored Codd bottle can sell for hundreds of British pounds at auction. Even though they are less common, the design is still used today for certain drinks. For example, the Japanese soft drink Ramune and the Indian drink Banta both use this mechanism.

Modern manufacturing has introduced many other materials for liquid storage. Plastic bottles are used for everything from water and milk to motor oil and medicine. They are created through a process called stretch blow molding, where the plastic is strain oriented. Plastic offers several advantages over glass, such as being lightweight and having a low cost of production. Plastic is also much more resistant to breaking during transportation. However, a major disadvantage is that plastic bottles contribute to widespread plastic pollution.

Image-Codd bottle
Image-Codd bottle

Aluminium bottles are also used, which are sometimes referred to as "bottlecans."

Bottles serve many specialized roles beyond just food and drink. For instance, a hot water bottle is a container filled with hot water to provide warmth. While these are most commonly made of rubber today, they were historically made from wood, glass, metal, or earthenware. The history of the bottle is also reflected in its language. The word "bottle" was first recorded in the 14th century. It comes from the Old French word "boteille," which traces back to the Latin "buttis," meaning a cask. This shows how the concept of containing liquids has evolved through many different cultures and eras.

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File:Bouteille.jpg
Bouteille.jpg
File:Bottle Iran 16.JPG
Bottle Iran 16.JPG
File:Image-Codd bottle.jpg
Image-Codd bottle.jpg
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