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A soap bubble is a very thin film of soap water that forms a sphere with an iridescent surface. Soap bubbles usually last for only a few moments and then burst either on their own or on contact with another object. They are often used as a children's plaything, but their usage in artistic performances shows that they can be fascinating for adults too. Soap bubbles can help to solve complex mathematical problems of space, as they will always find the smallest surface area between points or edges. Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (1910x1047, 172 KB) File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Soap bubble ...
Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (1910x1047, 172 KB) File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Soap bubble ...
A collection of decorative soaps used for human hygiene purposes. ...
For other uses, see Sphere (disambiguation). ...
The iridescence of the Blue Morpho butterfly wings. ...
An open surface with X-, Y-, and Z-contours shown. ...
Buskers perform in San Francisco A performance, in performing arts, generally comprises an event in which one group of people (the performer or performers) behave in a particular way for another group of people (the audience). ...
For other meanings of mathematics or uses of math and maths, see Mathematics (disambiguation) and Math (disambiguation). ...
This article is about the idea of space. ...
Area is the measure of how much exposed area any two dimensional object has. ...
A spatial point is an entity with a location in space but no extent (volume, area or length). ...
An edge between two vertices For edge in graph theory, see Edge (graph theory) In geometry, an edge is a one-dimensional line segment joining two zero-dimensional vertices in a polytope. ...
 reflection in a soap bubble Image File history File links Size of this preview: 800 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (1024 × 768 pixel, file size: 281 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ...
Image File history File links Size of this preview: 800 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (1024 × 768 pixel, file size: 281 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ...
Image File history File links Metadata Size of this preview: 800 × 590 pixelsFull resolution‎ (2,364 × 1,744 pixels, file size: 1. ...
Image File history File links Metadata Size of this preview: 800 × 590 pixelsFull resolution‎ (2,364 × 1,744 pixels, file size: 1. ...
Physics
Surface tension and shape A bubble can exist because the surface layer of a liquid (usually water) has a certain surface tension, which causes the layer to behave somewhat like an elastic sheet. However, a bubble made with a pure liquid alone is not stable and a dissolved surfactant such as soap is needed to stabilize a bubble The surface area of water is redused by dissolving soap into it). A common misconception is that soap increases the water's surface tension. Actually soap does the exact opposite, decreasing it to approximately one third the surface tension of pure water. Soap does not strengthen bubbles, it stabilizes them, via an action known as the Marangoni effect. As the soap film stretches, the surface concentration of soap decreases, which causes the surface tension to increase. Thus, soap selectively strengthens the weakest parts of the bubble and tends to prevent them from stretching further. In addition, the soap reduces evaporation so the bubbles last longer, although this effect is relatively small. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (2024x1917, 364 KB) Description: Title: de: Seifenbläser Technique: de: Öl auf Leinwand Dimensions: de: 60 × 61 cm Country of origin: de: Frankreich Current location (city): de: New York Current location (gallery): de: Metropolitan Museum of Art Other notes: de: Genremalerei...
Image File history File links Download high resolution version (2024x1917, 364 KB) Description: Title: de: Seifenbläser Technique: de: Öl auf Leinwand Dimensions: de: 60 × 61 cm Country of origin: de: Frankreich Current location (city): de: New York Current location (gallery): de: Metropolitan Museum of Art Other notes: de: Genremalerei...
Self portrait. ...
Surface tension is an effect within the surface layer of a liquid that causes that layer to behave as an elastic sheet. ...
The term elastomer is often used interchangeably with the term rubber, and is preferred when referring to vulcanisates. ...
Surfactants, also known as tensides, are wetting agents that lower the surface tension of a liquid, allowing easier spreading, and lower the interfacial tension between two liquids. ...
The Marangoni-Effect is the mass transfer on, or in, a liquid layer due to surface tension differences. ...
“Vaporization†redirects here. ...
Their spherical shape is also caused by surface tension. The tension causes the bubble to form a sphere, as a sphere has the smallest possible surface area for a given volume. This shape can be visibly distorted by air currents, and hence by blowing. If a bubble is left to sink in still air, however, it remains very nearly spherical, more so for example than the typical cartoon depiction of a raindrop. When a sinking body has reached its terminal velocity, the drag force acting on it is equal to its weight, and since a bubble's weight is much smaller in relation to its size than a raindrop's, its shape is distorted much less. (The surface tension opposing the distortion is similar in the two cases: The soap reduces the water's surface tension to approximately one third, but it is effectively doubled since the film has an inner and an outer surface.) For other uses, see Sphere (disambiguation). ...
Area is the measure of how much exposed area any two dimensional object has. ...
For other uses, see Volume (disambiguation). ...
Look up air in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...
Rain falling Rain on an umbrella Rain is a form of precipitation, as are snow, sleet, hail, and dew. ...
For other uses, see Terminal velocity (disambiguation). ...
For a solid object moving through a fluid or gas, drag is the sum of all the aerodynamic or hydrodynamic forces in the direction of the external fluid flow. ...
Freezing Soap bubbles blown into air that is below a temperature of −15 °C (5 °F) will freeze when they touch a surface. The air inside will gradually diffuse out, causing the bubble to crumple under its own weight. For other uses, see Temperature (disambiguation). ...
For other uses, see Celsius (disambiguation). ...
For other uses, see Fahrenheit (disambiguation). ...
Bubbles in a soft drink each nucleate independently, responding to a decrease in pressure. ...
diffusion (disambiguation). ...
At temperatures below about −25 °C (−13 °F), bubbles will freeze in the air and may shatter when hitting the ground. When, at this low temperature, a bubble is blown with warm breath, the bubble will freeze to an almost perfect sphere at first, but when the warm air cools and thus is reduced in volume there will be a partial collapse of the bubble. A bubble, blown successfully at this low temperature, will always be rather small in size: it will freeze quickly and continuing to blow will shatter the bubble.
 Soap bubbles can easily merge. Download high resolution version (1051x771, 136 KB)Two soap bubbles, illustrating iridescent colours, against a foliage background. ...
Download high resolution version (1051x771, 136 KB)Two soap bubbles, illustrating iridescent colours, against a foliage background. ...
Merging When two bubbles merge, the same physical principles apply, and the bubbles will adopt the shape with the smallest possible surface area. Their common wall will bulge into the larger bubble, as smaller bubbles have a higher internal pressure (also know as Ostwald ripening which is caused by pressure differences in bubbles of different radii as predicted by the Young–Laplace equation). If the bubbles are of equal size, the wall will be flat. This article is about pressure in the physical sciences. ...
Ostwald ripening is an observed phenomenon in solid solutions which describes the evolution of an inhomogenous structure over time. ...
In fluid dynamics, the Young–Laplace equation describes the equilibrium pressure balance at the interface between two static fluids, where is the pressure difference over the interface, the surface tension, is the mean curvature, and and are the principal radii of curvature at the interface. ...
At a point where three or more bubbles meet, they sort themselves out so that only three bubble walls meet along a line. Since the surface tension is the same in each of the three surfaces, the three angles between them must be equal angles of 120°. This is the most efficient choice, again, which is also the reason why the cells of a beehive use the same 120° angle, thus forming hexagons. Only four bubble walls can meet at a point, with the lines where triplets of bubble walls meet separated by cos−1(−1/3) ≈ 109.47°. Domesticated Western honey bees are kept in beehives. ...
For other uses, see Hexagon (disambiguation). ...
Interference and reflection
 Thin film interference in a soap bubble. Notice the golden yellow colour near the top where the film is thin and a few even thinner black spots.
 Different patterns of soap bubbles.
 Different patterns of soap bubbles. The iridescent colours of soap bubbles are caused by interfering light waves and are determined by the thickness of the film. They are not the same as rainbow colours but are the same as the colours in an oil slick on a wet road. Image File history File links Thinfilmbubble. ...
Image File history File links Thinfilmbubble. ...
Image File history File links Size of this preview: 800 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (1024 × 768 pixel, file size: 437 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Photograped by Mila Zinkova Soap bubbles I, the creator of this work, hereby release it into the public domain. ...
Image File history File links Size of this preview: 800 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (1024 × 768 pixel, file size: 437 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Photograped by Mila Zinkova Soap bubbles I, the creator of this work, hereby release it into the public domain. ...
Image File history File links Size of this preview: 800 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (1024 × 768 pixel, file size: 523 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Photograped by Mila Zinkova Soap Bubbles I, the creator of this work, hereby release it into the public domain. ...
Image File history File links Size of this preview: 800 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (1024 × 768 pixel, file size: 523 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Photograped by Mila Zinkova Soap Bubbles I, the creator of this work, hereby release it into the public domain. ...
For other uses, see Interference (disambiguation). ...
As light impinges on the film, some of it is reflected off the outer surface while some of it enters the film and reemerges after being reflected back and forth between the two surfaces. The total reflection observed is determined by the interference of all these reflections. Since each traversal of the film incurs a phase shift proportional to the thickness of the film and inversely proportional to the wavelength, the result of the interference depends on these two quantities. Thus, at a given thickness, interference is constructive for some wavelengths and destructive for others, so that white light impinging on the film is reflected with a hue that changes with thickness. The reflection of a bridge in Indianapolis, Indianas Central Canal. ...
This article is about a portion of a periodic process. ...
This article is about the color. ...
An image with the hues cyclically shifted The hues in the image of this Painted Bunting are cyclically rotated with time. ...
A change in colour can be observed while the bubble is thinning due to evaporation. Thicker walls cancel out red (longer) wavelengths, thus causing a blue-green reflection. Later, thinner walls will cancel out yellow (leaving blue light), then green (leaving magenta), then blue (leaving a golden yellow). Finally, when the bubble's wall becomes much thinner than the wavelength of visible light, all the waves in the visible region cancel each other out and no reflection is visible at all. When this state is observed, the wall is thinner than about 25 nanometres, and is probably about to pop. This phenomenon is very useful when making or manipulating bubbles as it gives an indication of the bubble's fragility. Magenta is a color made up of equal parts of red and blue light. ...
A nanometre (American spelling: nanometer, symbol nm) (Greek: νάνος, nanos, dwarf; μετÏÏŽ, metrÏŒ, count) is a unit of length in the metric system, equal to one billionth of a metre (or one millionth of a millimetre), which is the current SI base unit of length. ...
Interference effects also depend upon the angle at which the light strikes the film, an effect called iridescence. So, even if the wall of the bubble were of uniform thickness, one would still see variations of colour due to curvature and/or movement. However, the thickness of the wall is continuously changing as gravity pulls the liquid downwards, so bands of colours that move downwards can usually also be observed. The iridescence of the Blue Morpho butterfly wings. ...
In the diagram above a ray of light hits the surface at point X. Some of the light is reflected, but some travels through the bubble wall and is reflected at the other side. Image File history File links diagram drawn by theresa knott File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ...
When light directed from low index material strikes a high index material (air to film), there is a 180 degree phase shift just from the reflection (a "hard" reflection). So the film thicknesses discussed for red and blue light in the panels to the right are incorrect by half a wavelength.
| In this diagram we look at two rays of red light (rays 1 and 2). Both rays are split as before and follow two possible paths, but we are interested only in the paths that are represented by the solid lines. Consider the ray emerging at Y. It consists of two rays on top of one another: the bit that went through the bubble wall for ray 1 and the bit that was reflected off the outer wall of ray 2. Ray one has travelled XOY further than ray 2. Since XOY happens to correspond to an integer multiple of the wavelength of red light, the two rays are in phase (the humps and troughs are together). Image File history File links diagram drawn by Theresa Knott File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ...
| This is similar to the previous diagram except the wavelength is different. This time XOY is not an integer multiple of the wavelength of blue light and so ray 1 and 2 arrive at y out of step. The troughs of ray 1 line up with the humps of ray 2 and the two rays cancel each other out. The overall effect is that no blue light will be reflected for this thickness of bubble. Image File history File links diagram drawn by theresa knott File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ...
| This computed image shows the colours reflected by a thin film of water illuminated by unpolarized white light. The radius is proportional to the thickness of the film, and the polar angle is the angle of incidence. Image File history File links This image shows the colours reflected from a thin film of water depending on the thickness of the film and the angle of incidence. ...
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Mathematical properties
 Bubbles in a washing-up bowl. Soap bubbles are also physical illustrations of the problem of minimal surfaces, a complex mathematical problem. For example, while it has been known since 1884 that a spherical soap bubble is the least-area way of enclosing a given volume of air (a theorem of H. A. Schwarz), it was not until 2000 that it was proven that two merged soap bubbles provide the optimum way of enclosing two given volumes of air with the least surface area. This has been termed the double bubble theorem. Geometric Arrangement of Soap Bubbles Photo taken and released to PD by TimothyPilgrim 12:40, Jul 28, 2004 (UTC) File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ...
Geometric Arrangement of Soap Bubbles Photo taken and released to PD by TimothyPilgrim 12:40, Jul 28, 2004 (UTC) File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ...
Verrill Minimal Surface In mathematics, a minimal surface is a surface with a mean curvature of zero. ...
Year 1884 (MDCCCLXXXIV) was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a leap year starting on Sunday of the 12-day-slower Julian calendar). ...
Karl Hermann Amandus Schwarz (25 January 1843 – 30 November 1921) was a German mathematician, known for his work in complex analysis. ...
Year 2000 (MM) was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will display full 2000 Gregorian calendar). ...
Soap films seek to minimise their surface area, that is, to minimise their surface energy. The optimum shape for an isolated bubble is thus a sphere. Many bubbles packed together in a foam have much more complicated shapes. See Weaire-Phelan structure for a discussion of this (called the Kelvin problem), and Plateau's laws for a discussion of the structure of the films. The Weaire-Phelan structure is a complex 3-dimensional structure. ...
Plateaus Rules describe the structure of soap films in foams. ...
Coloured bubbles Adding coloured dye to bubble mixtures fails to produce coloured bubbles, because the dye attaches to the water molecules as opposed to the surfactant. Therefore, a colourless bubble forms with the dye falling to a point at the base. Dye chemist Dr. Ram Sabnis, has developed a lactone dye that sticks to the surfactants, thus enabling brightly coloured bubbles to be formed. An example of this dye is crystal violet lactone. Look up dye in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...
A chemist pours from a round-bottom flask. ...
Please wikify (format) this article as suggested in the Guide to layout and the Manual of Style. ...
A lactone is a cyclic ester in organic chemistry. ...
Crystal violet lactone, leuco form Crystal violet lactone, protonated colored form Crystal violet lactone (CVL) is a leuco dye, a lactone derivate of crystal violet 10B. In pure state it is a slightly yellowish crystalline powder, soluble in nonpolar or slightly polar organic solvents. ...
History of bubbles as playthings
 This girl is using a plastic yellow blower. 17th century Flemish paintings show children blowing bubbles with clay pipes. This means that bubbles as playthings are at least 400 years old. The London based firm of A. & F. Pears created a famous advertisement campaign for its soaps in 1886 using a painting by Millais of a child playing with bubbles. A Chicago company called Chemtoy began selling bubble solution in the 1940s, and they have captivated children ever since. According to one industry estimate, retailers sell around 200 million bottles annually, perhaps more than any other toy. Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (1234x1049, 1179 KB) Soap bubbles Source: http://www. ...
Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (1234x1049, 1179 KB) Soap bubbles Source: http://www. ...
Year 1886 (MDCCCLXXXVI) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Wednesday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ...
John Everett Millais (June 8, 1829–August 13, 1896) was a painter. ...
Bubble blowers The easiest way is to use either a normal straw or one of the plastic blowers (bubble wands) that are sold with most commercial soap bubble solutions. However, as the blower's diameter determines the size of the soap bubble, it might be necessary to build a blower. Bubble wands have been around since the 1920's. A drink with a pink bendy straw Plastic drinking straws The drinking straw is a device used for transferring a liquid - usually a drink from one location to another (such as from a cup, to your mouth). ...
DIAMETER is a computer networking protocol for AAA (Authentication, Authorization and Accounting). ...
Most closed-ring structures will work. A blower can be made by bending a wire into a loop with a handle, where the wire should be thick enough so the ring remains stiff. It can be improved by wrapping a thread or bandages around the wire so the soap water can stick better to the outside rim. Yarn Spools of thread Yarn is a long continuous length of interlocked fibers, suitable for use in the production of textiles, sewing, crocheting, knitting, weaving, embroidery and ropemaking. ...
Bandages are also used in martial arts to prevent dislocated joints. ...
Klutz Press popularized a "giant bubble" blower, invented by a man named David Stein, which used a cloth loop attached to a plastic wand, with a slide permitting the loop to be gently opened or closed. Klutz sells bubble books which offer how-tos and fun ideas, usually with a ready-to-use bubble loop. Klutz Press is a publishing company started in 1977 and acquired by Scholastic Inc. ...
David Stein (? - ?) was a French-born painter who become an art forger. ...
Bubbles can be blown by using a bubble pipe, which is made of plastic and usually takes the shape of a smoking pipe, sometimes containing multiple bowls. The bubble solution is poured into the bowl of the pipe; when someone blows into the mouthpiece, bubbles rise from the bowl. Youth with pipe by Hendrick Jansz Terbrugghen A pipe is a tool used for smoking. ...
Sample formulae - General purpose formula:
- Another general purpose formula:
- Yet another general purpose formula:
- 1 part of washing-up detergent
- 2 parts of glycerin
- 3 parts of water
- For long living bubbles:
- 1 part commercial bubble solution
- 1 part water
- 1 part cup glycerin
- For no-tears soap bubbles:
- Already Hand made by experts cost is $5.00 with colour
Laundry detergents are just one of many possible uses for detergents Detergent is a compound, or a mixture of compounds, intended to assist cleaning. ...
The gallon (abbreviation: gal) is a unit of volume. ...
Glycerin, also well known as glycerine and glycerol, and less commonly as 1,2,3-propanetriol, 1,2,3-trihydroxypropane, glyceritol, and glycyl alcohol is a colorless, odorless, hygroscopic, and sweet-tasting viscous liquid. ...
This article is about sugar as food and as an important and widely traded commodity. ...
This article is about common table salt. ...
Bottle for Distilled water in the Real Farmacia in Madrid. ...
Shampoo is a common hair care product used for the removal of oils, dirt, skin particles, dandruff, environmental pollutants and other contaminant particles that gradually build up in hair. ...
Tate & Lyle brand Corn Syrup being moved by tank car Corn syrup is a syrup, made using corn (maize) starch as a [feedstock], and composed mainly of [glucose]. A series of two [enzyme|enzymatic] reactions are used to convert the corn starch to corn syrup. ...
Performance art Soap bubble performances combine entertainment with artistic achievement. They require a high degree of skill as well as perfect bubble suds. Some artists create giant bubbles or tubes, often enveloping objects or even humans. Others manage to create bubbles forming cubes, tetrahedra and other shapes or sculptures. Bubbles are often handled with bare hands. To add to the visual experience, they are sometimes filled with smoke or helium and combined with laser lights or fire. Soap bubbles can be filled with a flammable gas such as natural gas and then ignited. Of course, this destroys the bubble. Buskers perform in San Francisco A performance, in performing arts, generally comprises an event in which one group of people (the performer or performers) behave in a particular way for another group of people (the audience). ...
A stilt-walker entertaining shoppers at a shopping centre in Swindon, England Entertainment is an event, performance, or activity designed to give pleasure or relaxation to an audience (although, for example, in the case of a computer game the audience may be only one person). ...
This article does not cite any references or sources. ...
General Name, symbol, number helium, He, 2 Chemical series noble gases Group, period, block 18, 1, s Appearance colorless Standard atomic weight 4. ...
For other uses, see Laser (disambiguation). ...
For other uses, see Natural gas (disambiguation). ...
See also - Joseph Plateau, formulator of Plateau's laws on the geometry of intersecting soap films, and Plateau's problem.
- The French writer Alfred Jarry was highly impressed by physicist C. V. Boys's Soap-Bubbles: Their Colours and the Forces that Mould Them and incorporated parts of it into his eccentric novel Exploits and Opinions of Dr. Faustroll, pataphysician, written in 1898. The book describes the exploits and teachings of a sort of philosopher who, born at age 63, travels through Paris in a sieve and subscribes to the tenets of 'pataphysics, which deals with "the laws which govern exceptions and will explain the universe supplementary to this one". In 'pataphysics, every event in the universe is accepted as an extraordinary event.
- Zubbles, coloured bubbles.
- Antibubble
Plateaus phenakistiscope Joseph Antoine Ferdinand Plateau (October 14, 1801 - September 15, 1883) was a Belgian physicist. ...
Plateaus Rules describe the structure of soap films in foams. ...
In mathematics, Plateaus problem is to show the existence of a minimal surface with a given boundary. ...
Alfred Jarry Alfred Jarry (September 8, 1873 – November 1, 1907) was a French writer born in Laval, Mayenne, France, not far from the border of Brittany; he was of Breton descent on his mothers side. ...
Sir Charles Vernon Boys, FRS (15 March 1855 - 30 March 1944) was a British physicist, known for his careful and innovative experimental work. ...
Year 1898 (MDCCCXCVIII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Monday of the 12-day-slower Julian calendar). ...
This article is about the capital of France. ...
Pataphysics, a term coined by the French writer Alfred Jarry, is a philosophy dedicated to studying what lies beyond the realm of metaphysics. ...
This article is about law in society. ...
For other uses, see Universe (disambiguation). ...
Zubbles in flight Zubbles are soap bubbles that used special dyes called leuco dyes allowing them to be coloured. ...
Submerged antibubbles of air surrounding soapy water An antibubble is a droplet of water surrounded by a thin film of air, as opposed to an air bubble, which is a sphere of air surrounded by a thin film of water. ...
References Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Image File history File links Commons-logo. ...
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