Description
A ring and some soapy water – that’s all you need to create the most beautiful soap bubbles. But why is a single soap bubble always round? And could you make other shapes too? In the exhibit ‘Soap Bubble Sculptures,’ you playfully explore the shapes you can create with soap bubbles and how to do it.
The basis is nothing more than soap solution and various forms of wire. When you dip such a shape into the soap, you’ll see that the soap film that forms wants to be as small as possible. This is due to the attraction between the particles in the soap, creating tension on the surface: surface tension.
Because of this, a single soap bubble is always a sphere – the most efficient shape. But if you assist the soap film with a wire frame, you can create other shapes too.
The principle behind the surface tension of the soap film is also used in coating materials. There too, a layer as thin as possible but impermeable needs to be applied to the material.
Which shapes can you create with a soap bubble?
- Dip one of the shapes into the soapy water.
- Observe the shape that forms in the middle section.
- Then dip the other shapes as well.
- What shapes do you see forming?
