How do bubbles work?

Why do bubbles pop when you touch them? This video explores the science behind bubbles and shows an experiment you can try when you're washing up!

Instructions

Do the preparation task first. Then watch the video and do the exercises. Remember you can read the transcript at any time.

Transcript

Can you see that the bubbles pop as soon as I tried to touch them? That's because when we touch a bubble with our dry hands, we break the bubble's surface tension.

Our hands have a little bit of oil in them, and that keeps them nice and soft. But soap loves oil – that's why we use it to clean dirty, oily dishes. So when a soap bubble lands on our oily hands, those soap molecules try to take the oil away. But this bursts the bubble.

So what can I use to try and help me catch a bubble without it bursting? I'm going to use a glove. Now let's see what happens!

Wow! The glove is stopping the soapy bubble mixing with the oil on my hands, which means I can catch the bubble, and even bounce it! Wow!

© BBC

Discussion

Do you know any other fun science facts?

Topics
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Comments

Submitted by xavierhllim on Mon, 07/05/2021 - 04:35

like this task L>O>O>L

Submitted by cookiepg on Wed, 08/26/2020 - 08:12

I like this video
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Submitted by icat on Mon, 07/27/2020 - 09:51

I know that nobody really knows how do cats purr!
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Submitted by Andrii on Mon, 12/02/2019 - 19:11

I know that if you put a piece of burning paper in a bottle and you put a boiled egg on the bottle top, the egg will be pulled into the bottle beacause of the piece of paper that burns out the oxygen and makes vacuum

Submitted by nguyenthuydung on Wed, 11/27/2019 - 15:48

I know where the rain.
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