Are there really unpoppable bubbles? Looking for a fun science activity to do with your learners? Check out this Unpoppable Bubbles DIY activity featuring Teacher Taylor Blair, teachmesomethingood.
How to Make an Unpoppable Bubble DIY Activity: How it Works
Hate to burst your bubble, but not all bubbles are burstable.
So, what are bubbles?
Bubbles are just water, soap, and air. Now, water is a polar molecule, meaning that there’s a positive side and a negative side. They join together so tightly and create really strong surface tension, meaning they do not like to separate. That’s where the soap comes in.
Soap is a double sided molecule, meaning that there’s one side that likes the water, this is called hydrophilic, and then there’s the other side that is hydrophobic. It does not like water. Therefore, when it gets in between the water molecules, it actually lowers the surface tension, giving a little bit of stretch and allowing it to form that bubble once air gets in the picture.
And then once we have our big beautiful bubble, it starts to lose water through evaporation, which makes it pop. But that’s where our secret ingredient comes in, corn syrup, which is essentially glycerin. Glycerin slows evaporation, meaning it can hold on to that water longer, which allows it to stay wet longer and form the bubble longer. This also lessens surface tension even more, giving you a little bit more stretch and wiggle room, making it unpoppable.
How to Make Unpoppable Bubbles DIY Activity: What You Need
For this science activity, you need five items:
•Water
•Dish soap
•Corn syrup or glycerin
•Straw
•Bubble wand
•Glove
Whether it’s a latex glove or a cotton glove, that’s going to be our ticket. Let’s make our unpoppable bubble. So first, our basic bubble solution, water and dish soap or just soap. Go ahead and pour the soap into my half cup of water.
This is about two tablespoons of dish soap. Now, we’re going to stir. Now, soap and water is our original bubble solution. A normal bubble solution is just water, soap, and air.
So, now we’re gonna add our secret ingredient. Our secret unpoppable ingredient is corn syrup, essentially glycerin. So, when we add this glycerin, I have about one tablespoon.
This is going to increase the surface tension even more.
Make sure you stir slow, you don’t want to create a lot of bubbles, but you do want the glycerin to get evenly distributed throughout the solution. The average bubble solution pops because the water evaporates too quickly from the bubble, making it pop. But the glycerin actually allows the water to stay longer, making it harder for it to pop. Let’s see if our solution is right, it’s not.
How to Make an Unpoppable Bubble: Back to the Beginning
Back to the drawing board.. what could be going wrong with the science experiment.
What is something that could be changing the outcome? Outcome?
It must have something to do with your hands. The oil on your hands can break that surface tension barrier. Try adding a glove. This glove should eliminate the oils from being an obstacle in our uncomfortable bubble solution. Give it a stir.
Now because the solution is on the straw, it’s able to slip inside the bubble because the molecules basically recognize each other, so the molecules see it as one of its own.
How cool is that? All because of a little glycerin changing the level of the surface tension.
How to Make Unpoppable Bubbles DIY Activity: Connecting Learners to Science
Next time we grow a bubble, just know that there’s a whole world of science inside this little floating sphere.
For more DIY activities, check out Earth Day Oil Spill Clean-up DIY Activity
GENERATION GENIUS
