

Bubble Fun
Discover the Science Museum’s special bubble recipe and create brilliant bubble blowers.
This activity may be Messy
Discover the Science Museum’s special bubble recipe and create brilliant bubble blowers.
This activity may be Messy
What will I need?







- Can you make a really big bubble?
- Can you invent a new type of bubble blower?
- Which bubble blower makes the best bubble? What makes it so good?
A bubble is made of a very thin sheet of soapy water called a soap film. Soap molecules line up on the inside surface and the outside surface, and trap water molecules in-between – like a molecular sandwich.
The reason soap molecules do this is that they have one end that is attracted to water molecules and another that is repelled (pushed away) from them. The water slowly evaporates and eventually the soap film will break.
Adding glycerine to the mix makes longer-lasting bubbles because glycerine holds onto water, so it takes longer for the water to evaporate.

The most common use of washing-up liquid is for cleaning dishes. It’s difficult to get greasy dishes clean in pure water, because oil and water don’t mix.
The soap molecules in washing-up liquid make all the difference: as well as being repelled by water, the water-hating end of a soap molecule actually attracts molecules of fat from your food. The water-loving end clings to water molecules that can now wash the fats away.
