Blowing big bubbles

Hamlett, C.A.E., Boniface, D.N., Salonen, A., Rio, E., Perkins, C., Clark, A., Nyugen, S. and Fairhurst, D.J. ORCID: 0000-0001-5311-0762, 2021. Blowing big bubbles. Soft Matter. ISSN 1744-683X

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Abstract

Although street artists have the know-how to blow bubbles over one meter in length, the bubble width is typically determined by the size of the hoop, or wand they use. In this article we explore a regime in which, by blowing gently downwards, we generate bubbles with radii up to ten times larger than the wand. We observe the big bubbles at lowest air speeds, analogous to the dripping mode observed in droplet formation. We also explore the impact of the surfactant chosen to stabilize the bubbles. We are able to create bubbles of comparable size using either Fairy liquid, a commercially available detergent often used by street artists, or sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) solutions. The bubbles obtained from Fairy liquid detach from the wand and are stable for several seconds, however those from SDS tend to burst just before detachment.

Item Type: Journal article
Publication Title: Soft Matter
Creators: Hamlett, C.A.E., Boniface, D.N., Salonen, A., Rio, E., Perkins, C., Clark, A., Nyugen, S. and Fairhurst, D.J.
Publisher: Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC)
Date: 18 January 2021
ISSN: 1744-683X
Identifiers:
NumberType
10.1039/d0sm01893gDOI
1409220Other
Divisions: Schools > School of Science and Technology
Record created by: Jeremy Silvester
Date Added: 19 Feb 2021 12:15
Last Modified: 31 May 2021 15:06
URI: https://irep.ntu.ac.uk/id/eprint/42331

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