Seven Science Experiments with Surface Tension



Surface tension holds the surface molecules of liquids tightly together and makes for some fun experiments!

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34 Comments

  1. I think that the bubbles form because the soap and coffee have a higher concentration making it heavier and when you flick it you get air into it but the soap holds it thus because it's lighter it sits on top of the solution

  2. Cool video! Studying for my chemistry test and found this. Cool video and sure as hell made this a lot more interesting than my Chemistry teacher.

  3. in numer 2 i think the increase in surface tension makes posible to agglomerate less dense material into a sphere. And the sphere falls down when is heavy enough

  4. Hi Dianna, I've just seen this video by Derek from Veritasium "Is this what quantum mechanics looks like?" and he talked about this experiment very similar to the experience you had with your coffee. Does it answer your query?

  5. From 0:43 to 0:48 notice that the larger bubbles absorb the smaller bubbles: the air pressure in the smaller bubble is larger, pushing air from the smaller to the adjacent larger bubble (through the membrane separating them). See Discrepant Balloons by FlinnScientific. The same happens to connected soap bubbles (see my "Unit 5 Fluid Experiments" at 5.40 min) and to the foam bubbles on top of carbonated drinks.

  6. the soap molecules are discrete from the molecules of the constituents of the coffee ,milk and water.so when u were striking the top layer of the soaped coffe with a bud, it created a partial vaccum over there which forced the soap bubbles from below to rise up from bottom and kinetic energy of that bud gave it sufficient energy to move and collide with the wall of the cup

  7. I've heard it called bouling. I'm guessing at the spelling. If it weren't for the ability of anti-foams to break the surface tension in lignin sugar/caustic based liquors in paper mills, there would be no such thing as commercial paper products w/o incredible amounts of pollution. The same principle applies when you place a finger tip in the head of freshly drawn beer. The small amount of oil from your skin lowers the surface tension in the foam. Collapse ensues. A clean beer mug makes for happy beer. Oil from excess handling or soap residue affects the nature of the product.

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