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Third Place Natural

Fragile Wonders

When I was younger, I never realized that with each breath, I blew not just bubbles, but a physics masterpiece. As one blows air into a solution of some type of soap and water, they create a bubble of air, which is trapped inside of a sphere made of a thin film of that solution. Believe me, I’ve tried, but you cannot blow bubbles with just water. This is due to the fact that it has a high surface tension, or forces that help keep liquid together on the surface through molecular bonds. It helps keep the layers in contact, causing the molecules together like in raindrops or spider webs. Though when soap is added, the surface tension is reduced to a weaker state, allowing the connection between molecules to weaken and ultimately allow us to blow those bubbles. But those moments don’t last long. The thin film created by the soap-water solution is quite fragile, and so you disrupt its nature when making contact with it. The surface tension mentioned earlier is immediately broken as it comes into contact with your dry skin. However, when I dipped my hands into the soap solution, the bubbles actually stuck to me. The surface tension is not broken here, but just reduced to a certain amount, causing the bubble to still update and move around, though on the verge of popping. These bubbles floated and popped in my childhood days, reminding me that the most beautiful phenomena are quite delicate and temporary.