THE STUDY OF HOW COMBINING DIFFERENT INGREDIENTS WITH BUBBLE MIX IMPROVES THE AMOUNT OF TIME THAT A BUBBLE

WILL LAST Emery Brundige Cary Academy ABSTRACT The purpose of this experiment was to find out which mix of ingredients helped bubbles lasted longer, if mixing in certain ingredients even improved the time the bubble would last. It was hypothesized that adding water would increase the time a bubble lasted, because the reason bubbles pop is due to evaporation of the bubbles water content. In the experiment, various liquids were combined with either bubble mix or dishwashing soap, and a bubble was blown onto a plastic lid. The combined liquid created when mixing bubble mix, sugar, and water together lasted the longest.

INTRODUCTION A question that arises when reading about bubbles, and soap, is: What is soap made of? To answer that question, soap, in its solid state, is made from various fatty materials Soap is made with animal fat and various oils but, morbidly enough, there exists evidence of soaps made with the fat from human corpses. Water is yet another important factor of bubble making. One reason bubbles pop is because the water found within the bubble mixture evaporates due to the sun, or the general dryness of the terrain, or both. Thus it is not a good idea to blow bubbles in a desert.

An example of a single water molecule A water molecule is made up of 1 oxygen molecule, and 2 hydrogen molecules, and those add together to create puddles, oceans, clouds, and anything else containing water. The molecules are held together by a covalent bond, a form of chemical bonding that is characterized by the sharing of pairs of electrons between atoms. The stable balance in forces between atoms which share electrons is known as covalent bonding. Water is the only common substance that can be found in three different physical states, solid (ice) liquid, and gas. The form of water can depend on its temperature. Water is in its solid state at temperatures below 0 degrees Celsius, and can be found as glaciers ice caps, snow, hail, frost and certain clouds. . Water is in its liquid state is found in temperatures ranging from 0 degrees Celsius, to 100 degrees Celsius, and can be found in lakes, streams, rivers, oceans, swamps, dew, rain clouds, rain, and covers 3/4 of the Earths surface. Water in a gaseous state is found at temperatures above 100 degrees Celsius, and occurs naturally as fog, steam, or clouds. Approximately 70% of the fresh water in the world is used in agriculture, leaving only 30% for drinking, and the numerous other things that water is used for. MATERIALS & METHOD The materials used in these experiments were, Standard store bought bubble mix, dishwashing soap, sugar, salt, Coke Zero, Bubble wands, Water, 1 plastic lid, two 50 ml, two 500 ml beakers. The first experiment was testing to see which mixture, pure bubble mix, dishwashing soap, or a mix of dishwashing soap and water, would last the longest amount of time. A small amount of

water was poured into the plastic dish, so the bubbles would not pop on contact. Then, the bubble wand was dipped twice in the bottle of bubble mix and a bubble approximately an inch tall was blown. The timer was activated and was stopped when the bubble popped. Bubbles for each mixture were blown 3 times and an average was taken. This process was repeated with both the dishwashing soap and the dishwashing soap and water mix. The same process was repeated, except using mixtures of bubble mix and water, bubble mix and dishwashing soap, and dishwashing soap with water. This time, 0.5 tsp. and then 1 tsp. of sugar were poured into 25 ml of bubble mix. The sugar was dissolved into the bubble mix and a bubble was blown onto a wet plastic lid. The bubbles popping time was recorded. Then, water was added in increments of 10 ml to 25 ml of bubble mix, first 10 ml, 20 ml and then 30 ml. Bubbles were blown and timed as before. Next, 25 ml of bubble mix had 1 tsp. of sugar and 30 ml of water mixed in with it. The bubbles that were blown were timed. Then, more bubbles were blown and timed except using a mixture of 25 ml of dishwashing soap, 1 tsp. of sugar and 30 ml of water. Then, 10 ml of Coke Zero was added into the bubble mix, and the bubble timing process was repeated. This happened with 20 ml, 30 ml, and finally 40 ml of the soda. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION The first experiment, where bubbles blown of bubble mix, dishwashing soap, and a combination of dishwashing soap and water, proved that bubble mix does create longer lasting bubbles compared to regular dishwashing soap. This is probably because the bubble mix has a higher water content that the dishwashing soap. The dishwashing soap was too thick, so it pushed down on the air and caused it to implode

60 50 40 Time (s) 30 20 10 0 Bubble Mix Dishwashing soap+water Type of Soap Pure dishwashing soap

Figure 1 Pure bubble mix lasted the longest

The second experiment showed that once again, bubble mix lasts longer. This time, even mixing dishwashing soap with the bubble mix couldnt make the bubble last longer than the bubble mix, even though the bubble mix was mixed with water.
45 40 35 30 Time (s) 25 20 15 10 5 0 Mix+water Mix+diswashing Bubble mix Dishwashing+water

Figure 2 Bubble mix plus dishwashing soap did the worst

The next experiment tested to see whether or not adding sugar helped the bubble last longer, and it does. The bubble mix with more sugar added in lasted longer.

Time
100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 0 0.2 0.4 0.6 Sugar (tsp) 0.8 1 1.2

Figure 3 Adding Sugar increases the amount of time a bubble will last

Then, in the experiment that added water in, the bubble with 30 ml lasted the longest.
40 35 30 Water (ml) 25 20 15 10 5 0 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 Time (s)

Figure 4 Adding water to bubble mix helps it last longer

In the next experiment, the ingredients that created a long lasting bubble were combined with either bubble mix or dishwashing soap. The bubble mix, with 30 ml of water, 1 tsp. of sugar and 25 ml of bubble mix lasted the longest, not popping for approximately an entire minute and a half!

Time (s)

140 120 100 Time (s) 80 60 40 20 0 30ml water,1 tsp sugar, 25 ml mix water+sugar+dishwashing soap Bubble Mix

Figure 5Once again, bubble mix does better than dishwashing soap

For the last experiment, Coke Zero was added into the bubble mix, in increments of 10. Adding in 30 ml made the bubbles last longer, but adding 40 decreased the time the bubble lasted.
80 70 60 Time (s) 50 40 30 20 10 0 0 1 2 3 Soda (ml) 4 5 6

Figure 6 Adding soda does help the bubble last longer..

CONCLUSION The hypothesis was partially true, water did make the bubble last longer than other combinations, but it did not make the longest lasting bubbles. Adding sugar and water created the longest

lasting bubble. Something that was noticed was that bubbles have a pearly iridescence to them, but the longest lasting bubbles loss their iridescence after approximately 20 seconds. This may have been an effect of the sugar, for the reasons why it helps bubbles last longer is currently unknown. I think this will help people in the future, because it will help people who want to blow bubbles. If they have bubble mix, but it's almost out they could mix it with the ingredients I used that not only increase the amount of bubble mix, but the strength of the bubbles blown. Some more experiments I could do in in the future could include attempting to make bubble mix entirely from ingredients found in a house hold, or test to see if adding lemon juice or other liquids help bubbles last longer. CITATIONS Wikipedia. "Soap bubble." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 10 Feb. 2012. Web. 24 Feb. 2012. Robyn V. Young. World of chemistry. Farmington, Michigan. Gale Group. 2000. Print. Tate, Ken. Chemistry in the Marketplace 5th edition. Orlando, Florida. Harcourt Brace. 1998. Print