Will It Work - Bouncing Bubbles

This is an easy and fun experiment that kids of all ages will love.  It can be used to demonstrate how bubbles are made; how bubbles reflect different colors and why bubbles pop.

Here's what you'll need: Distilled water; dishwashing detergent; glycerin; a straw

Here's what you do: Put 1 cup of distilled water in a container.  Mix in 2 tablespoons of dishwashing detergent (Dawn works well), and 1 tablespoon of glycerin.  Mix up this solution and for best results, let it sit uncovered for about 24 hours.  Then the fun begins.

Put the straw into the solution and start blowing bubbles.  Show that the bubbles will pop when they come in contact with your hand.  Now put on cotton gloves and let the bubble come to rest on your hand.  See how it can bounce off the gloves.  Cool!  Now try other gloves and fabrics and see which ones work better.

Why It Works: The biggest enemies of a bubbles is oil and dirt. That's why the bubble pops when it comes in contact with your hand.  The cotton gloves help keep it clean and it bounces right off your hand.  Some fabrics work better than others so you can experiment further.

My Rating: It's fun, it's easy and it works.  At Rachel Manek's insistence I gave it 4 Beakers out of 5. 

For further study and other great information: The website  www.stevespanglerscience.com   has many great experiments including this one.  There are many other fantastic sites to get more information about the amazing properties of bubbles, such as Tom Noddy's Bubble Magic  and Bubbles by Ron Hipschman .