Why does soap make bubbles?
Soap makes water stretchy, so it can hold air in a thin skin!
Pip’s answer
- Soap makes water stretchy, so it can hold air in a thin skin!
- Plain water pulls itself so tight that its bubbles pop fast. Pop!
- Soap loosens that pull, so the bubble skin stretches around the air.
- Wow-ee, a bubble wall is much thinner than one of your hairs!
Try it together
Can you blow a big pretend bubble, buddy?
For grown-ups
Pure water has strong surface tension, so thin films of it break quickly. Soap lowers surface tension and forms a stretchy layer on both sides of a thin water film, letting it stretch around air. Bubble walls can be thinner than a human hair, which is why they show swirling rainbow colors.
Ask your child: What do you think makes the rainbow colors on a bubble?
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- 🍎Why do things fall down?
- 🧲Why do magnets stick?
- 🧊Why does ice melt?
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