Bouncing Bubble Solution There's something magical about a bubble. email to friend
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There's something magical about a bubble. It's just a little puff of air trapped in a thin film of soap and water, but its precise spherical shape and beautiful, swirling colors make it a true wonder of science. A bubble's life expectancy is usually measured in seconds unless you know how to make a SUPER BUBBLE!

Materials

1 cup of distilled water (240 mL)
2 tablespoons of Dawn® dish soap (30 mL)
1 tablespoon of Glycerin (15 mL)

You can also purchase:

Extreme Bubble Solution

See the bouncing bubble video

See Steve make a square bubble

Experiment
Video
Related Experiments

Make up a batch of Bouncing Bubble Solution (see above).
Purchase a pair of inexpensive children's gloves from your local department store (100% cotton gloves also work well).
Blow a bubble about the size of a baseball.
Bounce the bubble off of your gloves. Try bouncing the bubble off of your shirt or pants. As you'll soon see, some fabrics work better than others.

About the Ingredients...

Water - The single most important part of the bubble solution is the water. Good quality water that does not contain high levels of iron or minerals is best. If you're uncertain as to the quality of your tap water, invest in a gallon of distilled water from the grocery store.

Soap - When it comes to soap, Dawn® dish soap just seems to work the best for home-made bubble solutions.

Glycerin - Glycerin is the secret additive that gives a bubble its extra strength. Don't be too shocked by the price on a bottle of high quality Glycerin. Contact the pharmacist at your local grocery store for availability. (Note: Some bubble recipes substitute Karo® Syrup for Glycerin due to the expense and availability of Glycerin.)

Bubble Colors - Similar to the way we perceive the colors in a rainbow or an oil slick, we see the colors in a bubble through the reflection and the refraction of light waves off the inner and outer surfaces of the bubble wall. You can't color a bubble since its wall is only a few millionths of an inch thick. A bubble reflects color from its surroundings.

Bouncing Bubbles - Experience tells you that regular bubbles burst when they come in contact with just about anything. Why? A bubble's worst enemies are oil and dirt. A "super" bubble will bounce off of a surface if it is free of oil or dirt particles that would normally breakdown the soap film.