A Science Experiment -- The Bubble Blower

by Julie Druck
Editor of A Heart for Home Newsletter, subscribe@welovegod.org - Used by permission

Wash and dry a 20 oz. soda bottle.  Chill the dried bottle in the freezer for 5 minutes.  Take the bottle out of the freezer and immediately place the mouth of the bottle into a glass of water.  Without being squeezed, the bottle will blow underwater bubbles.  Put the bottle back in the freezer for another 5 minutes.  In the meantime, pour a little bubble solution (or make your own with 1/4 C. water and a few drops of dish soap) into a shallow bowl.  When the bottle is ready, dip the mouth into the bubble solution and then sit the bottle upright.  A bubble should immediately start to form.  When the bubble bursts, redip the bottle and it should keep blowing bubbles until it nears room temperature. 

 

Here’s the scientific explanation:  The air inside the bottle gets cold, of course, from being in the freezer.  The colder the air, the closer together the molecules get.  Because colder air is denser than warmer air, you can fit more of it into the bottle.  When you take the bottle out of the freezer, the air inside starts to warm up and expand.  Since the bottle can’t contain it all, it escapes and pushes against the water in the glass (or the bubble solution on the mouth), creating bubbles.