This article demonstrates the fascinating phenomenon of time evolution of a shampoo bubble through experiments that can be performed by undergraduate students. The changes in thickness of the bubble films with time are followed by UV-vis spectroscopy. The change in chemical composition as a bubble film evolves is monitored by FTIR spectroscopy. It is observed that the change in thickness of a typical shampoo bubble film enclosed in a container is gradual and slow, and the hydrocarbon components of the bubble drain from the bubble much more slowly than water. An additional agent, such as acetonitrile, strikingly alters the dynamics of evolution of such a bubble.
Supplement
Student handouts and instructor notes are available as supplemental material.
Our Secondary School editors work hard to distill all the JCE materials to produce a fraction of particular interest to high school teachers. We call it CLIC.
In recent years we have worked hard to better match our advertisers with our readers. When shopping for chemistry education materials, visit our advertisers' WWW sites first.
Take JCE along on your outreach missions. Copies of the Journal, guest access to JCE Online, our publications catalog, and more are available for your participants.