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Anti-bubbles

Introduction
Make fascinating bubbles which rather than floating on water actually sink.
Useful information
Kit List: 

A small transparent tank or a large clear bowl
Some washing up liquid
A wash bottle or a washing up liquid bottle
Salt

Explanation
Explanation: 

Description taken from Dave's Naked Scientist write-up:
http://www.thenakedscientists.com/HTML/content/kitchenscience/exp/bubble...

What to Do

Add 3-4 tsp of salt into the wash bottle, or rather more into a washing up liquid bottle and then top it up with water.

Add some washing up liquid into the tank of water - probably 2-3 times stronger than normal washing up water.

Clear any bubbles from the top of the tank.

Drip water onto the top of the tank from 5-10cm above and look at the bubbles being formed on the surface. Are they all the same?

Now do the same thing looking into the side of the tank, for a couple of hundred drops, does anything interesting appear?

What may Happen

On the top mostly you will produce normal drops, but sometimes you will see what look like bubbles but if you look closer they reflect light much better and they have far more momentum skittering across the surface.
If you look from the side you sometimes see bubbles which actually sink rather than float.

What is going on?

You are creating what are known as antibubbles. A conventional bubble is air surrounded by a thin film of water in air, an antibubble is the other way around, water surrounded by a thin film of air in water.
Both types of bubble are highly unstable in pure water because water molecules attract one another very strongly and try to minimise the surface area of the liquid. Detergent molecules have one end which is very attracted to water and a long oily tail which is repelled by it. so they cover the surface of the bubble stabilising it.

The air in an antibubble will cause it to float gently so they would be hard to tell from conventional bubbles. The salt weighs them down so they sink and you can tell the difference.

The antibubbles seem to form best when they are dropped onto water that is falling so the impact is less violent.

Risk Assessment
Date risk assesment last checked: 
Mon, 02/01/2012
Risk assesment checked by: 
mnd22
Risk Assessment: 
DESCRIPTION Creating antibubbles using saltwater and washing up liquid
RISKS
  • 1. Bubble mixture getting into eyes
  • 2. Ingestion of bubble mixture
  • 3. Slip hazard
  • 4. Electric risk if water spills onto any nearby electric cables/equipment
  • ACTION TO BE TAKEN TO MINIMISE RISKS
  • 1. Try to keep children under control. Demonstrator should show effect unless group are very calm and should take bottle away if child shows signs of getting excitable.
  • 2. Do not allow very young children to hold the bottle.
  • 3. Clear up any spillage immediately.
  • 4. Ensure there are no electric components on ground near the experiment.
  • ACTION TO BE TAKEN IN THE EVENT OF AN ACCIDENT
  • 1.Call first aider in case of injury. If the salt mixture from the dropping bottle, or washing up water from tank, gets into an eye, demonstrator must call a first aider and may perform an eye wash if trained and confident to do so.
  • 2.Call first aider in case of injury. If ingestion occurs, get victim to drink a glass of water.
  • 3.Call first aider in case of injury.
  • 4.Call first aider in case of injury.
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    Comments

    RA updated 26/01/11 - now

    RA updated 26/01/11 - now mentions ingestion risk (I know it's extremely unlikely, but it never hurts to have a thorough RA, and very small children have a tendency to put things in their mouths)

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