Bubble Town, soap bubble fun and magic

-Bubble Town-

Bubble Engineering

At the time I was having too much fun to wonder why this simple device could blow bubbles larger and longer-lived than the little bubble blowing rings. It was not until recently, that I began to search for an answer.

Two important factors are involved in the process: the shape of the cone and the material used to make it. Also of great importance is the bubble soap mixture.

If you blow into a straw, a rush of air comes out the other end at high velocity. If you were trying to blow bubbles with a straw, you would probably burst them because of the violent rush of air. The cone shaped bubble blower reduces the velocity but not the volume of air moving through it. When the air reaches the end of the cone, it has reduced in speed and does not violently fill the bubble with turbulent air. When you blow bubbles with the standard plastic ring, your bubble solution must cling to the plastic surface and span the opening. When this bubble solution runs out, the bubble will separate from the ring or burst.

The size of the bubble is limited by the small amount of soap solution clinging to the ring. When you blow bubbles with the absorbent paper cone, you first submerge it into the bubble solution which absorbs a large quantity of the soap mixture.

-Bubble cone-

This solution becomes a reservoir for blowing really large bubbles. When you start blowing the bubble, the solution is pulled out of the cone as needed by the growing bubble. The size of it is limited only by your skill, lung capacity and the quantity and quality of solution that is available in the cone. Evaporation is also a factor that shortens the life of the bubble. The bubble wall becomes thinner because of evaporation and eventually the bubble pops.

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