Soap Bubble

physics · light · everyday magic

Incredibly thin film. A soap bubble's wall is made of a super thin layer of soap and water, so delicate that it's just a few millionths of an inch thick. Despite being so flimsy, it holds air inside and floats around like magic.

Rainbow colors appear. Soap bubbles shimmer with beautiful rainbow colors because light bounces around inside the thin soap film in special ways. The colors constantly shift and change as the bubble moves and the light hits it differently.

They pop quickly. Most soap bubbles last only a few seconds before they burst, either because they bump into something or because the water inside starts to evaporate. The tiniest hole in the soap film is enough to make the whole bubble pop.

More than just toys. While kids have loved playing with soap bubbles for centuries, artists also use them in performances and scientists study them to understand how light and thin films work. Many bubbles squished together make foam, which you see in bubble baths and shaving cream.