What are Bubbles?

We've all blown bubbles at some point in our lives, but did you ever stop to think about how the bubble works? I found an article in Science and Engineering News from April 2003 that explains this phenomenon. Bubbles date back to the late 19th Century when they were used in advertising for the Pear's soap company. When you blow a bubble, the soap molecules form a bliayer around water molecules. The bubble forms when the soap molecules reach the lowest energy. That's why even when you blow a bubble from a star shaped wand, it always ends up shaped like a sphere. One way to make the bubbles last longer is by adding glycerin to the bubble solution. The glycerin forms weak hydrogen bonds with water slowing down the evaporation process. This article is very interesting and talks about many different kinds of bubble that have been developed, including catnip bubbles and bubbles for dogs. Here's a link in case you are interested:

http://pubs.acs.org/cen/whatstuff/stuff/8117sci3.html