Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with bubbles

Where can I find a soap bubble blowing pipe that looks like a realistic wooden smoking pipe?

leptin — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 22:03:52 -0800

Where can I find a soap bubble blowing pipe that looks like a realistic wooden smoking pipe? All the ones I see online are made of brightly colored plastic. Alternatively, is it possible to modify a real smoking pipe for blowing soap bubbles? Thank you very much for your help!

How do I get bigger bubbles from my SodaStream?

csimpkins — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 12:02:18 -0800

Why are the bubbles in my homemade sparkling water smaller than commercial alternatives? I purchased a SodaStream home sparkling water/soda maker after the glowing reviews on this thread. Totally worth every penny. However, I've had a few friends remark that the bubbles seemed smaller than commercial sparkling water. Personally, I don't care. But it did get me thinking about why that might be.

Is it something in my tap water? Is it something NOT in my tap water? Is it the syrup/flavor additives afterwards?

I know nothing about chemistry. If there were a layman's answer that could satisfy my curiosity - and perhaps some ideas for bigger bubbles - I'd be grateful.

How bubble is formed?

metastability — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 10:58:42 -0800

By what process do air bubbles form in water? I left a glass of water sit on the mini-fridge overnight, and in the morning there were little bubbles clinging to the walls of the glass. More than just a few. Googling led to this page, where someone asks the exact same question. Apparently there are gases mixed in with the water, and the temperature affects their solubility (whatever that means.) Further googling led to this page, which, in section M5, seems to discuss the matter. But it's written at a level I don't understand. Why doesn't the gas just rise to the surface? What is this whole solubility thing? Temperature affects it? What happens between the time when there are no bubbles, and the time when there are bubbles?

Bubble, bubble, toil and trouble

orange swan — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 20:07:57 -0800

I want to buy some bubble bath for a gift for someone who says he takes baths solely for the bubbles. As a no-nonsense showers-only girl, this is unknown shopping territory to me. What's some seriously good bubble bath? I guess my criteria would include but not be limited to: doesn't leave a greasy residue on the skin; prolific, long lasting bubble action; and geared for a grown man, meaning no overpowering floral scents or sparkly teddy-bear-princess-themed packaging.

old toys & industrial waste

xz — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 17:46:21 -0800

yesterday, my neighbor was talking about that stuff we had as kids that was basically a little tube of awful smelling plastic gunk and a small straw. you put a glob of plastic on the straw and blew weird, oily bubbles. anyone remember what that crap was called? what was it?

What movie's characteristic sound effect was caused by using a tube to blow bubbles in a toilet?

Addlepated — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 19:52:15 -0800

What movie's characteristic sound effect was caused by using a tube to blow bubbles in a toilet? I remember watching a "Making of" type short piece about a popular movie, probably back in the 80s or early 90s (before DVDs) where they created the big important characteristic sound effect by blowing bubbles in a toilet with a tube. Anyone know what it was?

Looking for an affordable mac app to add caption bubbles and other annotations to videos

jpep — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 12:42:20 -0800

I'm in the process of making some screencast software demos. My issue is not capturing the video, rather it is going back and adding annotations to the video. The demos do not have any sounds, so I'd like to go back and add captions, text bubbles, arrows, boxes, etc. to the video for added instruction. Adobe makes an application, but it costs $700. I was hoping to find something a little (a lot) more affordable. I'm running a Mac.

Help Me Be Awesome

scrump — Fri, 25 May 2007 19:58:50 -0800

How do I become a bubble-blowing hero to my kid? I have a 2-year-old son who loves blowing and chasing bubbles. How can I make the most awesome possible bubble mix using materials available in my home?

Bubbly tomato sauce?

andrewraff — Mon, 16 Apr 2007 10:05:52 -0800

Why was my jar of tomato sauce under pressure and the sauce bubbly? I had a half-full jar of tomato sauce that was closed and refrigerated. When opening the jar in order to use the sauce, the air pressure inside the jar was higher than the air pressure in the room and air escaped with a woosh, similar to opening a bottle of carbonated liquid (like seltzer.) Bubbles developed in the sauce in the jar, and a quick tasting of the sauce revealed that the sauce caused a sensation similar to carbonation. What was going on here?

Why does flow from my kitchen sink's tap have to be turbulent to create dishsoap bubbles?

paul! — Mon, 24 Oct 2005 04:35:45 -0800

Why does the formation of soap bubbles in my dishwater depend on turbulent flow in the water coming out of the tap? The hot water tap on my kitchen sink has pretty low water pressure and a reasonably laminar flow. I notice that when I put some dishsoap into the bottom of the sink and then only run hot water into the sink, then barely any soapbubbles are produced. But when I turn the cold-water tap on somewhat, thereby turning the flow more turbulent (think this is the appropriately opposite word, I'm relying here on the Wikipedia entry on fluid dynamics), then the flow starts to create lots of bubbles. This is annoying, because adding enough cold water to the flow makes the water too cold for my dish-washing taste. I've also tried just putting my hand into the flow to make it more turbulent; this works a bit, but not nearly as well.

Anybody know why it works like this?