Soap bubbles and other thin films are colorful thanks to wave interference across their tiny thickness, but you may have noticed that only some colors appear. Others, like red, seem Keep reading
Tag: thin film
Using Bubbles to Keep Clean
Keeping produce clean of foodborne pathogens is a serious issue, and delicate fruits and vegetables like tomatoes cannot withstand intense procedures like cavitation-based cleaning. But a new study suggests that Keep reading
Soap Film Evolution
The beautiful colors of a soap film reflect its variations in thickness. As a film drains and evaporates, it turns to shades of gray and black as it gets thinner. Keep reading
The Challenges of Blowing Bubbles
Although every child has experience blowing soap bubbles with a wand, only in recent years have scientists dedicated study to this problem. It turns out to be a remarkably complex Keep reading
Soap Film Filter
Inspired by the self-healing properties of soap films, scientists have created a liquid filter capable of trapping small particles while allowing larger ones to pass through. Instead of filtering particles Keep reading
Songs in Soap
There are many beautiful ways to visualize sound and music – Chris Stanford’s fantastic “Cymatics” music video comes to mind – but this is one I haven’t seen. This visualization Keep reading
Stabilizing Films
Liquids don’t typically survive very long as thin films. If you try to make one from water, gravity drains it away immediately. (Not so in space.) To make a liquid Keep reading
Viscous Fingers
Viscous fingers form between air and titanium dioxide sol-gel in this photograph. The two fluids are trapped in a thin gap between glass plates – a set-up known as a Keep reading
Melted Polymers
What you see here, despite appearances, is not a soap film. On the contrary, this is a thin vertical film made up of melted polymers. Like a soap film, it Keep reading
Oil Film on Water
This award-winning short film features a thin layer of volatile oil on water. The oil evaporates quickest from shallow pools only microns deep, which appear bluish in the video. Surface Keep reading