The life of a soap bubble

THEY DON’T JUST INFLATE, LAST

FOR A FEW SECONDS AND THEN POP…

The most fascinating thing about this technique is watching the bubbles change over time. It turns out that bubbles have a varied lifespan. When newly made, the surface can look dull, but after a few seconds something wonderful begins to happen. The coloured bands start to sink from top to bottom, swirling around on the surface as they shift downwards. This is the time to gently blow to make the coloured bands dance around and mix together. The colours then fade and the bubble reaches old age, but it’s not finished yet. Now we’ll see an equally beautiful display of black dots and lines that frolic over the surface. Not all bubbles will make it to old age, but if they do you’re in for a treat.