In the Bubblearium at Experimentarium, you can study the flows in soap bubbles up close. If you look closely, you can see the flows. They occur because the water in the soap film flows downwards, and we can see the currents that arise because of the colours.

From play to research

Soap bubbles are usually associated with play, but throughout history people like Leonardo da Vinci and Isaac Newton have been captivated by the magic of bubbles and studied their properties in depth. Since the soap film reacts so clearly to influences, it is an ideal tool for research.

Today, soap films are still used to help us learn more about the world. With a simple setup, where you make a soap film that falls between two fishing lines, you can move objects into the soap film to study how they affect the flows.

Imagine looking at the water flowing past in the sea. If you now stick a finger or a hand into the stream of soapy water, you will see that the flows change. The turbulence you see will resemble what can happen if you put a bridge pier in Øresund outside Experimentarium.

Photo: Teis Schnipper

From thought to consequence

With a soap film, we can learn more about how plans for the future will work out in reality. We may also need to find out why an accident happened. Researchers can test ideas in a model before building them in full size – or analyse what went wrong when something has already happened.

In the image below, you can see a model of two flags positioned in relation to each other. Here, the front flag will flap less, while the rear flag will flap more because it is affected by all the turbulence from the front flag.

Photo: Teis Schnipper

The image below shows pictures from a study of how air moves around a hand fan. Here, the soap film has been placed horizontally to mimic warm, stagnant air on a summer day.

Photo: Teis Schnipper