Editing Soap bubble (section)

==Recreation==

=== Use in play ===

Soap bubbles have been used as entertainment for at least 400 years, as evidenced by 17th-century Flemish paintings showing children blowing bubbles with clay pipes. The London-based firm [[Pears (soap)|A. & F. Pears]] created a famous advertising campaign for its soaps in 1886 using a painting by John  Everett Millais of a child playing with bubbles. The Chicago company Chemtoy began selling bubble solution in the 1940s, and bubble solution has been popular with children ever since. According to one industry estimate, retailers sell around 200 million bottles annually. [[Dishwashing liquid]] with water and additional ingredients such as [[Glycerol|glycerin]] and [[sugar]] is used as a popular alternative to a ready made bubble solution.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/blow-the-biggest-bubbles/ | title=Blow the Biggest Bubbles | website=[[Scientific American]] }}</ref>

<gallery mode=packed>
File:Bhutan, "Prayer Bubbles" - Flickr - babasteve.jpg|Blowing bubbles through a small wand
File:Girl Blowing Bubbles.jpg|A woman creating bubbles with a long soap bubble wand
File:Adriaen Hanneman Two Boys Blowing Bubbles.JPG|[[Adriaen Hanneman]], ''Two Boys Blowing Bubbles'' ({{circa|1630}})
File:Jean-Baptiste Siméon Chardin 022.jpg|[[Jean-Baptiste-Siméon Chardin]], ''[[Soap Bubbles (painting)|Soap Bubbles]]'' ({{circa|1734}})
</gallery>

=== Colored bubbles ===
[[File:Macro Photography of a soap bubble.jpg|thumb|left|A single light soap bubble photograph taken under macro photography]]

A bubble is made of transparent water enclosing transparent air. However, the [[soap film]] is as thin as the visible light [[wavelength]], resulting in [[optical interference]]. This creates [[iridescence]] which, together with the bubble's spherical shape and fragility, contributes to its magical effect on children and adults alike. Each colour is the result of varying thicknesses of soap bubble film. [[Tom Noddy]] (who featured in the second episode of [[Marcus du Sautoy]]'s ''[[The Code (2011 TV series)|The Code]]'') gave the analogy of looking at a [[contour line|contour]] map of the bubbles' surface. However, it has become a challenge to produce artificially coloured bubbles.

Byron, Melody & Enoch Swetland invented a patented non-toxic bubble (Tekno Bubbles)<ref>{{cite web |author=Mary Bellis |url=http://inventors.about.com/library/weekly/aa061500a.htm |title=Interview with Byron and Melody Swetland - The Inventors of Tekno Bubbles |publisher=Inventors.about.com |date=1999-10-05 |access-date=2013-10-04 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130704191253/http://inventors.about.com/library/weekly/aa061500a.htm |archive-date=2013-07-04 }}</ref> that glow under UV lighting. These bubbles look like ordinary high quality "clear" bubbles under normal lighting, but glow when exposed to true UV light. The brighter the UV lighting, the brighter they glow. The family sold them worldwide, but has since sold their company.

[[File:Triple layer soap bubble.jpg|thumb|A single soap bubble displaying three layers]]
Adding coloured [[dye]] to bubble mixtures fails to produce coloured bubbles, because the dye attaches to the water molecules as opposed to the surfactant. Therefore, a colourless bubble forms with the dye falling to a point at the base. Dye [[chemist]] [[Ram Sabnis|Dr. Ram Sabnis]] has developed a [[lactone]] dye that sticks to the surfactants, enabling brightly coloured bubbles to be formed. [[Crystal violet lactone]] is an example. Another man named Tim Kehoe invented a coloured bubble which loses its colour when exposed to pressure or oxygen, which he is now marketing online as [[Zubbles]], which are non-toxic and non-staining. In 2010, Japanese astronaut [[Naoko Yamazaki]] demonstrated that it is possible to create coloured bubbles in [[microgravity]]. The reason is that the water molecules are spread evenly around the bubble in the low-gravity environment.

=== Freezing ===
[[File:Frozen Ice Bubble.jpg|thumb|Frozen soap bubble on snow at {{convert|-7|C|F}}]]
If soap bubbles are blown into air that is below a [[temperature]] of {{convert|-15|C|F|lk=on}},  they will freeze when they [[Nucleation|touch a surface]]. The air inside will gradually [[diffusion|diffuse]] out, causing the bubble to crumble under its own weight. At temperatures below about {{convert|-25|C|F}}, bubbles will freeze in the air and may shatter when hitting the ground. When a bubble is blown with warm air, the bubble will freeze to an almost perfect sphere at first, but when the warm air cools, and a reduction in volume occurs, there will be a partial collapse of the bubble. A bubble, created successfully at this low temperature, will always be rather small; it will freeze quickly and will shatter if increased further.<ref>Hope Thurston Carter: [http://hopecarter.photoshelter.com/gallery/Frozen-Frosted-Fun/G0000C2ixRgR2ecg/ Frozen Frosted Fun] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160215083224/http://hopecarter.photoshelter.com/gallery/Frozen-Frosted-Fun/G0000C2ixRgR2ecg |date=2016-02-15 }} hopecarter.photoshelter.com, Michigan, USA, 2014, retrieved 25 January 2017. – Photo catalogue.</ref>
Freezing of small soap bubbles happens within 2 seconds after setting on snow (at air temperature around –10...–14&nbsp;°C).<!--http://www.accuweather.com/de/de/regensburg/93047/january-weather/167556 recorded –8/–14°C for 23 January 2017, the pictures seem to be taken during nighttime and outside of town. --><ref>pilleuspulcher: [https://plus.google.com/+pilleuspulcher/posts/3ZbXqEr5iYc Freezing soap bubbles on snow] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170202095553/https://plus.google.com/+pilleuspulcher/posts/3ZbXqEr5iYc |date=2017-02-02 }} google+, Regensburg, Germany, 23 January 2017, retrieved 25 January 2017. – Photos, description in German.</ref>