Why are bubbles round?
Scientists refer to bubbles as “minimal surface structures.” This means that they always hold the gas or liquid inside of them with the least possible surface area. The geometric form with the least surface area for any given volume is always a sphere, a round shape. But bubbles are not always round.
Bubbles are round when they float free through air. But what happens when you pack bubbles together?   HERE’S WHAT YOU NEED
• Bubble solution: 2 cups water, 1 tsp dishwashing soap (Dawn works best)
• A cookie sheet (with sides)
• A plastic straw
   
HERE’S WHAT YOU DO
1. Pour in enough bubble solution to cover the floor of the cookie sheet.
2. Submerge one end of the straw into the bubble solution. Blow through the straw to make a bubble on the sheet. What shape is your bubble?
3. Blow another bubble that touches your first bubble. What shapes are those bubbles?
4. Blow another bubble to create a cluster of three bubbles. What happens where they meet?
5. Blow a lot of bubbles all touching. How many different shapes can you find in your mass of bubbles?
6. Try blowing more bubbles on top of your layer of bubble domes. Look carefully at the shapes formed when bubbles are squashed among the other bubbles.

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This activity is from Exploratopia , © Exploratorium , published by Little, Brown, and Company