Adding an Electric Charge to a Bubble

Equipment Needed

1 old vinyl record
1 piece of flannel
Soapy water
Glycerin
1 piece of wire
1 Piece of paper

The Experiment

Add glycerin to the soapy water. This will allow you to create bubbles that last longer than bubbles that you would obtain from ordinary soap.

Bend the wire so that there is a circular loop at the end about one inch in diameter, as shown in Figure 1.

Dip the wire loop into the soap and glycerin solution so that a film of liquid forms across the wire when it is removed.

To create bubbles, either blow gently into this film or else give the wire a sharp flick in the air.

Once you are satisfied with the bubbles you can produce, rub the old vinyl record with a piece of flannel (Fig 2). It is best if you do this in a warm, dry room. Rub the record briskly for a minute or two.

Immediately after you have finished rubbing, blow a bubble and catch it on a piece of paper. Then gently roll it onto the record (Fig 3).

Allow the bubble to rest on the record for a few seconds. Then, gently shake the bubble free, as shown in Fig. 4.

Lower the record and position it so that it is immediately below the path of the falling bubble.  As the bubble falls toward the record, it will slow down until it hovers over the record (Fig 5).

By carefully manipulating the record, you can keep the bubble in a hovering position until it either bursts or is blown away by an air current.

How It Works

When you rub the record, you create a static electric charge. When the bubble touches the record, some of the charge is transferred to the bubble.

Since the record and the bubble now possess the same electric charge, they will repel each other. Objects with like electric charges repel one another, while objects with opposite electric charges attract one another.