Exploring the Physics of Bubble Interaction

[caters]

I have seen 4 things happen when 2 bubbles come towards each other.

1) I have seen 1 or both bubbles pop

2) I have seen the bubbles bounce off each other

3) I have seen the bubbles come together and stay there

4) I have seen complete fusion of the bubbles into 1 bigger bubble that then falls to the ground and pops

I know that this has to do with the amount of force from my breath and the wind outside.

The bubbles not completely fusing requires the least force and the popping requires the most force.

But how is it possible for the bubbles to do anything other than pop when they come towards each other? I mean even in not so windy conditions I more often see bubbles pop when they come towards each other(this is because of gravity pulling the liquid down as the bubble is going up causing the membrane to be thinner at the top and eventually go away).

Do things like bouncing off and complete and incomplete fusion happen because of 2 bubbles coming towards each other at the same velocity because I have seen a bigger bubble and a smaller bubble come towards each other and do these things and the smaller bubble under the same conditions as the bigger bubble would naturally have a greater velocity.

 

[insightful]

this is because of gravity pulling the liquid down as the bubble is going up causing the membrane to be thinner at the top and eventually go away

This would appear to be the root of the differences you observe. At the same velocities, it just depends on the thickness of the film where they touch and the strength of the bubble overall (again, dependent on thickness).