Pictures show soap bubble bursting

Click For Summary

Discussion Overview

The discussion centers around super slow motion photographs of soap bubbles bursting, exploring the visual phenomena captured in these images and their implications. Participants share their impressions, comparisons with other works, and speculate on the underlying physics and potential applications.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Debate/contested
  • Conceptual clarification

Main Points Raised

  • Some participants express admiration for the slow motion photos, noting their impressive detail.
  • Others argue that a different video segment presents the phenomenon in a superior way, highlighting specific features not visible in the original photos.
  • A participant questions whether certain visual effects in the photos might be artifacts of the camera's shutter speed, suggesting that the droplets could be fast-moving and spherical.
  • Some observations indicate that the droplets formed during the bubble's rupture exhibit organized striations, which contrasts with the expectation of a random distribution.
  • A later reply speculates on the potential for analyzing striation patterns to reconstruct the fingerprint of the individual who popped the bubble, drawing a parallel to modern cosmological techniques.
  • Another participant references historical work by Harold Edgerton, suggesting that similar phenomena have been documented in the past and raises the possibility of biological applications related to surface tension.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express a mix of admiration and skepticism regarding the photographs, with some agreeing on the interesting aspects of the droplet formation while others contest the interpretation of the visual effects. The discussion remains unresolved regarding the implications and interpretations of the observed phenomena.

Contextual Notes

Some claims depend on the definitions of visual artifacts and the conditions under which the photographs were taken. The discussion includes unresolved questions about the implications of droplet organization and potential applications.

Physics news on Phys.org
Eh, the Time Warped guys did it better. Check out the segment starting at 3:55.
 
They were both interesting, Richard's showed the very interesting "slivers" that the water breaks into, which you can't see in the movie.
 
I'm not convinced that those aren't simply an artifact of the relatively slow shutter speed (good SLRs can get down below 1/8000th s easily) . My hunch is that those are actually fast-moving and roughly spherical droplets
 
MM...good point :)
 
What IS interesting about the stills upon a closer examination is that you can clearly see the droplets formed as the bubble's "skin" breaks apart are organized into well-defined striations rather than, as one might expect, distributed more or less randomly.
 
negitron said:
What IS interesting about the stills upon a closer examination is that you can clearly see the droplets formed as the bubble's "skin" breaks apart are organized into well-defined striations rather than, as one might expect, distributed more or less randomly.

Now if you can imagine analyzing that striation pattern and using it to form an inverse reconstruction of the fingerprint of the person who popped the balloon, you're on the level with modern cosmologists.
 
Hadn't Harold Edgerton photographed such phenomena decades ago? (I also wonder whether there are any biological applications to this study in surface tension.)
 

Similar threads

Undergrad Exploding Soap Bubbles: A question of gasses.
  • · Replies 2 ·
Replies
2
Views
2K
High School Contradictions in the Distribution of Gamma-Ray Bursts
  • · Replies 24 ·
Replies
24
Views
2K
Estimate Electric Potential of Soap Bubble Drop
  • · Replies 3 ·
Replies
3
Views
5K
How Does Soap Bubble Thickness Affect Light Interference?
  • · Replies 5 ·
Replies
5
Views
9K
High School How Water Can Form "Reverse Bubbles" - Explained
  • · Replies 19 ·
Replies
19
Views
4K
News Student Loan Bubble: Bursting or Bailout?
  • · Replies 4 ·
Replies
4
Views
4K
Understanding the Pressure Inside a Soap Bubble
  • · Replies 18 ·
Replies
18
Views
27K
News Is the Higher Education Bubble About to Burst?
  • · Replies 13 ·
Replies
13
Views
3K
High School Neutron star 4U 1820-30 spins at 716 revolutions per second
  • · Replies 0 ·
Replies
0
Views
3K
Graduate Birefringence and Automotive Window Tinting
  • · Replies 9 ·
Replies
9
Views
9K