Big Bang Bubbles was one of the large events for Cole Library’s summer reading program Monday, June 10.
Professor Paul demonstrated the science behind bubbles, including how much water to soap content is required for good bubble solution.
“What shape are bubbles?” Paul asked.
When the answers came back with spheres as the shape, he retorted with “kiss your brain if you knew that word and answer.”
When it came to why bubbles are able to float in air, Paul noted that they are lighter than air.
Paul showed off how to blow bubbles before moving on to one of his more challenging bubbles to show, a square bubble. To do that, Paul blew several bubbles to surround and then pop some of the extraneous bubbles.
“Bubble art is such a hard art form to perfect, because it’s working with an ephemeral art form,” Paul said.
From there, he moved on to smoke bubbles, which were bubbles filled with a powdered smoke inside a bubble.
Then, he showed off what happens when bubbles are filled with helium, as opposed to the nitrogen and oxygen in earth’s atmosphere. Those bubbles quickly flew towards the ceiling at Cole Public Library.
Paul then asked library director Grace Chamberlain Rowray to help him demonstrate butane bubbles – bubbles that lit on fire with a heat source.
He concluded by creating some of the largest bubbles he could over the crowds head. Each participant also had the opportunity to have a bubble to try and cover them from head to mid torso.