Transcript: 

Hi everyone, my name is Julie. And in this video, I am going to talk to you about the structure of bubbles and how it would help with structural problems in society. Before we even go and open the treasure box and see what structural problem bubbles can solve, I first have to answer one question, which is what are bubbles?

A bubble is a thin film of soapy water filled with gases. The most common type of gas in a bubble is the air we breathe (Helmenstine, 2016). The film that makes the bubble is comprised of 3 layers, 1 layer of water and 2 layers of soap molecules. A soap molecule has 2 parts to it, a hydrophilic head and a hydrophobic tail. The heads are orientated towards the layer of water (Helmenstine, 2015). No matter the initial structure of a bubble, it will always try to become a sphere. This is because a sphere requires the least amount of energy to maintain its shape.

Now that we know what bubbles are, we can now talk about the structural problems we face today. Mankind is now able to create many different structures in both shapes and sizes. Such as Ferris Wheels! However, one big problem we face today is no matter the size or shape of the structure, the buildings are unable to withstand earthquakes that vary in strength (Arnold, 2016). This is because during an earthquake the building is using a lot of energy just to maintain it structural shape.

What is the solution? That’s right, bubbles!

 There are now many studies done on trying to mimic the structural shape of a bubble, not only for its spherical shape but also for its unique ability to withstand earthquakes by using the least amount of energy to maintain its structural shape. By creating buildings that can withstand earthquakes, we will have less casualties when buildings fall apart during earthquakes, both big and small.

Let me go into a little more detail about the properties that make the bubble stable . As I mentioned briefly before, bubbles require less energy to maintain their structure because of their spherical shape. Which leads to a common misconception that soap increase the water’s surface tension.

This is untrue.

The bubble does the exact opposite of this. The bubble actually decreases surface tension to approximately 1/3 the surface tension of water.

 

This stabilizes the bubble in an action known as the Marangoni Effect.

The Marangoni effect is the mass transfer along the interface between 2 fluids due to surface tension gradient (Vukosav,  2013).

As the soap film stretches, the surface concentration of soap decreases, which causes the surface tension to increase.

Thus, soap selectively strengthens the weakest parts of the bubble and tends to prevent them from stretching further.

As of right now there is only one known building that have been produced. The 2008 Beijing Water cube, created for the Olympics. The Beijing Water Cube is said to not only be able to withstand earthquakes but also able to withstand fires as well (Hennighausen, 2014). The bubble design is used in the water cube’s structural shape, and also allows daylight to enter as well.

Biomimetic and bioinspired advances in architectural structures, such as the one I discussed, could be the key to improving our structural world. To create this successful future, we need to observe and form structures based off of what nature has spent millions of years refining.

 

Citations:

Arnold, Christopher. "EARTHQUAKE EFFECTS ON BUILDINGS 4." Risk Management Series: Designing for Earthquakes-A Manual for Architects (Fema 454/December 2006) (2013). Web. Nov. 16. 2016.

Helmenstine, Anne Marie. “Bubble Science.” About Education (2016). Web. Nov. 16. 2016.

Helmenstine, Anne Marie. “How Soap Cleans.” About Education (2015). Web. Nov. 16. 2016.

Henninghausen, Amelia, E. Roston. 14 smart inventions inspired by nature: biomimicry. Bloomberg, 2016). Web. Nov. 16. 2016.

Isenberg, Cyril. “The science of soap films and soap bubbles.” Courier Corporation(1978).

http://www.cemag.us/article/2013/07/substrate-drying-using-surface-tension-gradient-technology

Video Citations:

1. Pastimers. "Magic Water Cube - Beijing National Acquatics Park Center, China." YouTube. YouTube, 03 Mar. 2013. Web. 05 Dec. 2016.

2. Nwktram. "My Bubbles! Finding Nemo." YouTube. YouTube, 03 Jan. 2011. Web. 05 Dec. 2016.

 

Image Citations:

 

1. http://dreamatico.com/bubble.html

2. https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surface_tension

3. http://abovethecrowd.com/2014/01/24/on-bubbles/

4. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Marangoni_Effect_of_a_Film.png

5. http://www.keyword-suggestions.com/bWFyYW5nb25pIGVmZmVjdCBnaWJicw/

6. http://www.e-architect.co.uk/beijing/watercube-beijing