Thursday, 22 February 2007 at 5pm
General Interest Seminar
Films, bubbles and drops have long been studied by physicists, chemists and mathematicians and appear widely in science. They have been sufficiently understood to be used as models of physical phenomena; for example for the liquid drop model of fission in nuclear physics and for the distribution of galaxies in the astrophysics. There are areas where there is much current research such as the collapse of bubbles that give rise to local very high temperatures - some people have even suggested this is a way of creating 'fusion' temperatures. Cavitation producing resistive motion to a ship's propellers and corrosion have been a constant source of study. They occur widely in food and drink. Could life exist without them?
This lecture - demonstration will draw attention to some of the properties of soap films and bubbles that have been neglected by scientists.
Cyril is on the advisory committee of the International Physics Olympiads.
Cyril Isenbergs book: The Science of Soap Films and Soap Bubbles