Apparent Contact Angle and Triple-Line Tension of a Soap Bubble on a Substrate

The contact angle, θ, of a small bubble on a flat solid substrate was measured as a function of bubble radius, R. The observed deviation of the contact angle from 90 degrees can be accounted for in terms of a negative line tension, tau. The measured values of |tau|/gamma(f), where gamma(f) is the film tension, ranged between 0.15 and 0.6 mm and are proportional to the height, h, of the Plateau border, with |tau| congruent with1.7gamma(f)h. Copyright 2001 Academic Press.