Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jan 24, 2026

Induction of Microstreaming by Nonspherical Bubble Oscillations in an Acoustic Levitation System
Published on: May 9, 2021
Coalescence of Bubbles with Mobile Interfaces in Water
Bo Liu1, Rogerio Manica1, Qingxia Liu1
1Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering, University of Alberta, Edmonton T6G 1H9, Canada.
Abstract:
The fluid flow inside a thin liquid film can be dramatically modified by the hydrodynamic boundary condition at the interfaces. Aqueous systems can be easily contaminated by trace amounts of impurities, rendering the air-liquid interface immobile, thereby significantly resisting the fluid flow. Using high speed interferometry, rapid thinning of the liquid film, on the order of the collision speed, was observed between two fast approaching air bubbles in water, indicating negligible resistance and a fully mobile boundary condition at the air-water interface. By adding trace amounts of surfactants that changed the interfacial tension by 10^{-4} N/m, a transition from mobile to immobile was observed. This provides a fundamental explanation why the bubble coalescence time can vary by over 3 orders of magnitude.
Related Concept Videos
Excess Pressure Inside a Drop and a Bubble
Protein-protein Interfaces
Protein-Protein Interfaces
States of Water
Water freezes when the intermolecular forces are greater than the kinetic energy. Unlike most other substances, water is less dense in its solid state than in its liquid state. This is because each water molecule can form...
Water and Mineral Acquisition
Quality of Water

