Can I blow soap bubbles (of air) inside a vacuum chamber?

Question

When I blow soap bubbles from a liquid dish soap mixed with distilled water at atmospheric pressure at ground level both internal and external air pressure nullify and the tension of the bubbles holds, can soap bubbles be formed inside a vacuum chamber with all air pumped out?

Answer 1

You would have quite a problem to keep your water liquid. Normally, the water will evaporate when pumping. So you should go to low temperatures, but it freezes there. I thin you should thing about some other material to make bubbles in vacuum.

Answer 2

See, the internal pressure of a bubble exceeds the external pressure by $\dfrac{4S}{R}$ ; $S =$ surface tension,$R =$ radius. So, additional force must be imparted so as to keep the bubble in equilibrium.

So, if you want your bubble to exist in the chamber, there must be some mechanism to nullify the outward pressure of the bubble; otherwise it'll burst.

But as said by @Peter Shor, if you, by some means, could decrease the internal pressure of the bubble to such an extent that it becomes equal to surface tension factor, then the bubble will exist i.e. $$ P_{int} \approx \dfrac{4S}{R}$$.

Answer 3

For the question, can a soap bubble exist in a vacuum? Your answer places certain assumptions on the soap bubble.

• Asump 1: There is pressure inside the bubble.

• Asump 2: There is no gravity.

• Asump 3: The structure of the bubble has the strength to exert force against the pressure inside the bubble.

1 A total vacuum exerts the same pressure inside the bubble as outside.

2 Gravity is never absent. It can only be overcome by weak and strong nuclear forces or electromagnetic forces.

3 The structure of the bubble is fixed and will have equal Pressure inside and outside the bubble in a total vacuum.

I think the better question is what shape will a bubble assume in a vacuum.

The equal Pressure within and without the bubble will create a sphere when combined with the repelling dielectric forces of soapy water which will stretch the bubble to it's maximum ability to hold its form. No other shape can be expected other than a sphere in this scenario.

Answer 4

Unfortunately, you can not make a bubble with water and soap in a high vacuum.

as you can see in this phase diagram of pure water, if the pressure is lower than 611.657 Pa, liquid water will not exist no matter what the temperature is. Maybe you should try some other material, but not H2O.