Frozen Bubbles 01-24-11

The coldest temperatures measured in the last three years on the mountain allowed the summit crew to have a little fun. After some trial and error, a solution of dish soap, sugar, and water was found to create bubbles that would freeze before hitting the ground. With air temperatures outside around 33 below zero, and winds at nearly hurricane force, the "experiment" was attempted in several different sheltered locations at the Sherman Adams State Park Building where temperatures were a few degrees warmer. One of the locations was warm enough that one could actually see the bubbles crystallizing, while the second location was several degrees colder, and the bubbles froze almost immediately.

Mount Washington Observatory is a nonprofit, membership-supported research and educational institution with a mission to advance understanding of the natural systems that create Earth's weather and climate. Since 1932, the Observatory has been observing Mount Washington's incredible extremes, conducting scientific research, educating the public about the science of weather and climate and amassing one of North America's longest and most unique climate records. For weather reports, webcams, photos and more, visit MountWashington.org.

Thanks for watching!

Our recipe for the bubble solution is as follows:

3 Teaspoons Dawn dish soap
1/2-1 Teaspoon Sugar
1-2 Teaspoons of hot water
Mix gently so as not to make bubbles in the solution

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• mount
• mt.
• mt
• washington
• observatory
• mwobs
• mwo
• obs
• new
• hampshire
• nh
• frozen
• bubbles
• bubble
• cold
• below
• zero
• freeze
• winter
• ice

[MightyJustas]

Is it fucking necesarry to slow video down each time you show us a bubble freezing? Were not retards we can clearly see that!

[MWOObserver]

@MightyJustas First of all, we would appreciate it if you refrained from using profanity on our video, as we have a wide variety of people watching our videos. Secondly, although you may not have been interested in seeing each bubble freeze in slow motion, quite a few people are/were. By showing it in both real time, and in slow motion, we tried to give different looks at the process of the bubble freezing and crystallizing.

[kinglynx]

STOP MOVING THE CAMERA WHEN IT LANDS I WANA SEE WHAT HAPPENS

[MWOObserver]

@kinglynx Filming a floating bubble while trying to zoom in on it at the same time is quite difficult. Doing that all while wearing fairly heavy gloves because it's more than 30 degrees below zero makes it even more difficult. We tried to get the best footage we could.

[NineTailsDemonFox]

can you credit your music please? I've yet to know what artists you used for your music.

[MWOObserver]

@NineTailsDemonFox All the music used in this video is stock iMovie music. Because of that, I'm not sure who the artists are that made the music.

[MWOObserver]

@jehcrazyjehcmy A couple things in response to that statement. First of all, the Mount Washington Observatory is a private, non-profit, member supported science, research, and education organization. We are funded mainly through our nearly 4,000 members, as well as corporate sponsors such as Eastern Mountain Sports and Subaru, and lastly through research grant money. We are not directly funded by taxpayer money, and we are not part of the National Weather Service.

[MWOObserver]

@jehcrazyjehcmy Lastly, keep in mind that the crew that works on the summit for the Observatory not only works there, but also lives there for one week at at time. Because of this, we aren't working 24 hours a day, and have some free time to do fun things like this.

I hope that clears things up for you. For more information about our non-profit organization, please visit our website.

[DanaHamelit]

Aktivieren Sie die fliegende Plasma-Licht mit Magneten!

Could you incorporate magnetic ferrofluid into the bubble mixture and some how levitate the bubble with neodymium magnets and insert the bubble into a vacuum chamber for preservation.

[tboyh100]

Where was this video when it was snowing a few days ago :( D:

[UnsweetenedPineapple]

@MWOObserver

I really appreciated the slowdowns, myself! I was amazed. I could really appreciate the beauty of the freezing with it slowed down. I really want to do this myself sometime. :)

[ashurathesadxhacker]

nice

[MightyJustas]

@MWOObserver i apologise for that

[TriforceSD]

@jehcrazyjehcmy

If taxes were used to pay for this, I'd rather it be used on this than some of the other things it gets used for. Just sayin'.

[Masowai]

@NineTailsDemonFox Hey Dood, Shazam it. It gave me the names of 2/3 of these songs.