Frozen Bubbles!

Yesterday we tried a winter experiment, seeing if we could freeze bubbles.  You can find stories about this online, and we thought it would be fun to try.  We also couldn't get a better day at something below -20°C.

A bowlful of frozen bubbles!  It's actually the thin layer of water between two layers of soap that freezes.

We used a small measuring cup and took out a red placement for contrast so the bubbles would show up.

The mixture was one cup water, 1/3 cup Dawn soap detergent, and a couple of tablespoons of molasses.  It seemed to work, but that was a much bigger quantity than you really need.  A little blowing in the mixture with a straw and you had a bowlful of bubbles which quickly froze.  Then of course the bubbles started popping.

Another try.  Getting pictures in focus was the hardest part.

You can blow individual bubbles too, but we found that they broke as soon as they touched anything. 

Leaving you with the thin broken skin of the frozen bubble.

You could stir up the bits of icy film on the end of the straw.  We could only do this because it's been so cold, one good use for cold weather!  Tonight it's still -28°C with the windchill, but by tomorrow afternoon it's supposed to rise above -10 for the first time in nearly two weeks, and by Monday rise slightly above above freezing!  Mind you, by Wed. and Thurs. it's supposed to be above freezing and rain.  What rain will do on top of two feet of snow on all the rooftops I don't know!