Phenomenological analysis in thin films of soap bubbles

Grade managed work to obtain the major title of Physics Engineer.

At the end of my career, soap bubbles became the subject for my thesis degree. Because my strong interest in plastic arts soap bubbles seemed the ideal research subject, which can be used for both academic research and scientific communication by interactive media, with the condition to show a good fitting between science and art. The investigation was an illustrated scientific document where graphical material and mathematical language got fused together.

The result was a great success: different features were developed related to soap bubbles surfaces, this means from the scope of the principles of nature, concerning geometrical, mechanical, physicochemical, hydrodynamic and optical features.

Furthermore, the analysis was complemented with photos and videos preciously made by a professional photographer, whose work exposed with precise detail the behavior of colors, gravity or turbulences on the surfaces. One of the pictures was awarded with the first prize in the SPIE-congress (International Society for Optical Engineering) in San Diego, Ca. 2008. See picture below.

Professor Román Castañeda, head of the Physics School and the optics research group of the National University of Colombia, sectional Medellin, was the thesis adviser. The aesthetic process was shared with Santiago Betancur, visual artist from the same university. He investigates soap bubbles with photography and video, capturing amazing and useful effects for science communication.

To know more about Santiago Betancur´s work, click the following link: http://www.santiagobetancur.com/