Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

Hi Experts...I have a student who needs some help and was having trouble logging in. Here is what she emailed me.

Thanks,
Melissa G.
Sciece Buddies Staff

Student Question:
Test One: Sugar vs Sugarless Bubble Gum

Which type of bubble gum (sugar vs sugarless) blows bigger bubbles?

- Test 1a: Bigger bubbles with sugarless
- Test 1b: Bigger bubbles with sugar.

What scientific principles support the right outcome? I believe gum base is a key to the bubble size. Is the gum base stickier/more elastic with bubble gum with sugar?

Test Two: Brand and Biggest Bubbles

Can you blow bigger bubbles with soft bubble gum (Bubblicious, Bubble Yum, Hubba Bubba) or hard bubble gum (e.g. Super Bubble?

- Test 1a Bubbblicious one
- Test 1b, we added Super Bubble and it won.

Sttatements from Web articles
- hard gums blow bigger bubbles than the soft gums because of the softeners added to soft gum. Apparently, Bubble Yum and Bubblicious are putting something in the gum so that the bubbles aren't so big.


Test Three: Bubble gum and Number of Chews

Will you get bigger bubbles with more chews?

Test 3a: 15 chews - couldn't blow bubbles at all.
Test 3b: 30 chews, 60 chews and 400 chews, and each time the bubble got bigger.

Statements from Web articles
- More gum doesn't guarantee the biggest bubble. You will hit a point where you have too much gum in the mouth.
- Bubble size decreases after 10 minutes because of sugar loss. Can you validate more sugar = bigger bubbles.

Are there scientific principles that support these points?

Is there are relationship between saliva and bigger bubbles?

Kathy

Kathy,

Below is a response from one of the Experts.

Regards,
Melissa G.

Response:

I would ditch part 1, sugarless vs sugared because undoubtledly other components were modified in the formulation of the two gums, so it isn't a simple change one variable and see what happens. .

I would do the second test, which brand of bubble gum makes the biggest bubbles. I would measure average diameter of the bubble, and 10 bubbles per piece and several packs per brand and then do statistics to see if there is a real difference between the brands.

For a hypothesis, I don't really know why hard would be better than soft. Polymer formulation is pretty complicated, and I imagine that particular brands weight the importance of various factors different (cost, time the flavor remains, ability to color it, texture, size of bubbles, etc)

Part 3 may be most promising- "- Bubble size decreases after 10 minutes because of sugar loss. Can you validate more sugar = bigger bubbles."

I cannot validate this, but perhaps they can. If this is true, then the sugarless gum shouldn't decrease after 10 minutes. Tho bear in mind what I said about formulations in part 1. Or they coud check across the various sugared brands and see if it is universally true.


louise