Bubble Properties

In this investigation, you will have an opportunity to experience some of the important
properties of a lipid bilayer while experimenting with bubbles. Bubbles are a good
model for the lipid bilayer because:
The detergent in the bubble solution is a molecule similar to a phospholipid.
The bubbles are made of a detergent bilayer. Like phospholipids, the detergent
molecules have a hydrophilic end and a hydrophobic end.
However, as you know, a bubble layer is not surrounded by water on each side; instead,
it has air on either side. Between the detergent (lipid) layers is a thin layer of water. The
film of detergent in a bubble is essentially the reverse of a phospholipid bilayer, but it
behaves very much the same way a phospholipid bilayer does.
MODEL 2-A MODEL OF A SOAP BUBBLE
Consider what you know about the phospholipid bilayer of cell membranes and the
information about bubbles you just read. In the space below, draw a model of the
detergent bilayer that forms the bubble film. Label the location of water and air.