In a collaboration between the Yale Center for Engineering Innovation & Design (CEID) and Yale SPS, students explored the physics that gives rise to the magical properties of bubbles. Yale senior research scientist and CEID design mentor Larry Wilen led a series of demonstrations showing how bubbles tend to rearrange to minimize surface tension and thereby are able to create visual solutions to complex optimization problems. Students were able to experiment with different geometries and discover new interesting behavior.
Wyatt Kremer, YC’2024 Physics (Intensive) major and co-prsident of SPS commented, “We realized an impressive range of physics concepts with bubbles during this workshop: connections were drawn to the stability of equilibria, classical mechanics formalisms, and the phenomenon of spontaneous symmetry breaking. It was a fun way to get into some serious physics. We had a great time and are thankful for Larry’s generosity in making this event happen!”
See the Yale Physics Department flickr site for photos from the event.