THE
AND ITS
APPLICATIONS
A talk and demonstration by
(
starting at
[Campus map –
http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/univ/campus-maps/up-map.html]
Abstract
Soap bubbles have always fascinated the young. They are attracted by the perfectly formed spherical shells of liquid produced every time one blows a bubble. The unexpected stability of these spheres has led scientists to study the properties of films and bubbles. Much research has been carried out, and is currently being undertaken, by chemists, physicists, mathematicians and biologists.
Some of theses properties can be illustrated by dipping wire frameworks into soap solution. This can be demonstrated on a grand scale with a huge tub of soap solution and large frameworks. The soap films and soap bubbles formed in the frameworks have shapes that are both spectacular and colourful. Their surfaces satisfy geometrical constraints that are a consequence of a general minimisation principle in thermodynamics. In the simplest examples the soap film contained by a framework forms, at equilibrium, a minimum area configuration.
This minimum area property can be applied to the solution of some mathematical problems of importance in the construction of networks of roads, pipelines and cables. The simplest example is the minimum roadway linking two towns; the straight line road. The more general problems are concerned with the minimum length roadway configurations joining a number of towns.
Recently there has been a
resurgence of interest in the properties of soap films by biologists. They have shown that cell membranes have a
molecular structure that is similar to soap films. As a result more detailed studies of simple
soap films have been made in order to gain further insight into the more
complex biological lipid membranes.
No charge is made to attend meetings,
non-IMA members are welcome
For further details of this event or other East
Midlands Branch activities consult the Web Site http://science.ntu.ac.uk/msor/ccb/ima.html or by contacting the Branch General Secretary:
Dr Stephen Hibberd, Division of Applied Mathematics,