Mathematics and Soap Films

John Oprea
Cleveland State University
Surface tension creates a “skin” on a liquid whose
molecules are polar.
Example: H2O is polar, so water has a “skin”.

Soap reduces surface tension by adding long polar

molecules with hydrocarbon tails.
Surface tension dominance, but with noticeable effects of gravity
Surface tension pulls a soap film as tight as it can be.

1st Principle of Soap Films. A soap film minimizes

its surface area.

But what is the exact geometry dictated by the

force due to surface tension?
To see this, let’s analyze a piece of a soap film
surface that is expanded outward by an applied
pressure p.
Take a piece of the film given by two
perpendicular (tangent) directions and
compute the work done to expand the surface
area under some pressure.
Also, if we take
p = pressure and S = surface area, then
The change in surface area is given by

A Physicist’s first words:

“Neglect the higher order Term!”
Laplace-Young Equation
Laplace-Young involves Mean Curvature!
Definition. A surface S is minimal if H = 0.

Theorem. A soap film is a minimal surface.

Questions
What property does a soap bubble have?

What happens when bubbles fuse?

Does the Laplace-Young equation have

medical consequences?
Alveoli are modeled Alveoli
by spheres which
expand when we
inhale and contract
when we exhale.
When is the pressure
difference the greatest?
So how can we ever inhale?
It was the development of artificial surfactant in
the 1960’s that was essential to the survival of
premature babies!
Now consider the “loop on a hoop” experiment.

What does it say?

Theorem. A closed curve which maximizes the

enclosed area subject to having a fixed
perimeter is a circle.
Consequences: For the circle,

For other closed curves,

Same A Same L1

A A A1
L L1 L1

by Theorem applied to 2nd and 3rd curves

Theorem. For fixed area, the curve which
minimizes perimeter is the circle.

3-Dimensional Version. For fixed volume, the

closed surface which minimizes surface area is
a sphere!
Physical Consequence. Every soap bubble
is a sphere.
A soap bubble minimizes its surface area
subject to enclosing a fixed volume.
Plateau’s Rules
 Weierstrass-Enneper Representations
Complex analysis may be used to obtain “formulas” for
minimal surfaces.
Theorem. (First Representation)
Theorem. (Second Representation)
The Catenoid
The Helicoid
Enneper’s Surface
La Chauve-Souris
The Trinoid
 Appendix: One-celled Organisms
Minimizing surface area subject to fixed volume for
surfaces of revolution (without the extra requirement
of compactness) produces spheres, cylinders, nodoids
and unduloids.
One-celled creatures often take shapes (truncated by
cilia or flagella) similar to spheres, cylinders, nodoids
and unduloids. Here we present some drawings of
one-celled organisms taken from
On Growth and Form
By
D’Arcy Wentworth Thompson
Unduloids (surfaces of
constant mean curvature)
 Other aspects of differential geometry make
themselves apparent in biology also.
Theorem. The only ruled minimal surface
is the helicoid.
 Water Films in Space

Question: What is the exact shape of the “lens”?

Les faits mathématiques dignes d’être étudiés, ce
sont ceux qui, par leur analogie avec d’autres
faits, sont susceptibles de nous conduire à la
connaissance d’une loi mathématique, de la même
façon que les faits expérimentaux nous conduisent
à la connaissance d’une loi physique. Ce sont
ceux qui nous révèlent des parentés
insoupçonnées entre d’autres faits, connus depuis
longtemps, mais qu’on croyait à tort étrangers les
uns aux autres.
---------- Henri Poincaré
The mathematical facts worthy of being
studied are those which, by their analogy
with other facts, are capable of leading us
to the knowledge of a mathematical law
just as experimental facts lead us to the
knowledge of a physical law. They reveal
the kinship between other facts, long
known, but wrongly believed to be
strangers to one another.
----- Henri Poincaré