WonderLab adds five exhibits to Bubble Mania! this Saturday

Bubbles are all the rage at a new exhibit at WonderLab, the family-oriented science museum in downtown Bloomington. As part of its Bubble-Mania! exhibit, WonderLab introduced new viscosity tubes Saturday. \nA display of six vertical cylinders filled with six liquids with different densities, the viscosity tubes illustrate how air flows at different rates through each liquid. Just like all the exhibits at WonderLab, the viscosity tubes are hands-on, controlled by six buttons which allow the participant to release air into the tubes.\n"Compared to the other exhibits in which the soap fluid is the constant, in the viscosity tubes the air is the constant," said Karen Innes, associate executive director at WonderLab. The fluids used in the display range from low to high viscosity, ordered by magnitude. \nThe six liquids are water, mineral water, motor oil, glycerin, corn syrup and silicon fluid. Each of the tubes is lighted to clearly show the different colors of the fluids and how slowly or quickly the bubbles rise through them. The motor oil is the medium between the lowest and highest viscosity tubes, Innes said. \nThe viscosity tube exhibit was designed and built by local designer Drew Hoffman. Similar designs have been used in other exhibits, but WonderLab's tubes are one of the newest designs.\n"The viscosity tubes are visually captivating," said Rob McCrea, one of the floor managers at WonderLab. "It is all based upon intuitive learning." \nAlong with the viscosity tubes there are four other exhibits. Bubble Technology is a contraption which involves string, a wheel and a hair dryer to produce a large bubble. In the Bubble Wall, participants can discover what happens when a dry hand versus a sudsy hand is placed through the wall. The Honeycomb Bubbles display shows how bubbles are constantly looking for the most amounts of surface area and in the Surprising Shapes exhibit, the bubble fluid is shaped into a star, but when blown out of the shape the bubble will always become circular.\nAs well as the five exhibits, an activities station presents three different bubble experiments on a rotating schedule. The bubble fluid used in all the displays is Ultra Ivory Blue Dawn Dishwashing Soap.\n"It has to be the blue kind," said Carrie Miller, program coordinator at WonderLab. "It must be the original because there are no added elements to the detergent such as anti-bacterial." \nMiller described the Bubble Technology as being one of the most popular exhibits. \n"When schools are here, there is always a line to try it out," Miller said. "Once they have figured out the trick to the bubble wall kids are up to their elbows in bubbles." \nThe viscosity tubes are creating a buzz amongst all those who visit, said Emily Taylor, a volunteer at WonderLab.\n"People are very excited about this new exhibit. They really like the new viscosity tubes," Taylor said. \nCurious as to how the viscosity tubes work, many children can be found walking around the tubes before they start to push its buttons and observe how the bubbles flow. As one little girl described, "I think it's pretty cool!"\nWonderLab is located at 308 W. 4th St. For more information about WonderLab, visit www.wonderlab.org. \n-- Contact staff writer Cassidy Flanagan at ceflanag@indiana.edu.