Why Do Bubbles Form In Glasses Of Water?

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, pressure changes everything. In today’s quickie video, I talk about a phenomenon that you’ve probably seen a million times and never thought twice about, but points to something fundamentally interesting about the world - bubbles that unexpectedly form in glasses of water.

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[joescott]

Hey everyone, as many in the comments have pointed out, there are some... incorrect details in this video. I encourage you to scroll down to get the corrections (there are many 😄). It's probably obvious this one wasn't as refined as most of my videos, and I'll just eat some crow over that. I've been kind of swamped with travel and a big upcoming project and just needed to get this out. So apologies if this isn't up to the standard you're used to. Thanks for keeping me in check. Love you all!

[CheshireSmile]

Dude this is something I've wondered about my whole life but like never looked up myself. You've literally scratched a knowledge itch for me.

[mycosys]

Byford Dolphin - the answer to the question 'whats the smallest space a human can fit through' that you really didnt want to know.

[matudelia]

Correction: It's mainly nitrogen that's absorbed in your body and causes the bends, not oxygen.. Oxygen has other problems when diving, mostly related to the partial pressure of it while breathing it in - it becomes toxic at greater depths.

[BenPetersonDesign]

No deep dive needed... You could dump as many of these 10 minute videos as you'd want and I'd eat them up, man! Great job as always!

[AlexYeryomin]

2:48 Your explanation is incorrect (or I didn't get it right). The faster water molecules move, the *less* air they can hold. The higher the temperature, the less air in the water. That's why, as you said later, the cold water is warming up to the room temperature releases the air.

[nolecossart]

As a brewery owner, I appreciate this concept every day! We have charts that predict exactly how fizzy a carbonated beverage will be as a result of pressure and temperature. To carbonate properly and keep the co2 in solution, we get our drinks as cold as possible so the carbonation doesn’t foam out when cans are being filled. I’ve always wondered about still water that forms bubbles in a glass over time. Had a hunch it had to do with temperature + pressure changes! 👏

[ozAqVvhhNue]

Small correction at 1:33 Nitrogen makes up about 78% of the air and Oxygen about 21%
I can understand rounding down for Oxygen, but showing 70% for Nitrogen is at the very least a bit weird.

[juliaspoonie]

Okay off topic but your sponsors must LOVE you! Seriously! Imagine how many boring ads they have to review and then there are your mini-movie-like ads. Few people (internationally!) manage to make such high quality sponsor ads!!! I hope you manage to negotiate your payment accordingly. Much love from Austria

[generichuman]

0:53 - Harry Landfische...I went to high school with that guy. Nice person.

[Mrko]

Divers do not have oxigen bottles. Its compressed air. Pure oxygen would be leathal with the added pressure. The problem of gas bubbles formig is mainly caused by the nigrogen!

[WayneKitching]

I live in a country where I can't buy most of the items YouTubers advertise, but I actually listened to the adread because I found it interesting.

[InconsistentManner]

OHH PLEASE make a video about the Byford Dolphin... That has the potential to be one of the top ten videos You will make. Go For It

[thomaswwhitten]

Leave it to Joe to come with the answers to questions I never even thought to ask. Joe, sir, you are a treasure! Keep up the good work!

[kalrandom]

With the humidity of my area, we really do swim thru the air.

[derekhenson]

It’s really the nitrogen that causes the “bends”, or decompression sickness. Those compressed nitrogen bubbles need to be gassed out through respiration to prevent this. This is why, if you have done a deep dive, it is important to do a safety stop at 5 meters of depth. This is where you just hang out at 5m for a set amount of time (usually 3 mins) to allow for the nitrogen to gas out. At shallow depths, this really isn’t a problem.

[isomeme]

Regarding "hairy land fish", think about how we build crewed spacecraft. There's an airtight outer layer, and inside that, there is a bubble of breathable air so we land creatures can survive in the vacuum of space.

Now think about the first animals to crawl from the ocean onto land. They had a watertight outer layer, and inside that, a bubble of salty ocean-like water (blood, cellular fluid, etc.) so those ocean creatures could survive in the dryness of land.

Land creatures are the landships of ocean creatures, just as crewed spacecraft are the spaceships of land creatures. Some stories never get old.

[tessiepinkman]

I *really* thought I knew the answer to this question before watching this video. I didn't.
So, thank you very much for saving me from possible future embarrassment!

[Sinnbad]

Joe I really appreciate the big red arrow pointing to the bubbles in the thumbnail. I would’ve had a hard time finding them otherwise

[markwentz]

As a pipefitter when i do hydrostatic (pressure) testing i have to waiit for entrained air to dissolve into the test medium in order to properly conduct a test and depending on the shape and orientation of the system being tested this can take some time.