Two soap bubbles of radius and , respectively, are in contact with each other. The radius of curvature of the common surface, in cm, is _____.
JEE Physics 2025 Question with Solution
Answer
Correct answer:4
Step-by-step solution
Standard Method
Given: Two soap bubbles have radii and .
Find: The radius of curvature of the common surface.
For two soap bubbles in contact, the radius of curvature of the common surface is given by
Taking the magnitudes of the given radii,
Therefore, the required radius of curvature is .
Pressure Difference Method
Given: Two soap bubbles have radii and with values and .
Find: The radius of curvature of the common soap film.
Let and be the pressures inside the bubbles, and let the outer atmospheric pressure be .
For a soap bubble,
Hence,
For the common soap film of radius of curvature ,
Equating the two expressions,
Cancelling ,
Substituting and ,
Therefore,
Thus, the final answer is .
Common mistakes
Using the pressure formula for a liquid drop instead of a soap bubble is incorrect because a soap bubble has two surfaces. Use pressure excess , not .
Substituting the radii in the wrong order into can give a negative sign. The radius of curvature is reported by magnitude here, so use the larger and smaller radii consistently.
Confusing the given bubble radii with the radius of the common film is wrong because the common surface has its own curvature determined by pressure balance. First relate the pressure difference between the bubbles to the curvature of the common surface.
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