Thanks very much for your response, Peter.

Do you use special bright lighting to make soap films more visible?  I take it
you do not allow visitors to touch the liquid-  is it to avoid splashing in
eyes hazard, or just too messy?  Is the chamber controlled to high humidity or
saturated air to make bubbles last longer?  Do you know if you can resupply
one edge of a soap film to counter the water lost to evaporation?  We have
info from Exploratorium on soap solution- one gallon water, 2/3 cup Dawn
dishwashing liguid, 2-3 teaspoons glycerin. Is that what you use?




>Hi Joel, We have recently opened a new exhibit on modern mathematics
>titled "Beyond Numbers" and have 2 minimal surface dipping stations that
>are motorized with 2 shapes in each unit. One unit has a wire frame cube
>and a tetrahedron, the other has a trefoil knot and a cylinder for
>producing catenoids. These two units have visitor activated controls,
>allowing for dipping and stopping at any chosen point. They each
hold>about 15 gallons of water.>We have bubble skimming blowers on each unit,
which activate each time a>surface is formed. Repeated uses cause a bubbly
build up which should be>removed for optimal performance.>While we have models
of the Costa Surface in the exhibit, a 48" in>diameter one made out of
fiberglas, and several small hand held models,>we have not included it in the
soap film area, although the two certainly>are the same(minimal surfaces). It
seems the boundary parameters needed>for a pure minimal surface cannot be made
with the Costa.>It IS POSSIBLE to form the surface from soap, but you have to
include the bounda>ries formed from the>fundamental pieces.

When you made the above, did you start with three parallel wire rings each of
which approximate planes of infinite extent?  I have only poor understanding
of this Costa surface, and will have to study it more.


>We've produced a 6,000 sq, ft. traveling duplicate exhibit which will
go on>the road next summer, in case you're interested!
>Please contact me directly with further questions, We are certainly glad
>to help.
>Regards, Peter Shrope

>--
> [log in to unmask]       MD Science Center Exibits

Thanks a lot for your help.

 Joel Clark
 Science Center of Connecticut
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