Press Release 05-030
A Bubble Full of Sunshine

Temperatures inside bursting bubbles can be four times hotter than the Sun

A bubble's growth and collapse. Credit and Larger Version

March 3, 2005

Chemists at the University of Illinois have determined that temperatures inside gas bubbles collapsing in a liquid reach roughly 20,000 degrees Kelvin—four times hotter than the surface of the Sun. They made the discovery by blasting the liquid with intense sound waves and measuring "sonoluminescence," the light emitted from the bubbles as they form and collapse. According to the researchers, it is the first time anyone has measured the temperature inside a single collapsing bubble.

Their work was supported by the National Science Foundation and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, and published in the March 3, 2005, issue of the journal Nature.

For further information, see the University of Illinois news release.

-NSF-

Media Contacts
M. Mitchell Waldrop, NSF (703) 292-8070 mwaldrop@nsf.gov
James E. Kloeppel, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign 217-244-1073 kloeppel@uiuc.edu

Principal Investigators
Kenneth Suslick, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign (217) 333-2794 ksuslick@uiuc.edu

Related Websites
The Kenneth Suslick Laboratory at UIUC: http://www.scs.uiuc.edu/suslick/index.html
Earlier NSF press release about the Illinois work: http://www.nsf.gov/od/lpa/news/02/pr0263.htm

The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent federal agency that supports fundamental research and education across all fields of science and engineering. In fiscal year (FY) 2009, its budget is $9.5 billion, which includes $3.0 billion provided through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. NSF funds reach all 50 states through grants to over 1,900 universities and institutions. Each year, NSF receives about 44,400 competitive requests for funding, and makes over 11,500 new funding awards. NSF also awards over $400 million in professional and service contracts yearly.

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