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🫧 Rising Bubble in Viscous Fluid

Interactive 3D bubble rising through a viscous fluid column where adjusting bubble size and fluid viscosity shows terminal rise velocity and bubble shape shifting from spherical to cap-shaped.

Physics & Mechanics3DModerate60 FPS

A gas bubble climbs a column of viscous liquid, its steady-state speed and shape set by the balance of buoyancy, viscous drag, inertia and surface tension.

🔬 What It Demonstrates

Small bubbles in thick fluid rise slowly and stay spherical, obeying Stokes' law. Larger bubbles in thinner fluid rise faster, wobble into ellipsoids, and — past a critical Eötvös number — flatten into a mushroom-shaped spherical cap.

🎮 How to Use

Drag the radius, viscosity and density sliders and watch the terminal velocity, Reynolds number and bubble shape respond live. Toggle flow streaks to see the fluid recirculate around the rising bubble.

💡 Did You Know?

Very large bubbles in low-viscosity liquid can reach a rise speed that barely depends on their size at all — spherical-cap bubbles rise at roughly 0.711·√(gR), a result first derived by Davies and Taylor in 1950.

⚙ Under the hood

Explore how a bubble's movement is affected by fluid viscosity and density in this interactive simulation. Adjust the parameters to observe changes in its rise speed and shape within a viscous fluid environment.

rising-bubbleviscous-flowfluid-dynamicsbuoyancydrag-forcestokes-flowphysics

3D · Three.js / WebGL renderer · 60 FPS target · runs fully client-side, no install