# Different bubbles with Teflon. Why?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/different-bubbles-with-teflon-why/112879>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [June 7, 2002, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/different-bubbles-with-teflon-why/112879 "2002-06-07T19:11:15Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Charlie\_Tan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/charlie_tan/32/12582_2.png) [@Charlie\_Tan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Tan)\
**Post date:** [June 7, 2002, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/different-bubbles-with-teflon-why/112879/1 "2002-06-07T19:11:15Z")

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Put two saucepans on the stove. Pour the same amount of water in both. One is Teflon coated, the other is not. Make the water boil in both and check how the bubbles differ. Why?

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**Author:** ![cornflakes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@cornflakes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cornflakes)\
**Post date:** [June 7, 2002, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/different-bubbles-with-teflon-why/112879/2 "2002-06-07T19:33:07Z")

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I didin’t do the experiment but I’m pretty sure that the bubbles are different because the teflon surface is smoother. Each bubble forms at what is called an _axis of nucleation_, usually where there is a sharp edge on the pot’s surface. Since teflon is smoother, a teflon coated pot has fewer axes of nucleation where bubbles can form. You get less bubbles in a teflon pot than you do in a regular pot, but the bubbles are bigger (right?)

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**Author:** ![Nametag](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nametag/32/406_2.png) [@Nametag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nametag)\
**Post date:** [June 7, 2002, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/different-bubbles-with-teflon-why/112879/3 "2002-06-07T19:43:34Z")

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Nah. Teflon is extremely hydrophobic, and the shape of the bubbles is due to the water trying to “bead” at the bottom of the pot. Most metals aren’t hydrophobic (are any?), and will produce qualitatively different bubbles (at the bottom of the pot - by the time they reach the top, they all look pretty much the same).

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**Author:** ![Charlie\_Tan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/charlie_tan/32/12582_2.png) [@Charlie\_Tan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Tan)\
**Post date:** [June 7, 2002, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/different-bubbles-with-teflon-why/112879/4 "2002-06-07T20:29:12Z")

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Do it and check. I think they are bigger. They’re certainly different. They come to the surface at … an un-even interval, too.

Geez. I seriously need to get a life, for even noticing such a thing.