Bubbles at the Bike Shop
Learn how a bike mechanic uses bubbles to find a tiny hole in a tire's inner tube and then repairs it.
Play the quiz as a gameFinding a Leak
A bike mechanic fixes bikes in a community. One job is to fix a flat tire. A flat tire has too little air for a good ride.
Many bike tires have a rubber tube inside. The tube holds the air. A tiny hole can let air out. This hole is called a leak. The hole may be hard to see.
The mechanic takes the tube out and pumps in some air. Then the tube goes into water. Air comes out of the hole as bubbles. The bubbles show where the hole is.
The mechanic marks that spot and dries the tube. A small rubber patch covers the hole. The mechanic checks the tube again before putting it back in the tire.
A picture at the shop shows bubbles rising from a tube in water. Its caption says, "Bubbles help us find a leak." The picture helps people learn about this job.