Do Air Bubbles Rise?

I don’t like the way this article on the physics of gardening is worded.

It could only happen in space: A tiny bubble of air hangs suspended inside a droplet of water. The droplet rests in the cup of a delicate green leaf, yet the stalk doesn’t bend at all.

Cosmonaut Nikolai Budarin photographed this scene on April 9, 2003. He was peering into the Russian Lada greenhouse onboard the International Space Station (ISS), and his snapshot illustrates some of the strange physics of gardening in space.

First, consider what would happen on Earth: The air bubble, lighter than water, would race upward to burst through the surface of the droplet.

I know that it’s relative and nitpicky but isn’t the event described here primarily that the water is more affected by gravity than the air? The water above the air bubble is bing pulled down. Right?

Posted by etrigan at December 14, 2004 11:02 AM