In the previous section, we learned that surface area plays a critical role in overall waterpipe filtration, so how can we increase it?

The answer is simple, the smoke needs to be split into many tinier bubbles, and heres why:

Consider the illustration to the right; in scenario-A we have one bubble of 0.5 inches in diameter which has a given volume and surface area.

Now, if we take that single large bubble and equally split its volume up into bubbles of 0.1 inches in diameter (1/5th diameter of original), then we would have 125 of those smaller bubbles (scenario-B).

When bubbles are divided like this, the result is an increased surface area, and in scenario-B the surface area has increased by a factor of 5! (in comparison to scenario-A)

Meaning that scenario-B would filter out almost 5 times more ash, tar and non-combusted matter than scenario A!

So why not just use a smaller tube or hole to create smaller bubbles?

This is the most obvious solution, which works very well with gases that are “clean”, but unfortunately we are dealing with smoke that contains tars, ash and unburned tobacco. So a smaller tube would work, but due to the sticky nature of the smoke and its constituents, would quickly condense/deposit, thereby clogging the pipe (and who would want to clean their waterpipe every day?)