What are bulges?

A bulge is when something gets bigger or rounder in one spot, like when you push on a balloon and it pokes out.

Imagine you have a piece of clay. If you press your finger into it, the clay will move around your finger and stick up on the other side, that’s a bulge! It's like when you wear tight pants and sit down for a long time, your bottom makes a bulge in the fabric.

Think of a road with potholes. When a car drives over a pothole, the road gets pushed up around it, that’s a bulge too! It's like when you press on one part of something soft, and another part pops out.

Sometimes, things get bulgy because they’re full inside. Like when you put a lot of candy in a bag, the bag gets bulgy in the middle. Or when you fill up a water bottle, it becomes rounder and bulgy on the sides.

Bulges happen all around us, from your clothes to roads and even planets!