Veritasium

In 2018 the kg will be defined by Planck’s constant, not a hunk of metal. Try a free book from Audible for 30 days http://ve42.co/audible Special thanks to the staff at NIST who made this possible: Darine Haddad, Jon Pratt, Stephan Schlamminger, and Ben Stein. Additional footage and animations by Sean Kelley, Jennifer Lauren Lee,

Right: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AS9OXzSRBMQ Left: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FWQ-HJ4oGKQ It Depends: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R3GHiMOHEy8 What happens when nylon rope is wound around a spool and pulled horizontally to the right? Will the spool go to the right, to the left, or does it depend on how the rope is pulled?

How do you measure big forces accurately? By calibrating your force transducer on the world’s biggest weight – 1,000,000 pounds of force. This machine ensures planes don’t break apart, jets provide required thrust, and rockets make it to their destination. Thanks to the people at NIST for showing me around: Rick Seifarth and Ben Stein.

At the jumper’s fastest point, the acceleration is by definition zero. That is because the jumper is going from speeding up to slowing down. At this instant then there is no change in the jumper’s velocity. This is counter-intuitive for a lot of people because it’s easy to confuse velocity with acceleration. Velocity is how

The containment facility for the damaged Chernobyl nuclear reactor being built back in 2014

The aurora borealis or northern lights is one of the most spectacular natural displays on the planet. Theories about its origins have been debated for centuries and common misconceptions persist that the aurora is the sun’s rays scattered off ice crystals in the high atmosphere. In truth, the light is created more than 100km above

When a tube spins with an X and an O labelled at either end, why do we see only one letter during the rotation?

On mobile, click here for the answer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qQCVnjGUv24 When ice is put under pressure, its melting point decreases. When that pressure is removed it goes back to being solid. This process is known as ‘regelation’. In this experiment regelation of ice is attempted with copper wire and fishing line of the same diameter. Which will

This silicon sphere was made to redefine the kilogram

When is the acceleration (rate of speeding up or slowing down) greatest during a bungy jump?

How do our eyes scan across a landscape? Contrary to popular belief, they don’t scan smoothly across a scene, they observe a series of images. The eye is capable of panning smoothly however. If something moves in your field of view, your eyes track it smoothly. This has an important effect on our perception of

Water breaks up into droplets – this is what it would be like to fall with raindrops.

For more: https://youtu.be/vS0TuIPoeBs?t=23

Scientists have recently discovered nanodiamonds in the flames of ordinary candles. They are produced at a rate of about 1.5 million per second. Unfortunately they are also burned up at this rate and released into the atmosphere as carbon dioxide. Still this finding may prove useful in the ongoing search for economical ways to produce

If you spin a raw egg and then stop it, it will start spinning again without you having to touch it. A boiled egg, on the other hand, stops and stays stopped. Why is this? Well a raw egg contains a yolk that moves inside the egg independently of the shell. If you stop the

On the surface of Earth all objects accelerate downwards at the same rate – at least, they’re supposed to. But we all know dust, pieces of paper, and feathers fall slower. This is of course due to the influence of air resistance. In this experiment we use an evacuated cylinder to test whether a coin

For the answer: https://youtu.be/K-Fc08X56R0?t=228

Many technologies have promised to revolutionize education, but so far none has. With that in mind, what could revolutionize education? These ideas have been percolating since I wrote my PhD in physics education: https://ve42.co/phd I have also discussed this topic with CGP Grey, whose view of the future of education differs significantly from mine: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7vsCAM17O-M

How Schlieren imaging works in color, black and white and slow-mo. Get a free audiobook with a 30 day free trial at http://www.audible.com/veritasium Special thanks to Patreon supporters: Tony Fadell, Donal Botkin, Curational, Jeff Straathof, Zach Mueller, Ron Neal, Nathan Hansen, Corvi Support Veritasium on Patreon: http://ve42.co/patreon Filming by Raquel Nuno Sound Effects by A

The Earth is clearly old, but exactly how old was difficult to work out. People long believed the Earth had only existed for several thousand years. Then, in the 1800’s, a study of geological features (including fjords) led scientists to the conclusion that the planet must be much older – at least millions of years

What happens when a chain ladder lands on a table? Great video and concept by Andy Ruina. Let me know if you want me to post a follow up explaining the answer.

Which weight hits the ground first – the free weight or the weight attached to the chain?

An introduction to alpha, beta, and gamma radiation

A forest is like a meadow on useless stilts. Most amazing thing about trees: http://bit.ly/TFilQ8 We often imagine that unregulated competition produces optimal outcomes, behaviours, efficiencies, but trees and baggage carousels are two examples where the stable solution is worse for everyone than another strategy. This I find surprising and interesting – that evolution doesn’t

I’ve created an educational product to help people learn chemistry! You can buy it here: http://www.snatoms.com

All the large-scale structure in the universe may owe its existence to nothing. Sponsored by the Dyson 360 Eye Robot #ad: http://bit.ly/2cGqBRV Support Veritasium on Patreon: http://bit.ly/VePatreon Thanks to Patreon supporters: Bryan Baker, Donal Botkin, Tony Fadell, Saeed Alghamdi Let’s see how clearly I can explain this. We think of empty space as, well… empty,

To see what this looks like from under a glass table, see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E9WUaBGH7_I

This lab measures the tiniest forces in the universe. This video is sponsored by Brilliant. You can get started for free, or the first 200 people to sign up via https://brilliant.org/veritasium get 20% off a yearly subscription. ▀▀▀ Thanks to Rich Press and NIST for the great visit. Thanks to Dr. Gordon Shaw for showing

The Nobel Prize for physics in 2011 was awarded to Brian Schmidt, Adam Riess, and Saul Perlmutter for discovering that the universe is expanding at an accelerating rate. This finding was completely unexpected because it was thought that gravity should slow the expansion of the cosmos. The best current explanation of why the universe is

Can you solve these four rotation-related riddles? Support Veritasium on Patreon: http://ve42.co/patreon Test yourself playlist: http://ve42.co/testurself Huge thanks to Patreon supporters: Jeff Straathof, Zach Mueller, Ron Neal, Nathan Hansen I came across these four physics puzzles over the years in discussions with Neil deGrasse Tyson (riddle 4: which part(s) of a moving train are going

This is the first Veritasium science video. It addresses one of the most fundamental concepts in science: the idea that all things are made of atoms, tiny particles that are in perpetual motion. They attract each other when a little distance apart and repel when squeezed together.

ZoggFromBetelgeuse’s solution: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pwl-rBVbWAY This is a preliminary solution to the spinning disk trick based on the commonly cited tippe top explanation. I have my doubts that it tells the whole story because the disk seems to tilt, so the argument about constant angular velocity is in doubt. I wonder if the weight of the disk

What passes through a block of ice more quickly, copper wire or fishing line?

Scientists have combined ultrasound, viruses and synthetic drugs to control regions of the brain. Check out Skillshare: https://skl.sh/veritasium (first 500 get 2 months free) Special thanks to Prof. Mikhail Shapiro and Dr. Jerzy Szablowski: http://shapirolab.caltech.edu Human brains are complicated – the most complicated thing in the known universe, many people say. So far we understand

What forces (i.e. pushes or pulls) are acting on you right now? Most people can identify the gravitational force down, but there must be something else otherwise you would accelerate down towards the center of the Earth. The other main force on you is called the normal force. It is a force perpendicular to the

An experiment on how turbulent convection in Earth’s core makes a magnetic field Get a free audiobook with a free 30 day trial at http://www.audible.com/Veritasium or text Veritasium to 500-500 Huge thanks to Prof. Dan Lathrop and team: http://ve42.co/Lathrop Companion video to explain Earth’s magnetic fields in more detail: Australians! I’m on my way. I’ll

Watch this first! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QD3hbVG1yxM Follow on Twitter: https://twitter.com/veritasium Follow on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/veritasium Special thanks to the Department of Earth, Planetary and Space Sciences, especially Gary for helping source the equipment and Raquel for filming.

Most people recognize that atoms are the fundamental building blocks of all matter around us. An atom itself is composed of protons, neutrons and electrons. The simplest atom is the hydrogen atom because it consists of only one proton and one electron. If a neutron is added to the nucleus, the atom is still hydrogen,

This is the solution to: http://youtu.be/QD3hbVG1yxM Watch this first!

NEW CHANNEL! http://youtube.com/sciencium For a long time we thought the Moon was completely dry, but it turns out there are actually three sources of lunar water. Thanks to Google Making and Science for supporting the new channel! http://youtube.com/makingscience Thanks to Patreon supporters: Nathan Hansen, Donal Botkin, Tony Fadell, Zach Mueller, Ron Neal Support Veritasium on

People have witnessed supernovae for millennia, but what threat do they pose to life on Earth? This video is sponsored by Brilliant. You can get started for free, or the first 200 people to sign up via https://brilliant.org/veritasium get 20% off a yearly subscription. ▀▀▀ A massive thanks to Prof. Hans-Thomas Janka for helping us

This video is sponsored by Brilliant. You can get started for free, or the first 200 people to sign up via https://brilliant.org/veritasium get 20% off a yearly subscription. Check out Adam Savage’s video: https://youtu.be/h_zytOcMwys A massive thanks to Adam Savage and the whole Tested Crew – especially Kristen Lomasney, Ryan Kiser, and Joey Fameli. Thank

This tiny robot can jump higher than anything else in the world. This video is sponsored by Brilliant. The first 200 people to sign up via https://brilliant.org/veritasium get 20% off a yearly subscription. Huge thanks to Dr. Elliot Hawkes and the rest of the group – Charles Xiao, Chris Keeley, Dr. Morgan Pope, and Dr.

Why do spikes form on ice cubes? Without them the world would be vastly different. Awesome Jingle by Accent: http://bit.ly/AccentVe Thanks to Prof. Stephen Morris from UofT: http://bit.ly/1GFANBE Filmed in part by Martin Marek in Olomouc, Czech Republic Time lapse of a growing ice spike by Lesley Hill, Russ Sampson and Edward Lozowski, with technical

The Salton Sea is the largest body of water in California, home to the second most diverse group of birds in America and it exists by accident. Another great video on the Salton Sea: https://youtu.be/otIU6Py4K_A I used archive from this video. Music by Kevin MacLeod, www.incompetech.com ‘Mirage’, ‘Hyperfun’, ‘Marty Gots a Plan’, ‘Past the Edge’