Awesome Physics

Vsauce host Michael Stevens digs deep into the ever-changing concept of the direction “down,” what causes things to fall, and digs into how masses really, really want to pull towards each other in our universe, thanks to gravitational forces.

To celebrate Halloween a couple of years back, The Royal Institution filled a tiny pumpkin with a ceramic superconductor and liquid nitrogen, allowing it to float and glide above a special track made from neodymium magnets.

As much fun as carnival games look, they’re designed to steal your dollars, and not to award you that giant stuffed bear. Engineer Mark Rober is here to explore the math and physics behind carny scams, which are the biggest rip-offs, and a few ways to improve your chances.

BeamNG.drive is an automotive physics simulator that behaves quite realistically. In this satisfying clip from DestructionNation, watch what happens when cars, trucks, and SUVs are subjected to 100 speed bumps in a row without any effort made to slow down.

Digital physics engines are fun. You can make all kinds of things happen in the virtual world that would be difficult to achieve in the real world. Take, for example, this stack of 55,000 Jenga-like planks which Xepher let his system render over the course of 12 days.

Animator Eoin Duffy and Amber L. Stuver of TED Ed explain how the gravity of every object affects every other object in the cosmos, and the technology that researchers use to detect and track these waves so they can better understand our universe.

Destin Sandlin of Smarter Every Day teamed up with the folks at Soteria Suppressors to create special gun silencers wrapped in transparent cast acrylic, then captured amazing slow-mo footage of them in action using a high-speed camera at a whopping 110,000 fps.

Kyle Hill from Nerdist recently posted a brief clip that shows the crazy stuff that happens when you inject compressed air into a bed filled with sand. We spotted this 2012 video from The Royal Institution that shows much more, and provides an explanation of the physics at work.

Students from the Ithaca College Low Temperature Physics Lab created a neat version of a quantum levitation track. It still uses supercooling and magnets to work its magic, but adds a fun (and literal) twist to by running its course around a triple-twist Möbius Strip.

Veritasium takes a look at a neat physical property – the ability to levitate a lightweight ball or disc atop a jet of water. The trick involves getting the water to flow along one side, runs up and over the object, creating a state of equilibrium which allows it to spin.

These oddly shaped objects have a truly unusual property – despite not being spherical, they’re always the exact same diameter no matter how they’re positioned, so they roll smoothly. This set of three 35mm solids is machined from solid aluminum.

ElectroBOOM’s Mehdi Sadaghdar expresses his disdain for “perpetual motion” devices which are claimed to produce more energy than is put into them, thus defying the basic laws of physics. The only thing these guys seem to be able to actually generate are YouTube views.

Beyond its liquid properties, the other cool thing about mercury is that it’s magnetic. Roobert33 shows how electromagnets can be used to change the direction that mercury flows in. It would be cool to build an Escher-style fountain that flows uphill with this method.

(PG-13: Language) exurb1a does his best to explain quantum entaglement, quantum superposition, the quantum zeno effect, and other elusive theoretical concepts in the only way he knows how – with ducks.

Engineering firm Teratec uses a shake table to demonstrate how hydraulic dampers can be used to offset forces on a structure, reducing the likelihood of the sort of resonant frequency disasters which can happen from earthquakes, wind, or other vibrations.

Fortunately, it’s starting to gradually warm up in most of the Northern Hemisphere, but when it is cold out, you just want to get somewhere warm as quickly as possible. Minute Physics ponders whether or not it’s better to proceed slowly when you’re freezing your butt off.

Quirkology shares a handful of visual illusions sure to mess with your brain. We understand how most of them work, but the color changing ring in the mirror is still a totally nifty trick.

Magnetic Games demonstrates a neat effect that happens when placing tiny magnets between larger magnets and a surface made from pyrolytic graphite, a material which is weakly repelled by them. Think that spinning bit is cool? Check out more maglev magic here.

Make Anything rigged up a double pendulum with a lighted tip, then spun it over a photoluminescent surface. The result is a cool demo of how chaos quickly takes over from order thanks to those pesky laws of physics. No need to watch the entire video to get the point.

What happens if you spin an array of super strong electromagnets at crazy speeds over a sheet of copper? Veritasium checks out a magnetic levitation device being developed to help understand how to build Elon Musk’s much talked about Hyperloop transportation system.

Over the years, YouTuber NurdRage has demonstrated how pouring liquid gallium onto aluminum can cause catastrophic failure of the normally durable, lightweight metal. Watch as the stuff causes a heat sink, sheet metal, and even a baseball bat lose its strength.

Phenonmena and illusion demonstrator Brusspup shows off nine fun and fascinating science experiments you can easily do yourself. Each one uses static electricity to work its magic, so you can expect to get a few shocks along the way as you practice.

SmarterEveryDay looks at the behavior of the unusually strong Prince Rupert’s drop when subjected to the firepower of a bullet. The 150,000 fps slow-mo footage reveals some truly fascinating properties as shockwaves travel through these tadpole-shaped glass droplets.