5 Fun Physics Phenomena

Five cool physics tricks, but how do they work?
Explanations: • Explained: 5 Fun Physi...
Check out Audible.com: bit.ly/AudibleVe
Leave your ideas in the comments below or subscribe for the answers next week.
Chris Hadfield in AUS: sciencealert.com.au/spaceoddity/
All tickets now sold out.
The Cane Balance:
Slide your fingers in from the ends of a horizontal cane to find its centre of mass.
Shot and Edited by Pierce Cook at the KZbin Space LA.
Music by Amarante: bit.ly/VeAmarante

[@BinkieMcFartnuggets]

The hardest part of that first trick is wrestling a cane away from an old lady at the park. They're deceptively strong.

[@gsiya4023]

😂😂😂

[@salvalooez2249]

I concur

[@a_for_ani]

Man I broke my elbow in my first attempt. Gonna try again someday Wish me a luck

[@fathimathsaadha7292]

Lol

[@Omegatonboom]

@@a_for_ani I hope your recovery is going well. I got my first old lady the other day after 2 trys.

[@buzinaocara]

1: You squeezed the center of mass with your fingers 2: You have the bigger (thus heavier) apps on one of the sides of your homescreen, it has more Kb on one side than the other. Kb: (KILO bytes) 3: Water wants to be drunk, so it naturally goes toward the cup. 4: Same as 3, the cheerio has addapted through evolution to go towards metal, because humans sometimes have on their teeth thanks to drills and braces. Also, it things your magner might be a spoon. 5: You killed the poor bag, it went to heaven.

[@aluminiumsandworm]

We've got a genius over here.

[@NormanNaval]

I felt so dumb man, your answer is the best.

[@williamrochira6775]

Can't believe I didn't get this. I feel so stupid now!

[@coscorrodrift]

Please be my Physics teacher!

[@CarcozaC]

Hahahaha, love it! Still in tears from reading your answers .... loooool

[@kaiserking3404]

1. broke my grandmothers kane 2. broke my phone 3. clogged the drain 4. made my baby choke 5. set my house on fire great party

[@deadpan8270]

Was this funny😑

[@nehakiran525]

Ha

[@divya.s8694]

😁😁😁

[@Rob-fx2dw]

Just as well you saved the personal computer or laptop instead and let the house burn down otherwise you could not have replied !

[@jehehe76tcixi]

Kane is a great name 😎😎

[@circli]

My take... Probably messed some up... 1. The cane gets stabilized by the fact that the lighter side of the cane gets less friction form Your finger than the heavier side, so that finger moves faster towards the COM of the cane. This causes the effect to flip and the fingers slowly align themselves around the center of mass... 2. The phone is not evenly weighed, so spinning it in some axis would make it destabilize, right...? Well, the same effect is observed when spinning a brick (it fell on my foot... twice... while I tested that) that I played around with. I believe this effect occurs because of the fact that the center of mass of the brick/phone is in the middle of the whole object, so rotating it around the axis that allows more mass to rotate around further from the COM will work because the particles far away have to have less momentum, the spin is easier. On the other hand, spinning the phone the other way makes more particles have more energy, so this state is unstable. The phone starts to spin in a way that makes some of the particles decelerate, which is a more stable state (rhyme unintended). The same thing is observed when spinning around and then extending Your hands out, which causes You to decelerate. 3. This one is a bit of a troll... I tested deuterium water and distilled water... and the distilled one produced no (less) effect! It’s not the water that is attracted to the cup, it’s the stuff in it (ions)!!! 4. The cereal contains some iron, which is magnetic. This makes it attracted to the magnet... Maybe, but what is interesting is that water and glass, fex, are pushed away by magnets... it’s diamagnetic! Anyways... Maybe the magnet makes like a small cavity in the water that the cereal falls into? I did not observe one, I do not know, but I did manage to destroy a box of good cereal and throw the cereal all over the floor! 5. Hot air rises. As the hot air creates a rising bubble, the material the tea bag is made out of slowly burns away. When it gets light enough, it slowly flies up... Hope I am correct. :) HAND! (Have a nice day...) EDIT: Watched the answers video... :)

[@areebmasoodi8932]

Where is this answers video you speak of

[@areebmasoodi8932]

NVM found it

[@kalei7599]

Okay I know it has been two years since you last edited your comment, but I figured I would respond anyways in hope that someone will reply. 4. If the water is diamagnetic, then shouldn’t the water displacement actually push the cereal forward (like a wave)? I’m not sure if this is correct, but if anyone knows, you should definitely respond!

[@parthjha145]

@@kalei7599 i believe diamagnetic property simply means it won't get affected by the magnetic field anyways, No effect no consequences

[@ivocanevo]

I agree with all the above. Just not sure about #4 the cereal; my guess is that it's not the cereal itself getting directly affected.

[@opencabinets]

"How does this work?" hmm I don't know why don't you tell m- "Number two!"

[@monkekiller69]

Tennis racket phenomenon

[@dhirajkumarvishwakarma3051]

@@monkekiller69 yes , indeed the intermediate axis theorem

[@monkekiller69]

@@dhirajkumarvishwakarma3051 yup

[@bldjln3158]

It’s polhode instability.

[@_someguyinthebackground]

666 likes

[@jarrettwattenburger1272]

This is how they work: #1 Earthbending #2 Airbending #3 Waterbending #4 Waterbending #5 Firebending

[@Savan2696]

this comment made my day😊

[@blu3860]

Omfg isj tote s REa;l!

[@jarrettwattenburger1272]

Savan2696 Thank you! :) I'm I'm not the only one who thought it was funny haha

[@LeonardoMarquesdeSouza]

kkkkkkkk

[@ritiksharma2057]

Leonardo Marques de Souza racist

[@ModItBetter]

I came for the Thunderfoot comments =P..love both channels..regardless..hehe..

[@aidanwansbrough7495]

The last one is very cool! I got hold of 40 out of date teabags, and brought them in to science club! Thank you for the awesome ideas!!

[@yoshyoka]

1. The fingers receive a different amount of friction according to how the weight is umbalanced. 2. Unequal weight distributon of components inside the phone combined with the longer distance and higher deviation to the center of mass of these to the center of gravity along this axix. 3. Dipoli-dipole interacitons in the water stream as you turn the molecules 4. Cereals contain iron. 5. The heat creates a small adiabatic thermal which is trong enough to lift a few filaments at the end (same reasons why leaves fly over a fire or why gliders can gain height.

[@alexandrevaliquette1941]

Yoshyoka, you are as beautiful as inteligent person. chear from Québec, Canada

[@evilinside5933]

These so intelligent

[@TheRanguna]

1- Yep, it's actually the brain compensating. People can do exactly the same thing and still make the cane fall, if they're not careful enough. 2 - that's wrong actually, even if you have an object with perfect weight destribuition, as long as it has two different sizes axies, it'll start spinning chaoticly. 4 - Either that or you're actually moving the water, which in turns, makes the cereal move.

[@bl4ckmedia323]

I don't think cereal really contain iron do they? They contain Iron-Ions which aren't magnetic

[@MofizIA]

2 is wrong. you cant reach an equilibrium if you spin any object of that shape along its not-smallest or not-biggest axis. Rotating around the other two axis however is stable

[@nikfish1]

1. God likes things to be balanced 2. Jesus did it 3. The answer is also jesus 4. God works in mysterious ways 5. That's actually how mohamed came from the sky on a flying horsy, same principle applies

[@parijatsigh]

ikr

[@jetstreamlynn3156]

12packkidROBLOX Yup!

[@dulguunbold7751]

Lucas Korzeniowski it's just sarcasm dude :p

[@victorselve8349]

Everybody who says that this isn't true I can confirm to you I like to have things in balance

[@altouna]

Y U SO RELIGIOUS

[@RustyDust101]

Please visit Thunderfoots newest Busted video on the water and the cup. While usually he is very, let's say, outspoken when he busts a wrong explanation, in this video he is still very fair. So, nope, it actually *is* the dipolar nature of the water molecule that leads to the attraction, at least in the part that is still a laminar flow. Once it separates into droplets, this whole thing gets quite a bit more complicated. As a scientist you should appreciate a peer review, Derek, and be so kind as to put out a clarfication in your "Explained" video.

[@awesomeferret]

I'm a bit shocked that he hasn't responded yet. The longer he fails to do so, the more he damages his credibility, unfortunately.

[@RustyDust101]

@@awesomeferret Still no review, no mention, nothing. Sorry, I have to agree with, but Derek, you are showing your true colors more and more. Please reconsider, and at least acknowledge that you have seen TF's video.

[@letsshowtheworld3173]

@@RustyDust101 This video is 9 years old, and veritasium comment on thunderfoots video 9 years ago... I'm slightly confused

[@StPauliFanNr1]

1. You balance them subconsciously when your fingers get closer to each other 2. 2nd moment of inertia makes an unstable rotation 3. Mineral Ions 4. Iron in the Cereal is magnetic 5. Hot air

[@ChaseRiver2]

You know you're a geek when you have a water molecule just laying around.

[@misterdinner3648]

those are part of a Kickstarted molecular modeling kit, all magnetic.

[@SOLAR_WillToWin]

you know you are thirsty

[@stitchyduck]

I have a whole system of pipes that comes from a specially designed factory that filters them underground to the outlets of my house. I must be that devoted of a geek.

[@msalerno916]

ChaseRiver3089 You know you're 8 when your profile pic is a minecraft skin

[@Crydog]

And you know when you aren't when you can't use the right 'you're'

[@AlanKey86]

*My Guesses* 1. If the cane becomes unbalanced, it will tilt and lift off one of your fingers, reducing friction between itself and that finger. Moving that finger will then require less effort and you be able to move it easily onwards. Eventually that finger will resume contact with the cane and you'll return the cane to a balanced state. 2. Could it be that less energy is required to set up the rotation about the other axes? I'm also going to write the words "Gryoscopes" and "Precession" to try and sound clever (even though I don't really understand them! 3. Could it be ions present in the water (not the water molecules themselves, but other elements dissolved in the water) that are either drawn towards the charged cup or repelled from it? I guess the test would be to do it with super pure water... my prediction is the super pure water wouldn't deflect. 4. Cereal contains added iron. My mum once wrote to Kellogg's to complain about the grey dust she found at the bottom of a box of Frosties. The wrote back explaining it was just added iron. 5. The flame heats the air above the teabag. Hot air rises in cool air, creating a convection current. The teabag, being very light, is lifted by this.

[@PhillProbst]

AlanKey86 I

[@anirudhaswal6523]

It wouldn't really matter if the water is distilled or not. The effect is explained by induction and instantaneous dipole.

[@vbnnbvcx1]

3:49 This is actually one of traditional games in my country. But normally we use an oil paper or newspaper. First we glue every end of corner each other, then we make a little hole at the center by using a needle. Then we blow the paper from the hole until it expands like a pillow. Finally we light every corner of the pillow paper at the same time. It will fly and look like a Japanese fireball ghost in the sky

[@sghosh1054]

1. When we move our fingers from the ends towards the centre of the hammers or stuff like that, we are essentially heading towards the centre of mass by keeping an equal value of mass* displacement from the centre of mass if we keep balancing simultaneously. Thus, no matter what our speed is or from where we start, we end up at the centre of mass. 2. The phone rotates asymmetrically because inside the phone the chips are inserted on one side and most of the stuffs like motherboard are the on one side that makes it heavier on one side and thus a shift of COM(Centre of Mass) happens. This can also be realised by observing the phenimenon of heating in mobile phones which is more inclined on one side. 3. Water in itself is diamagnetic as all the electrons are paired(considering the MOT(Molecular Orbital Theory) model), which indicates that it should not be affected by electric or magnetic fields. But the water that runs through our taps are not simply distilled water. It has some added minerals which induces magnetic behaviour in tap water. Thus, the plastic cup that is charged by rubbing against hair, results in accumulation of electrons on the surface of the cup away from the positive kernels that makes it charged, capable of producing its own small electric fields and moving charges produces magnetic fields attracting tap water. 4. What happened to the cereal is what I don't know exactly, but still I can predict that might be charges are induced onto the cereal by the strong magnet by the process of induction that makes behave as a magnetic system of like charges. 5. The flying off of the tea bag is a very interesting phenomenon. When it was burning and it reaches the end, due to burning, the air above it got lighter and a low pressure region is created above it. When the fire reached its last phase, the weight of the tea bag that was left was unable to balance the force that was pulling it above due to the low pressure region and thus flew off. HOPE YOU LIKE THE ANSWERS! 😊

[@bennybooboobear3940]

No. The phone thing is wrong. Search up “spinning tennis racket physics phenomenon” something like that. It’s purely a physics problem!

[@sghosh1054]

@@bennybooboobear3940 Yaa I understood it later. I just answered as per my perception at that time without even knowing that the solution video of this video has already been made years ago 😅!

[@dvw.]

I would like to answer the cereal phenomenon. I think it's because cereal contains iron, hence you need a very strong magnet to interact with a very small amount of iron in cereal and water surface make it easy to drift.

[@sghosh1054]

@@dvw. A solution video for this video has already been made. You better search for "5 fun physics phenomenon" and you will find the explanation video on 2nd no. position.

[@isgdre]

1) Heaver end has more friction. 2) Internals of the phone doesn't have equally spaced out mass. Phone wobbles around other axis too, just incredibly slight. 3) My wag would be bernoulli effect. 4) Your magnet one only works with cereals that contain iron (most of them). 5) The upward column of air created by the heat generated at some point becomes stronger then the remaining weight of the tea bag.

[@Adamantium9001]

1. As you move your fingers inward, the way the cane moves provides information to your subconscious mind, which automatically constantly adjusts the relative speeds of each of your hands to keep the cane balanced (Fairly confident). 2. Either the distribution of mass inside the phone is non-uniform (e.g. dense at opposite corners), or drag makes it spin on other axes in the same way it makes a falling coin eventually tumble even if it's dropped with no angular momentum (Fairly confident in the latter). 3 and 4. All neutral objects are weakly attracted to magnetic or electrically-charged objects, because the imposed field causes the neutral object's structure to change in sympathy. The charge on the cup causes the electrons in the water stream to move slightly towards or away from it, independent of their nuclei. This effectively _creates_ a macroscopic dipole regardless of whether or not the substance usually has them on the molecular level (Completely certain). Similarly, the magnet turns the piece of cereal into an electromagnet by aligning its magnetic moments (or whatever they're called) (Fairly confident). 5. The last fragments of the tea bag are carried upwards by the updraft portion of the convection current that the fire had whipped up (somewhat confident).

[@iambehindthemirror]

Busted. Veritasium just made up some theory on his own.

[@dawsoncannon5433]

He spilled the tea, literally and figuratively

[@T4nm4y]

1) The closer finger gets more downward force, causing friction, slowing down the movement over that finger, causing the other finger to go closer to the center of mass, this motion alternates and always ends up at the center of mass. 2) The phone will try to spin on the longest axis, which is the diagonal , and so flipping it that way causes the phone to wobble until it it spinning on one of those two axes. But then alternates between the two. 3) I don't know, everything I've been taught is a lie! NOOOOOOOO! 4) There is iron in the cereal! Check the nutritional information! HAHAHA 5) The tea bag is pretty lightweight, so when a lot of it burns off, the heated air causes it to lift off!

[@qubicx]

1: The cane tilts to a side and that side has more friction so the other finger moves.(if that made any sense) 2: IDK 3: IDK 4: Cereal has iron in it. (I should know considering I had to take litteral iron pills) 5: The ash is rising with the hot air from the flame

[@Killbayne]

the teabag takeoff is a common thing to do here in Germany on kid's birthdays in Kindergarten. We all used to be excited when it's someone's birthday and watching the teabag fly off.

[@evansalmonsen]

“Number one, have a friend...” Well there goes that I don’t have any friends

[@tacticalultimatum]

Now, dump the tea into the harbor

[@InsaneMetalSoldier]

+Tactical Ultimatum I see what you did there

[@datzye3516]

+Tactical Ultimatum My good sir that is history, this is science.

[@emc9425]

Lol Boston tea party

[@tacticalultimatum]

+Rathatamanun Charypo Who are you and where did you get my name

[@ender10man]

+Rathatamanun Charypo this is physics. not video game

[@matthewreed2000]

1. You have a constant balance. If you lose that balance you don't end up under the COG and the cane falls. 2. As gravity pulls on one side (usually the side with buttons), the phone tilts and goes all lop-sided. 3. As you build up a negative charge stronger than the water's, it acts like a magnet where the stronger magnet pulls the other magnet closer than it is being attracted. 4. This is because of the iron in the cereal. Iron is really attracted to magnetic pulls. 5. As the flame heats up the air around the tea bag, it causes convection currents. With the tea bag's loss of mass from the flame, it is easily lifted up with the currents and launches.

[@matthewreed2000]

3 is actually because the impurities in the water are attracted.

[@skydotmedia]

Try it with distilled water.

[@Zahlen0]

Luka Pavković I agree with your responses completely lol.

[@MementoInferis]

Luka Pavković Do you mean that this would still work with distilled water? or that the explanation is tap water is full of positive ions (Na+, Fe2+ etc..)? Distilled water in presence of C02 would quickly get ionized to H+ and HC03- similarly to the natural H20=H+ + OH- balance reaction could create ions in distilled water. Now given H+ better motility in water, it create a case of ambipolar diffusion?

[@FourCaroux]

2. No torque can be induced by gravity: check the definition of centre of gravity.

[@akankshasarda5216]

'That's an iPhone.. don't DON'T *DON'T* ' screamed my heart!

[@markeyviondavis6267]

Ikr

[@alim7532]

First one works thanks to friction, when the imbalance occurs friction cancels out the speeds on each side which kind of forces you to move them accordingly so that the momentum on the sides are equal.

[@karbon9703]

The Little Photon That Could There once was a photon Whose light was too dim He was laughed at by protons And quarks from within See he had an idea, but he had to keep silent He'd go back in time, to when his light was more vibrant He journeyed through spacetime For eons he traveled And only once his pace climbed The spacetime unraveled He flashed through a wormhole The dimensions were plastered "Faster!" He commanded “I need to go backward!!" The wormhole then fractured He beamed out the exit "The past has been captured I will be respected!!" He said this with force As he wondered through space Through darkness and vastness he slowed down his pace He noticed his light, the brightness restored More vibrant than ever, not an atom ignored The protons and matter, in awe and astonished They gazed at his glare, the brightest, the hottest But something was missing There was something astray All the matter was dismissing Everything running away The Photon was stunned he looked so confused "Wait where are you going? Please look at my light!" He then stopped an atom before it excused It said, "We're sorry Little Photon, you're just way too bright." -Bradley Eversley

[@jirikv00]

+Bradley Eversley Amazing poem

[@kupferknochen]

Very clever 😆

[@kailash4799]

that's Amazing!

[@kirandeepkaur4966]

Bradley Eversley I'm stealing this

[@luc6284]

Thanks, that was great!

[@Marconius6]

Alright, let's give this a shot... 1) Not actually a physics phenomena at all, your brain/hands can simply sense and adjust while you're closing your hands together, that's why you end up balancing in the end. When you're just taking the cane away from someone else, you have no sense of its mass when you place your fingers, so you have no way to adjust apart from an educated guess... which tends to be not accurate enough. 2) The insides of your phone are not homogeneous when you flip it with the wide end up, but they roughly are when you do it with one of the thin edges. So inertia affects different parts of the phone's body differently, which ends up translating into spin along another axis as well. 3) I'm not sure if this would actually work with pure water; tap water is not pure water it contains, amongst others, chlorine. Long story short, water has an electric charge to begin with, because it's filled with ions. 4) Related to the previous effect, you basically tug on the water itself, sort of creating a little wave that can move whatever is on top. Alternatively it's possibly the cereal simply gets soaked in water which, as mentioned previously, is not neutral. 5) I'm going to guess the fire heats up the air, which creates an upwards draft; once enough of the paper has burned, the leftover becomes light enough that this draft can lift it up into the air. Out of all these answers, 3) and 4) I'm not super confident about; I'd like to see the same experiments performed with pure water to see if my theory is correct.

[@mohsenensafdaran4753]

Thank very much you for this beautiful channel!

[@Reino30]

*Broke my phone trying to do 2nd*

[@ricobrawlstars4880]

Lol you verified guy don't have like since two years? I'll help u! :D

[@sreyakrishna5080]

@@ricobrawlstars4880 haha..That was something waste

[@kaizakiarata9313]

@@sreyakrishna5080 coz his joke was too lame compared to the ones I saw before 😂

[@sheheryardanish546]

tried it on my wallet

[@sheheryardanish546]

You could have also tried on a racket

[@TheKingofRandom]

Hooray for Physics

[@funnstuff9512]

couldn't have said it better myself

[@kylesowry7219]

1:31 Best apple commercial

[@yomadafakka2846]

+Kyle Sowry I don' t think it's an apple..the logo is blurried..probably a nokia 3310

[@ernestosilva9813]

+Yomadafakka it was blurred for copyright reasons I assume

[@ernestosilva9813]

+Yomadafakka but it was an iphone

[@Purtonen]

+Ernesto Silva Copyright laws have nothing to do with commercial products. It's just veritasium not wanting to advertise it without getting payment for it. Imagine if you couldn't show products on a cideo. Would there be any reviews about anything? (except for those sponsored by the manufacturer, which are biased anyways)

[@deenmohammad8366]

The last one was quite good. Thanks for the wonderful video.

[@derppickles1265]

Nobody: Five fun Physics Phenomena that is 5 minutes long with 5.5 million views made on August 5th 2014 watched on August 5th 2020 from 5 years ago. Illuminati confirmed

[@prachi4110]

😂😂

[@nabayanchakma2419]

🔺

[@kaizakiarata9313]

And 45 likes

[@Jessicathebright]

one day it'll be 50 years

[@shradhashenoy717]

me reading this comment 5 months later

[@booJay]

At first I was like, _Why would a presumably tech savvy guy like __Derek Muller__ use an iPhone?_ Then when he dropped it, I was like, *Ohhhhh...makes sense.*

[@DEO777]

The cereal can be pulled around with a magnet because before the cereal got into the box it was grown in a crop, and usually the crops are tainted by aliens that make crop circles. Everyone knows alien spacecraft is powered by magnetic forces, and so the exhaust pipes of the alien craft leaves behind a trail of magnetos which gently float to the ground (much like a feather falling, not like a snowflake) and eventually embed themselves into the fibers of the crop. The cereal company then processes the crop into cereal leaving all the nutritious magnetos in the cereal.

[@theblacktiger59]

You sir, deserve my like ! :)

[@jetison333]

theblacktiger59 ite even better when you look at his name. XD

[@DEO777]

You're all invited to the First Annual Commentcon 2014 plus.google.com/events/ci5but6jr2nucb3624f3lgvv0ko This event is beginning to go viral and I expect 750,000 people to attend. There will be games and fun, and cute & friendly girls, and food and beverages and much more. Make sure to click YES so that we have enough food and beverages for all.

[@norik1616]

Really nice fairy tail. I laughed a lot :D.

[@ORIONGaming]

***** lol

[@coryd6970]

Love your videos. I always appreciate intelligent people making intelligent, calm points with no bias, just factual information. I'm glad there's still room for good people with good intentions to be successful in this world. Unfortunately, we don't see it enough. I hope you inspire more people to do the same. I am happy and proud of your accomplishments. Good for you sir!

[@muzzammilb3437]

this took me back to that IIT-JEE 2020 Physics question.....

[@hewhomustnotbenamed2141]

2 out of 5 tricks made into problem in a single damn paper

[@Sas-wb8sv]

Yes

[@jorgepadua9124]

Is that a galaxy note 4? I don't know because the logo in the back is blurred out.

[@rubbereentjuh]

Gary He made a joke.

[@fc-js3qj]

Gary GARY! HA HA HA GAAARY

[@devassykuttyichayan6624]

Toby Hinloopen Oh, this was a joke?!! Okay..

[@emc9425]

It's an apple

[@TheOtherNeutrino]

+Jorge Padua Nah, it's a Xaiomi Mi 4 Premium. They had to outsource their design from this American company in California. They even put a different operating system than other Xiaomi devices, also outsourced from the same company. . . . . . . . . . . . Yes, this was sarcastic. If you can't tell, I can't help you.

[@Cliff86]

1. The Cane: Because the cane isn't spinning, the sum of the torques acting on the cane are even. And this means the torque supplied by your left finger must balance the torque supplied by your right finger. As you slide your fingers inwards on the cane, the amount of net torque acting on the cane stays the same, at 0, until both fingers are acting approximately with zero radius at the center of mass.

[@cotysytoc]

This is the best explanation and most correct for the cane. I have my AP Physics textbook in front of me and you are 100% correct. Good job. It's the simple equation of Force x Radius = Torque.

[@Cliff86]

Thanks, that means quite a bit.

[@FaceySmile]

***** does that mean both fingers would have to be traveling at the same speed?

[@Cliff86]

FaceySmile No, Derek showed that in the video.

[@guddugaming1588]

Your tricks are so interesting

[@danielmalo1753]

This is the first ever Veritasium vid I found, and I found it on Facebook. Still an awesome channel

[@katyj98]

Cereal has a very tiny amount of iron inside. If you crush an entire bag of cereal into powder and make it wet, turning into a mush, you can take a magnet and use it find the iron.

[@RevanthBoomBoom]

Steve Spangler

[@RevanthBoomBoom]

Philos Coleo it is actually the magnet pulling the cereal i think

[@aerock23]

#1) Your fingers always end up at the center of mass, which on earth we can safely say in also the center of gravity because of friction. A finger closer to the center of gravity will support more the cane’s weight. So we say it has a greater normal force on the cane than the other finger. The greater the normal force the greater the maximum static friction that exists between your finger and the cane. So the finger that is further away will have a smaller maximum static friction with the cane because of its smaller normal force. When you move your fingers together while both touching the cane, something must slip. And since the finger further away has a smaller static friction threshold with the cane, it will slip first (assuming your fingers are moving at the same rate relative to the cane). And this finger will continue to slip until it is closer to the center of mass/gravity. Then the other finger will slip and so on. You can see when he moves his fingers slowly, that the fingers alternate slip until they both reach the center of mass. I guess my college statics class was good for something… :)

[@aerock23]

Lucky Farshot Obviously I am 10 months late, but I think I got it and I didn't look at the explanation video.

[@OtterPuppy]

Lucky Farshot ....Why the big words? SIMPLE EXPLANATION: One finger has more weight on it, making it less likely to slip than the other finger. as the other finger gets closer to the center of mass it carries more weight, until the other finger is carrying less weight and that one slips. Because neither finger ends up supporting much less weight than the other before it slips, they both end up supporting the same amount of weight when they meet.

[@tammychong8122]

Is there anything to do with the dynamic friction?

[@utpalkaushik30]

1: while moving your fingers inwards one is cautious of the stick falling down so the minor tweaks that your do involuntarily balance the stick. 2: The tennis racquet theorem ( intermediate axis theorem) 3: Tap water is not 100% H20 is has alot of minerals and other salts that are bipolar and get attracted ( this one is made up ) 4: This one has to with the surface tents of water , the magnetic field creates a dent in the imaginary surface film of water so does the cereal, so when you move the magnet the cereal tries to move to the more stable equilibrium ( this was again made up after giving this a long thought) 5: In the last moments whn the tea bag is light enough to be carried by the rising hot gasses from the flame it get carried away by the upward moving gasses.

[@AzizBike]

My tap water comes out at 8 or so ppm.

[@ravyxen]

Haven’t watched the explanation but I want to try and explain some of them. Cereal Is simple, most cereals have quite a bit of iron in them. The cane is because when you’re holding it you can feel where the center of mass is as opposed to when someone else is holding it. The rocket works because hot air rises, and flame wants to rise as well, but can only do so when the bag is mostly burnt cause it is too heavy to lift otherwise. I honestly have no clue how to explain the water one though. Off to watch the explanation!

[@DailyDaves]

The cane- one end is heavier than the other (the end with the handle) so friction is greater against his finger on that end, meaning it moves less, equaling the exact amount needed for the other finger to meet it in the middle. (This is a total guess and I'm not book smart at all)

[@DailyDaves]

"Meet in the middle" I mean center of mass.

[@dolphmaxwell4287]

I was thinking the same thing. The closer to the center of mass of the cane a finger gets the more weight is pressing on it, thus the less it moves. This allows weight to be taken off of the other finger & the other finger to move in more quickly.. I guess.

[@HoloSkull]

You guys are correct!

[@moocats]

agreed

[@iluminandoscholar]

This makes a lot of sense but it is not the answer to the question. Friction alone cannot dictate why he hits center mass every time. Friction helps determine where the center mass is. Then your brain senses friction and adjusts the hands in order to reach center mass. Thats if you want to create balance. Friction, and gravity, for this experiment create the sensory information for us to adjust to the center mass *but* they do not control our hands moving them "less or more" to that point. Our *brain* sensing this information adjusts the hands. There for the answer can be a "sensing and intuition"

[@toasty4000000]

1) the cane puts more force on the finger closer in, allowing the finger further out to slide easier, until it gets closer than the other finger. 2) Flipping it on its axis of highest moment of inertia is just, hard? Haha, actually no clue 3) Water has impurities in it, metals that have free electrons. The cup must have received a net positive charge, and therefore the water is attracted to it. 4) Do they put metallic iron in cereals? Only explanation I can think of 5) The heat from the flame warms the air around it, making it have higher pressure than the surrounding air, as the mass of the bag becomes more and more negligible, you actually see the higher pressure's force over come the gravitational force. Maybe. haha

[@Dionysus4776]

2) The weight in the phone might not be evenly distributed. That's all I have on that one. 4) They do put actual iron in some cereals, though in some countries that's not allowed (Denmark I believe). I don't think that is it though because of that. It might have something to do with his debunking of the school explanation I got as well of the 3rd experiment. 3) Will test that at work tomorrow with demineralised water. I'm with you on 1) and 5)

[@nanaki-seto]

for number 1 try any object flat or round and move only one finger. The heavy side causes the lighter side to slide until that side becomes heavy and then the previously heavy side on the moving finger slides and it goes back and forth. I just tried it again with diff objects here at the shop including a small round tail file and 2 small screw drivers in place of fingers. It works every time and gives same identical result every time

[@SoniEx2]

2) phone batteries

[@safth4]

Dionysus4776 try this with a book or a dvd case, it's the same... I think it's a unstable equilibrium in the inertia of rotation, the smallest disturbance makes it flip on others axis. not like the others side where it can wobble around it axis (exactly like a stable equilibrium). the smallest disturbance is exponentially increase. It's kinda chaotic

[@Dionysus4776]

Simon Boivin ok I accept the human element, so let's imagine a robot that can throw an uniform block of let's say wood in a stable way I'm pretty sure it would show a more uniform results. If you don't accept robots think about the human experts on throwing thing in the air, jugglers ;) * edit Also I have to say that the items you chose for me to flip weren't exactly balanced

[@laaksonensini01]

He spills so much tea in his videos.

[@prudhvij]

Phone experiment was experienced by me yesterday and I am watching it today. ☺️

[@acapellascience]

Also, for all you would-be explainers: #2 works for perfectly symmetric objects in a vacuum.

[@AzurBihozkabeXVII]

it would work, even with the air mass in the equation, if the forces you are applying to the three axes an object can spin in were the same, but the shoulder, arm and hand muscles you are using to make an object spin are not perfect, so you wil always apply unwanted forces to unwanted axes.

[@TheBlaze4000]

So it must have something to do with unequal air pressures on the surface of the phone as it flips! I got it. I got it guys!

[@superlambmilkshake4904]

@@AzurBihozkabeXVII yea but why can you easily do it spinning while on the short axis and the other direction. You just can't flip it end over end, but easily flips for all other directions. Why is that???

[@gautamkolluru]

Dzhanibekov effect or tennis racket theorem.

[@MasterBizzy1]

Internet Etiquette With Erik, anyone? lol

[@billhill897]

For the cane. The finger further from the center experiences less relative pressure and resulting friction than the closer finger. As that finger moves closer to the center its relative pressure increases until it is greater than the other finger which begins sliding. This exchanges back and forth until they meet at the center.

[@dadajikhobragade3232]

Please make some more videos like this.

[@teodordominteanu3886]

that day 200000 people called their phone insurance

[@logandiaz7315]

Huh

[@DeepSeaLugia]

-Bottle Flip- Phone Flip 2k16 :P

[@rohancheemayearu6186]

DeepSeaLugia 9 ý

[@amuricat2932]

Teodor Dominteanu i throw my phone up in a 6$ case up to like 60ft and I can catch it or let it drop and it's fine

[@ILoverMining]

You can not throw your phone 60ft into the air. If you could you would be playing proffesional baseball right now... At most you throw it 5-10 ft into the air

[@PuKoh]

1. You are constantly balancing the cane, you can't move one hand faster then the other, because it would fall before fingers meet. 2. air 3. duno 4. iron in cereal. on water reduce friction. 5. vacume created by heat within the tube.

[@greywolf1632]

Asians are always right, trust this man.

[@knalpot3000]

I agree with your list and i guess that nr 3 is aerodynamics. Air moving around round objects creates lift, and i guess the water makes the air move around the cilinder. correction: tested my hypothese this morning but it is wrong :(

[@PuKoh]

Thank you all for your validation. I don't feel so bad about having a small penis anymore.

[@Keyakina]

knalpot3000 would that mean it doens't need to be magnetic?

[@cakefactoryy]

Surfin' Bird Im just gonna trust him because hes asian also.....

[@devpatel1140]

After 7 years is youtube recommending it to everyone.

[@doudsbass]

That smile on his face when he got to see the tea bag rocket rising 😁

[@dotBAIT]

#2 the iPhones components are not completely balanced. When they designed it they did not evenly distribute the weight along the phone.

[@RyleeHarrison]

Thats not it because it works flips the same on any object the reason is its flipped on its intermediate access witch we all know is unstable in nature.

[@RealEstateManager02]

***** its called precession and essentially the angular momentum of the phone is "chasing" the torque

[@dotBAIT]

Rylee Harrison yeah I saw the video after I made the comment.

[@dotBAIT]

***** yeah I saw the video afterworda

[@ryang9944]

McClover besause they didnt create such a great phone to be balanced when flipped.....in your hand to prove a irrelevant simple point..really...

[@veritasium]

NEW VIDEO! The comment section is packed with great ideas! ... and also some less great ideas. A stream of water is not attracted to a charged object because water is a polar molecule!

[@PearuArmasJ]

2:12 (thus mickey the mouse was born) i mean that water molecule looks exactly as mickey the mouse

[@onedollar8114]

***** so what your saying is before the world was created there was mickey mouse? Come on, its defintely not true. The creators of mickey mouse may have derived that form of the water molecule to become the shape of their character, mickey mouse. Keep in mind to think before commenting or speaking. Stay cool nice and easy.

[@MegaEv0nIsABoss]

Have you tried the cane experiment with shut eyes or a less symmetrical object? Does it still work?

[@Nsportsman50]

Veritasium What type of phone is that, the blurred logo makes it impossible to tell

[@ZoeKingsley]

Noah Behan-Sahib the phone is an Apple phone, look at the home button

[@cassieufrj]

Meu deus.. estou adorando esse canal;

[@raghavsirprsmurthyphysics898]

I have seen some of your videos. They are awesome. I love you dear sir. Once I am free I shall learn many things from your videos. Have a great time. 🧡 You!!!

[@Akoalawithshades]

This is old by for the record, my guesses are: 1. I suspect your body is detecting the imbalance and is just compensating. Do it with you eyes closed and with some sticks. 2. I imagine in air resistance comes into play. the first cuts through and the second can't be turned enough before in makes a full spin and the tilted side is pushed back. 3. I don't know. 4. Iron in the cereal? Or the magnet is concaving the water? 5. Gets caught in the up draft of hot air.

[@TheMidnightmovies]

2. Perhaps the different moment of inertia in the phone, due to the placement of its components :)

[@TanJurusma]

Mikey Mike Mikey 3. The side of the molecule with partial negative charge is closer to the cup than the positive charge side. Coulomb says Force is proportional to 1/r^2, so the greater the distance, the smaller the force. The force that pulls the negative side is what pulls the molecule, not just turn.

[@bartekwardega2525]

T Jumrustanasan Yes, but on a molecular level?

[@mariannecoindreau487]

Yeah the cereal has iron

[@AshSatoshi489]

You almost got everything right. The Cain will get heavy on one side which causes friction. If you watch again you'll see the lighter side slides easer. This was a fun clip.

[@a5noble2]

The two fingers finding the center of mass of a stick is an old one. Forgot where I first heard it, but I've been using it as an analogy for teaching hockey players how to balance their weight on their ice skates haha. My guess on how it works, I didn't sketch out a free body diagram but I believe it would be based off friction and moment forces. Here is my solution, but first wee need some variables: L = Left Finger R = Right Finger a = distance from L to center of gravity b = distance from R to center of gravity m = mass of object g = acceleration of gravity So the formula for how much weight is on each finger would be: Fsum = 0 = Rforce + Lforce - mg mg(b) - Lforce = 0 -> Lforce = mgb and mg(a) -Rforce = 0 -> Rforce = mga And friction f = uN where N is equal to the normal force of each finger (or Rforce for the right finger). So the larger the force on the finger, the more friction there is and the less likely it will slide toward the middle. Here is the what the maths are saying and its very intuitive. You have 2 fingers, each one has roughly the same coeficient of friction (a value which means basically stickiness or resistance to motion), the closer your finger gets to the middle the more weight it has to support. And since the friction force is directly proportional to the normal force, or how much weight it is supporting, the finger with less weight on it (or farthest from the center of mass) will have less friction and will slide. And if you do it really slowly and only move 1 finger at a time, you are now dealing with kenetic friction and static friction. Static friction is always higher than kinetic friction, so you'll move one finger in until it actually experiences MORE weight than the other, then that finger will stop and the other will move until the kinetic friction is larger than the static friction on the other finger.

[@a5noble2]

the TL:DR on this is, if you covered your hands in a perfect lubricant which would eliminate all friction (which is impossible btw), then it wouldn't work.

[@ethanteo3290]

It's just your centre of gravity being at that point. It's the only way that the object can be balanced without causing any clockwise or anticlockwise moments which is why that's the point where your finger will meet if you try to balance the pole

[@MrTigerlore]

That's also an effective way to stop someone tea-bagging you: light the teabag on fire.

[@uwotm8109]

never thought i’d hear a youtuber use amarante, very nice 😺

[@FlyingGospel]

If you can't figure these out on your own, better get your IQ checked. 1. Your finger which is closer to the centre of mass will receive more weight therefore traction will increase, making it easier for your other finger to move. Roles switch until they meet in the centre of mass. 2. By flipping your phone on the side, you are guaranteed to flip it much more aligned with it's centre of mass, while flat, the centre of mass would have to be measured to ensure you grasp it in the right position. 3. It's the same principle as the capacitor effect. The electrons in the water move away from the cup, creating polarized drops of water, not polarized molecules. 4. Cereal are rich in Iron. 5. Heated elements lose density. Once the weight of the tea bag was reduced enough for the heat to make the tea bag have lower density than the air, it rised.

[@FlyingGospel]

***** My first language is french, I just learned a bit of english I guess! :)

[@JustinHallPlus]

Actually the water issue is more complicated than that. The water molecules become a dipole in an electric field, and since they are moving they experience a force on them (and produce an equal and opposite electric field as they fall).

[@nicolhaidi]

I just can't resist... ITS*

[@JS_GOTI]

Yan Leduc-Chun Oh stop it. Lol. After reading everything before it, anyone can tell that you're fluent enough in english to not have made that mistake. That the "L" and keep to moving.

[@markwhiting5201]

As much as I hate to agree with anyone even a little bit French these are pretty much the same conclusions I came to with the exception of the water. He mentioned the charged cup rotating the molecules of the water so I thought that if that's the case then that might actually create a small directional physical force on the stream of water as the molecules aligned themselves with the charge while they passed. Like a river hitting a bend or an obstacle you get (non electrical) eddy currents that flow at different speeds to the main body of water but they affect each others speed and direction. Possibly over thought but this will now give me something to Google while I can't sleep. Oh and on the phone I thought that the centre of gravity/mass is aligned with the axis of rotation on the first 2 spins but due to the uneven distribution of weight (due to the differing weights of individual components) this isn't the case when spinning the phone front over back. Another attempt with a phone sized block of material weighing the same as the phone but with uniform weight distribution should yield a better result. I'd imagine air resistance would also have a mild affect.

[@LazGav]

The cereal does not have enough iron to be attracted to a magnet. It moves because water is slightly diamagnetic, which means it naturally repels from either pole of a magnet. The cereal follows because it's filling in the gap.

[@epicsomeness]

Finally someone who made connections in the vid.

[@ShadowTeller]

It has more than you think and on a near friction free surface(floating in water) the attraction is enough.. though I'd love to be proved wrong by floating the cereal in a vacuum in 0 G ;)

[@dogwithamug]

Jereme Berkstresser i think a bowl filled with oil will suffice ;)

[@ShadowTeller]

True, as soon as I hit enter I realized there was flaws to trying it the way I said.

[@stewarthills9344]

For the first one, it is all in terms of moments. The two fingers act as supports and the upward reaction force from each finger and the centre of mass of the rod are equal, hence no movement. As one finger moves, the reaction force at the other decreases, and as a result so does the friction between this finger and the rod. This finger will then move a bit and the same occurs but in the opposite direction. This repeats until your fingers are at the CoM, at which point no moments are acting and thus you have equilibrium.

[@joew.4073]

1:45 I did it; it might not have been 100% perfect but the total rotation on the Y and Z axes was less than 10° (probably less than 5°) but the reasons it is difficult are basic principles of aerodynamics (air in front of the phone is compressed more on one side because of any slight slant, which causes greater air resistance) and, assuming you start with the Z axis parallel to the ground and the Y axis perpendicular to your body, any slant on those axes is caused by your motion applying angular momentum that will increase until the 90° mark on account of the aforementioned aerodynamics

[@n0lain]

I detect a dark presence here...almost as if The Amazing Salvio was lurking in this very comment section mere moments ago...

[@frogambassador]

+spaghetti I blame magnets

[@brankolekic6679]

i blame global warming

[@nitelite78]

"You've probably seen that if you rub a cup on your hair..." Oh yeh we've all done that. I do it every day. wtf?

[@caderbavahsiddicl6414]

Thank lots brother, very interesting ...

[@jtg2525]

Cener of mass: the finger closer to the center of mass will support more weight than the other, meaning friction between it and the cane is higher. This means the finger further away will more easily slide under the cane until it it closer to the center of mass, and this frictional change back and forth allows both fingers to approach the center.

[@lukehill6395]

well i know how one of them works... for number 1 it is all weight distribution. so if one of your fingers is bearing more of the load, that will have more friction, so it will move less while the other moves faster. once the fingers are bearing an equal load, then they will be exactly the same distance away from the center of mass, so when you close that gap both fingers move at the same speed toward the center of the cane or dowel or rod even a broom would work so long as the center of mass lies somewhere along the handle

[@abrilabrilabrilab]

thank u sm you helped me with my homework 😞🤝

[@F1rst8dKit]

1- As your fingers move the friction lessens on either side to equal out at the end to the center of gravity (I wish I could explain that better) 2- Batteries are the heaviest and is off center changing the point of rotation. 3-Possibly has to do with waters reaction on and to plastic? Water tension seems to act differently on plastics 4-Cereal makers actually use iron flakes to fortify cereal. 5-Not quite sure, I have to imagine that the make up of the tea bag allows enough air pockets that when enough burns off the weight is liftable with the heated air pockets.

[@allusernamestaken01]

cool point on #4. added iron - how I didn't think of this!

[@LPSwimmer2011]

Unfortunately your explanation for #2 is incorrect. Even if the mass was evenly distributed amongst the phone, the same event would occur. It reallly comes down to a matter of mathematics, and more specifically, the field of Dynamical Systems.

[@allusernamestaken01]

@ LPSwimmer2011 Are you saying that even a perfectly even slab, perfectly flipped (humanly impossible) would still wobble? I don't see why?

[@shez666]

agree it's a good point on #2, but I suspect that the phone will be imbalanced in other orientations, i.e. heavy battery at the back, lighter screen at the front so you'd expect the phone to become unstable when flipped long edge on. I'm sticking with my first thought which is that the wider face causes more air resistance which when combined with the imbalanced weight causes the phone to become unstable.

[@_bender4143]

2 isn't correct, I tried it with a small book and it still not working. I made sure that the book doesn't have any batteries...

[@Shobas]

The first one is actually very easy to explain. When you have a lengthy object like a cane, the amount of force applied to your hands depends on where your fingers are placed. If you place them exactly 10cm from each end, the end with the most weight will apply most force, and the other hand will easier move towards the middle. When that happens, there is a loss of force at the other end, and when it becomes small enough, the hand at that end will start to move towards the middle.

[@jhutsebaut]

Close. There is more friction resisting the motion of the fingers on the finger closest to the center of mass. This is because of the heavier downwards force you mentioned.

[@Ben-pi5zi]

for the first one it works with the f=u*N and at every state, the finger will move if the N is "=" to each other and then will find the center of mass

[@QwertySkill]

cereal has iron yo

[@kimcolpo]

logged in just to comment this.

[@ParadoxEDM]

Lol wut

[@landemanny]

Yep, and its not "natural" iron either, its all supplemental additives

[@honkatatonka]

Emanuel Landsman o_O what would be "natural" in your definition? Iron is Iron: Fe

[@supertalkingtech]

Science, bitch!

[@ashish13007singh]

1. When we move 2 fingers under cane and if one finger moved slightly more than other towards center of gravity then friction on that finger will increase so other finger will move more than this one. Hence both will end up in center. 2. May be due to position of center of mass. 3.High dielectric constant and polar nature of water. 4. ... 5. When tea bag is almost burn its weight become much lighter than air around it.

[@jakemshearman]

Also heat rises and gives the light material lift.

[@astral_amy]

+ashish singh Also, 4: Iron is in almost all cereal. The iron is ferromagnetic.

[@lanhikari87]

+ashish singh I think 3 is due to the minerals in the tap water an 2 isnt really a phenomena

[@AthangX]

+Liam White I assumed the magnet isn't pulling the the cereal, it's pushing the water because water is diamagnetic.

[@emc9425]

Wow nerds unite I'm a science nerd but strangely enough I have lots of great friends 😋

[@sanjanaheera4861]

The process of tha getting science experiment with agriculture most tha experience.. thats great 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥

[@KraussEMUS1]

There is an ion propelled aircraft with onboard power that is shown flying outdoors now. I think that is the most interesting physics phenomenon. I don't see anything wrong with me mentioning it here. The phenomenon above are really neat though!

[@undearwearman654]

1.God 2.God 3.God 4.God 5.God

[@TheCoolDocPSN]

Praise lord Yezuz Hawking

[@litojonny]

Bruce Wayne 1.heart of the cards 2.heart of the cards 3.heart of the cards 4.heart of the cards 5.heart of the cards

[@miguelandrade3721]

1.Science 2.Science 3.Science 4.Science 5.Science

[@anakso]

I can't believe how stupid you are. 5 is clearly Satan.

[@MZZenyl]

anakso Would've thought Satan was 4. Dangit, I always get that one wrong!

[@AbsoluteMalarkey]

Where is Internet COmment Etiquette's comment?

[@dalekman8945]

I'm here looking for it too!

[@Cerberus786]

This is horse garbage! I really expected it to be here. Well...Balls and Weiner!!! Al Gore was right about global warming and Vanna White is the leader of the Lizard people. Ron Paul 2016

[@dalekman8945]

+Charles Zigler I see you are learning from big money salvia's lessons

[@rudemanthony]

+1

[@Mummynapkinn]

+CharlieDodgeball Yeah that's the only reason i came here

[@dhyaniparikh5200]

So nice explanation

[@anushamahajan6333]

When changing the orientation of flipping the distribution of mass varies and hence the torque varies

[@XorranSVK]

Can't explain something ? GOD DID IT !

[@Titusx]

um there is an eplanation anthing god did has an explantion

[@xenomann442]

There's was a time when I considered getting a science degree. But then I realized I could just say GOD DID IT, to every question. Life is so much easier if you just turn your brain off, and embrace religion ;)

[@lauranceliu98]

i just did it.

[@Svettulf]

Meoiswa The saddest thing of all is that religion is allowed to exist.

[@thedjaney2]

Religiousness is like space.. Some are less distorted than the other. That statement is like a black hole. But giant black holes are not that common.

[@Jtgop7]

I don't know the answer to these questions, but am willing to guess on a few 1) whenever your fingers are not uniformly balanced over the center of mass, the cane 'leans', putting more of the weight on the finger nearest from the center of mass, and increasing the coefficient of friction as your finger moves across the cane 2) it uncounted more air, which is a complex, and sensitive system, and has a large profile, basically, it's just to complex, and sensitive of a system, tilt controls probably don't help 3) not a real horses per day, but would this work on a plastic sink? 4) Yamaha are light, things that are hot are lighter, just like the napkin peaces that fly out of the campfire, they are lighter then air 5) if the cereal is magnetic, and it is not a trick where the water is reasonable, then it probably has to do with rather how it is manufacturer's, or how it is quality controlled

[@Jtgop7]

Actually, that fourth guess was lol conceded, I'll go with someone else's verse recommendation of an updraft

[@beafboy01]

First is pretty much correct. As for the cereal one, the cereal has Iron in :D

[@mooshmash7678]

Cereal has iron. Yup. Apparently iron is a mineral our body needs.

[@martonlerant5672]

PixelNerd I think the force has not much to do with the iron in the cereal (as far i know normally it does not contain metallic iron, tough it can contain compounds with iron content). I think the water and the very strong magnets are curcial in the experiment. As the water makes the cereal somewhat conductive (depending on how much had it floated in it..) And with a strong enough magnet the lorenz force may be enough to move the cereal slowly in a low friction enviroment. (basically the moving magnetic field induces current in the cereal. and that induced current has its own magnetic field. basically the cereal becomes a very weak magnet until it is in a MOVING magnetic field - so you can pull it but it will not stick to the magnet as it has no magnetic field on its own)

[@MaximoLuke]

The coefficient of friction between 2 surfaces is always the same. You are only increasing the amount of friction because the normal force is increased.

[@michaelibrahim9275]

For 1, the closer you get to the center of mass with a specific ginger, the more force is put on it, and thus the more friction is on it. This causes the finger that is closer to the center of mass to do the pushing, and so neither finger is able to cross the center of mass. I suspect there’s more to it but I’m pretty sure that’s the main factor.

[@pocketNinjaGameing]

1.The canes center of mass is only found when you move your hands to evenly find it. 2.The phones weight is unevenly distributed so it turns to the side as it flips. 3. The static electricity creates a field that bends either the water molecules or minerals in the water. 4.The cereal has iron in it and that’s why it moves towards the magnet. 5.The tea bag floats upwards as a result of convection currents. Here are my best theories to explain these Physics experiments.

[@de0509]

Im gonna guess 1) the one nearer to center of gravity gets more normal reaction and it has more frictional force. No matter what, the finger will less frictional force will slip first. I expect it might not work all the time if you do it fast since this needs static friction to work 2) Spinning a rectangle with its edge as the axis is a high moment of inertia. The other 2 has axis in center and easier to spin. More chances of it spinning other ways than the 3rd way. And I didnt really calculate anything so no proof with values. Just approximations 3) I vote for dipole-dipole forces 4) the strong magnet pulls water beside the cereal so it forms a tiny hill of water. Then the magical surface tension pulls the cereal to the top of the water hill. I dont understand this phenomenon much. 5) Im lost. Cant think of anything to explain it

[@GoRepairs]

I think if I try the thing with the phone, I'll end up with a broken phone. :)

[@LemonCupcakeVRInfinity]

same xD

[@indiakilo6684]

Duh! How about trying it over your bed. Lol!

[@mac5794]

I think its because of the hardware within it.

[@indiakilo6684]

palash parpani Yep! It's because of the heavy weight of the battery and spinning orientation.

[@ChrisAndersen]

I love how he says be careful with the scissors when cutting the tea bag right after he casually flipped a $700 phone (and dropped it multiple times).

[@RocioSanchez-cl6wn]

Interesting! thanks for the video

[@XploreOutside]

The reason why the phone flips about an axis different from the initial axis of rotation is more involved. It is not due to variation in density of the phone's mass distribution. The same trick will work with a book (held shut with a rubber band), a claw hammer, or any object where its three principal moments of inertia are all different. Let's call them Ix, Iy and Iz and Ix < Iy < Iz. Here, "I" is the upper case, first letter in the word 'Inertia'. Consider a set of x, y and z axes that run through the phone. Before the phone is flipped, the x-axis aligns with the longest dimension of the phone and passes through its center. The z-axis aligns with the vertical axis, or parallel to the thinnest dimension of the phone. The y-axis aligns with the middle or intermediate dimension of the phone. Due to the phone's (more or less) constant mass density, Ix < Iy < Iz. Rotations about the x and z axes are stable. Rotations about the axis that corresponds to the intermediate (or middle value) of the phone's moment of inertia (Iy) is inherently unstable. Unconstrained rotation about the y-axis picks up some rotation about the x-axis. Why? Some may not like this explanation, but here it is. Solving Lagrange's equation for a rotating rigid body leads to a set of three equations called Euler's equations. Applying small perturbations to the object's angular velocity and substituting that into Euler's equations gives a 2nd order differential equation in the perturbation parameter. Solving that differential equation shows the perturbation will oscillate with an angular frequency. In a manner of speaking, this isn't so "bad" as long as the oscillations don't grow. However, the expression for the angular frequency when the object rotates about the axis that has the intermediate moment of inertia, involves (among other things) the square root of (Iy-Iz). Iz is the largest moment of inertia, and Iy minus Iz is a negative number. The square root of a negative number is an imaginary number. Physically, this means the amplitude of those perturbing oscillations will grow without limit leading to an unstable rotation. See section 12 in chapter 11 in "Classical Dynamics of Particles and Systems" 5th edition by Thornton and Marion. That book contains a paragraph describing how NASA and its astronauts overcame the same instability when they tried to grapple a communications satellite with the Space Shuttle in 1992.

[@dscotty55]

It's crazy how as soon as I get out of school I'm like "Yeah, I don't have to learn any more!" Then next thing you know I'm ordering books from Dr. Michio Kaku. It's also not uncommon to see me just all together quit playing video games to continue reading on studies of quantum physics.Unfortunately however, the more you know translates into the more you need to know. And I think that a summer of learning is way better spent than a summer of ignorance.

[@dscotty55]

1. The heavier side of the cane puts more resistance on your finger. So you will eventually reach an imbalanced ratio. Once you hit that imbalance, your finger without the majority of the weight will slide freely until it again imbalances the ratio. Thus causing a repeat only on the other side. This will happen until you reach "zero." (Heavier side = more resistance) 2. Phones are not symmetrical in weight. That axis of the phone is the least balanced. The differences in it's axis's cause it to wobble mid flight which allows flight trajectory to take care of the rest. 3. I was always taught that it was the electrical charge. Hmm. Impurities in the water have a slight magnetic charge that gravitates it towards the cup? Then the water's bonds keep it attracted to itself and the impurities. I honestly am stumped. 4. The cereal has Iron in it. The significance of the water may be that it produces less friction on the Cheerio which allows it to be seen easier. 5. The flame creates hot gas that naturally rises. Once enough of the bag has burned it becomes light enough to be carried by the gasses it creates as it burns. Just my theories.

[@CaptainStino]

You are so very smart!

[@MHGenesis]

Wow, cool. I still do play video games, but I'm starting my physics study in october this year and I even won a book by michio kaku in some maths contest back in school. xD Your theories sound plausible, not sure about the water one though.

[@pinguin1009]

Devin Scott I'm not sure with the second one. I think I heard that this will happen with every cuboid, also if the weight is balanced. There are always two axis where you can spin it and one (with the largest area on the top) where you can't. (Sorry for mistakes, English isn't my native language.)

[@dscotty55]

Apokalyps Thank you very much! ***** Nice! All of his books are excellent reads! Good luck on your studies! pinguin1009 Interesting. Iv'e spent hours spinning my phone unable to do this without knowing that it is impossible. I just tried it out on a few other cuboids. You are right. They're are many great theories here and I can't wait to see what all of the answers are. I wish Veritasium would do more viewer interactive things such as this.

[@RyanJensenEE]

The first "phenomenon" is really just a facet of the human control system.

[@robinaylott1264]

No its not, it works with a non sensitive or responsive machine as well. Its due to friction increasing and decreasing when the the mass is unbalanced, meaning that there is no other way for the rod to settle at the end of the process other than over its centre of mass.

[@1Hawkey11]

of course it is. I don't know why is that even questionable...

[@3kansh]

Cereal is behaving like a magnet . Why is it so ? Ans: As cereals contains high iron , when getting soaked in water , this iron gets hydrated ( 2Fe+3H20= Fe2O3+3H2) and gets attracted towards the magnet . That is the wright answer.

[@surajsijwali7588]

I don't know if your ans is right but i am sure it's not wright

[@424Sweetpea]

Suraj Sijwali 🤣

[@surajsijwali7588]

@@424Sweetpea 😁

[@Taime88]

It's the consistency of the spin in relation to atmospheric pressure. When you flip horizontally, you create a vortex in towards the center. When you spin vertically however the top and bottom of the phone are irregular in that one dips into a higher or lower atmospheric pressure. To find balance air spreads along the diagonal created by the uneven dimension. If you try the same motion with an object that is even in it's length and width and depth it will flip perfectly. The disproportionate dimensions just dictate the motion. In the first two tosses you are spreading air evenly over the center of mass, which is symmetrical. However with the vertical flip it isn't a symmetrical shape moving through the medium, so to find the balance the air spreads as evenly as possible over the surface. However the air reaches the shorter sides first, and so causes pressure there before the longer sides. The displacement causes the rotation you see. Phenomenon 2