Burning stuff with a giant fresnel lens + how a DLP projector works

Join the science discord! / discord Hey everybody! Ive wanted to make one of these forever. Well, i have made one before but it was not a 'good' fresnel lens. If you want to learn more about fresnel lenses this is a good website - rimstar.org/equip/fresnel_len... They have a youtube channel too with lots of educational content. / rimstarorg
And of course shoutout to The King of Random where i first saw this idea ! • Burning Stuff With 200...

[@Nighthawkinlight]

Good idea with the glass over your lens. I've had trouble with them fogging up from UV exposure, or the ridges in the lens getting gunked up with dust and moss. The glass should protect from both

[@Sharpless2]

would a clear epoxy coat work?

[@TheCrystalGlow]

Dead Meme clear epoxy is still not 100% clear, so it would scatter some light and thereby reducing its effectiveness. I recommend using acrylic which is 99% clear (compared to soda-lime glass at about 70% clear), but make sure you seal it so it doesn’t oxidize over time and get cloudy (specialty plastic clear coat spray exists for such a purpose) This is also why “glasses” are actually made or CR-39 plastic or polycarbonate for lenses now since it’s lighter and is a lot more clear for vision

[@AliMohammed-sl2zu]

Wud it work with all kinds of the layers from a tv

[@jamilam1980]

Man, I'll be 39 in 2 months. Growing up, a big projection screen tv was so luxury. Everybody wanted to watch it and play games on it. Now I watch a guy taking it apart and passing on knowledge. Great stuff going on here

[@jxk6634]

Should have said "The power of the sun, in the palm of my hand". You even had the goggles for the reference.

[@comicbookaddict6352]

Dude I was literally just thinking that and then I see your comment

[@Snerbington]

What is that from? I’ve heard it before...

[@Preacher_Actual]

@@Snerbington I think Dr. Eggman said it in the Sonic movie, but I feel like that's not right-

[@ervina6982]

@@Snerbington Doctor octopus from Spiderman 2

[@sleepysaturnYT]

Ocktavius... is that you ?

[@billyblue922]

I did this once with a fifty inch. Set pocket change on a concrete stepping stone to melt. Thought it would take a bit so went in the house and made a sandwich, had lunch. When I came back, not only was my change fused but due to the movement of the sun, there was a line of glass where it had melted the concrete. Good times!

[@n4s98]

Clear sunglasses? You mean glasses?

[@Vein1986]

those are uv-protection glasses, :)

[@M3iscool]

They looked like safety glasses to me.

[@NotMe35971]

LOL good spotting

[@enreeekay2754]

Very counterintuitive

[@maxortega8073]

XD that's funny they probably have UV protection

[@Insantrum1247]

"Why do you need that old tv?" Backyard scientist: "no reason"

[@bradencb2970]

“It’s not like I’m going to use the screen as a lense to blow stuff up with the sun or anything.

[@theoneabovemost7865]

Just asking what happens when you focus the light from that glass onto another magnifying glass then repeat the process LIGHT-CEPTION

[@dernukleus8599]

U maybe like physical education...

[@jeanh2288]

I had to explain to my friend why I wanted this one out of the garbage. I got it today. The total nerdy trash pick

[@codenamepyro2350]

@@jeanh2288 did you end up doing anything with it?

[@JoachimVampire]

youtube: watch a guy "burning stuff with a giant fresnel lens" me: i wonder what will happen if you focus into a solar panel backyardscientist: first i want to overclock a solar panel" i freaking love you dude.

[@NikosPer]

i really wonder, can you overclock solar panels for real? can someone explain this?

[@Simqer]

@@NikosPer It is simple: Let's take a 1 square meter solar panel and a 4 square meter focusing lens. Normally, without the focusing lens the solar panel would catch a 1 square meter area worth of solar energy, it is said to be about 1000W. The focusing lens will capture 4 square meters of energy (minus the losses, they took roughly 40% losses in the video, so we will do the same), so 4000W, 60% of that is 2400W. So the focusing lens will project about 2400W onto the 1 square meter of solar panel. Giving you roughly 2.4 times more energy than normal. These are not exact numbers, just a rough guess to show you the point. You don't want to focus too much energy onto the solar panel as it will melt the material, as shown in the video. Also, in practical application, you would need to install several small mirror in a dish shaped area, moreover they would need to be moved all the time with the sun, so it is not possible to use this to super power your solar panels.

[@andrewflores1636]

The backyard scientist: *melts penny* FBI: you are under arrest for destruction of u.s. currency

[@frostbite9635]

@GERARDO HERNANDEZ im older than you and know that... just saying but some pennies are worth $$$$

[@bigpappahemi4263]

@GERARDO HERNANDEZ Pennies made after 1982 are copper plated zinc. Pennies made 1982 or before are solid copper. During WWII pennies were made from steel.

[@bigpappahemi4263]

@GERARDO HERNANDEZ I understand that I was just pointing out the fact that zinc pennies melt at a much lower temperature the the solid copper pennies.

[@saltytb]

@GERARDO HERNANDEZ I'm pretty sure it's still illegal, you are still destroying currency

[@saltytb]

@GERARDO HERNANDEZ I already have! I would also look up how to spell, it would do you good!

[@drewwatchesyt]

What if you made an alt called: ‘TheFrontyardScientist’...

[@rajesh240976]

Or a bartending channel called vineyard scientist

[@drewwatchesyt]

😂

[@quasquasquas]

Perhaps TheInsideScientist?

[@auralius768]

uhh ohh

[@auralius768]

uhhhohhh

[@TheKingofRandom]

Awesome stuff! 😎

[@drewwatchesyt]

RIP 👑 Your work has been inspiring to many of us, and I have watched you for years. It’s been a great journey. I would like to thank you for all you’ve done.

[@jackmio]

R.I.P

[@apolloi3387]

RIP

[@drewwatchesyt]

R.I.P. Legend

[@lindsaytang1017]

R.I.P

[@Directorialconsequences]

7:58 when he mentioned grant i shed a tear for that great man

[@sampfalcon5128]

Done this, it's super fun and almost instantly chars wood to just straight carbon. If you scrape the burned powder off multiple times you can slowly burn through a 2x4. Also, melting pennies then sliding them into cold water makes some super interesting warped pennies

[@jerry3790]

If I don’t have heavy mes- If I don’t have heavy med- *Looks concerned*

[@Bubsyvr]

What :()

[@wareware1]

Hahaha best part, so funny

[@xl3942]

Heavy medi pool

[@deeppurple6925]

I guess his favourite genre is not Heavy Metal... :/

[@mydjmode]

I laughed so hard! 😂

[@izices]

You burned a hole in a solar panel. With the sun. Surely there is some poetic irony in there SOMEWHERE. And i'm looking forward to a video on Shopping Cart sailing >:3 I'm just kidding.

[@jonathanw.hethem718]

you think

[@davecrupel2817]

Its not "poetic irony." Just plain irony. :P

[@drewwatchesyt]

😂

[@THESLlCK]

Izices the irony is strong. Kinda like how the lithium mining for Tesla batteries makes more pollution than driving a gas car

[@bryanjk]

@@THESLlCK I hear this argument a lot and have my doubts especially as many Teslas have been on the road 200k+ miles and only have 10-20% range degradation. Its also to my understanding Tesla either has a recycling program or is engineering one. Not only would they get the good PR it lowers cost of producing new cells by reclaiming raw materials. I haven't looked into what percentage they can re-use but we'll see! Anything humans do has unforseen consequences so everyone should have a healthy dose of skepticism but I believe you're either being disingenuous or are rebelling against all the Elon shills (who can also be a problem when they can't take an ounce of criticism)

[@georgiosmylonas3892]

Love your content guys. You are very fun. It was a joy watching your experiements!

[@scopie49]

The smoke and focal point is one of the coolest practical demonstrations I've ever seen.

[@kramerfromseinfeld]

florida man burns solar pannels and posts it online

[@aidanholloran3055]

CreationsCollide Florida man melts pot with the sun and proceeds to pore it on girl friend

[@deveanaustin7252]

Only in Florida

[@ismaelclaussell7061]

Florida man Burns house down with a giant lens.

[@kostman23]

Ohio man moves to Florida and realizes how similar they are to each other.

[@ismaelclaussell7061]

@@kostman23 that's a oof

[@seabiscuits]

More dlp stuff. Please. I work with these projectors and you’re the first person ever to come close to making me understand how they work.

[@jimmyneutron8702]

Im so sorry for you

[@PanchoVilla-fe8pt]

"We should probably wear gas masks" "Nah.. It's just led."

[@Pranksofthedecade]

lead*

[@cjthegunman9659]

He said puter

[@errateksines9103]

Pewter*

[@jayflores1185]

He said coper pennies

[@hazeltree7738]

*penys

[@TheDaringPastry1313]

i loved the smoke demonstration showing how it focuses!

[@rolfgrell4783]

Heavy Metal poisoning? Is that the thing you get after a Rock concert?

[@Ganslool]

Espeacilly after a Metallica concert

[@Ion555]

Wacken!!!

[@leazerlazz3376]

Most dad joke ever

[@fuckthedumbsh1t]

no you only get poisoned from nu-metal

[@madkirk7431]

@@fuckthedumbsh1t nu-metal?? what????

[@bueb8674]

The sun is a deadly laser * *(when focused through a tv size fresnel lens)

[@enzymus5562]

When he used sunlight to make popcorn: *taste the sun*

[@Sharpless2]

@@enzymus5562 *how it feels to chew the SUN*

[@akmalhanif5783]

@@Amy_Sax ye

[@among-us-99999]

Justoboy13 not anymore, there’s a blanket

[@loki_197]

It isn't really a laser but it's okay, I know what you mean

[@Aiden.F16]

I love how the light makes the smoke look rainbow 🥰

[@matthewryan6860]

Very grateful to learn something new!! I didn't know how a projector works!

[@castsmith6783]

every body a gangster till the fresnel lens start burning

[@jimothyus]

Castsmith best joke ive read all year

[@relaxingwithfireandnature3528]

lmao too true!

[@misadventurousguy3859]

Jake : * melts anything My Brain : "TOUCH IT !"

[@donnabrown1672]

?

[@savagesock3598]

Natural selection at its finest

[@frostbite9635]

Me Exactly! lol

[@Ivanalexander31]

Brilliant! Enjoy all your vids. This one's great, green energy!

[@pupeno]

I love that you use metric units! Proper scientist.

[@elatha3342]

Anyone else wish he could make more videos?

[@drewwatchesyt]

Me! 🙋‍♂️

[@Largegoblin99]

Me too

[@salteen7495]

Yessss

[@jishdafish716]

It is 1of the 3: 1. He doesn't have much spare time 2. Recording and editing takes him a while 3. He's lazy

[@unlokia]

Perhaps, ya know, he has a REAL, ACTUAL, PHYSICAL life?

[@spencergross7244]

Hey bro love the videos keep up the good work. I think you're one of the soul KZbinrs that are able to deliver fun and entertaining video footage while still being educational. Thanks 😊

[@drewwatchesyt]

👏 Bravo! Such true words!

[@hardlyb]

I had a little 1 ft square (rigid) Fresnel lens from Edmund Scientific when I was a kid. It would focus the light into a circle about 1/4 inch in diameter, and it would melt bricks and cause pavement to explode. This was much bigger, of course, but I was doing it in the front yard.

[@K0ester]

I finally found myself one! So excited

[@glitchxero4687]

My family had a rear-projection tv many years ago. This one had 3 lights in the back - red, blue, and green. One day I learned there was a setting that allowed you to change where each individual light's focal point was, so that if something was off kilter you could adjust it back to where it should've been. After a little tweaking of the red and blue channels, turned it into a pseudo-3D television. Had to have those old-school 1 red lens, 1 blue lens glasses to get it to work and the effect wasn't great since nothing I watched with it was made for 3D, but things did look more three dimensional. At any rate, it was a neat little science experiment.

[@cark1.0]

Man, you never cease to impress!

[@mercedesdrake9113]

glad you gave a shout out to the king of random

[@shreyaspatel4412]

Superb experimentation

[@styrasod5907]

OMG I WAS WAITING FOR AN UPLOAD FROM MY FAV KZbinR FOR SOOOOOO LONG HERE IT FREAKIN IS

[@iijxkez]

4.2 million subscribers yet the mic isn’t the best Still love your vids :)

[@Fireman1030]

iiJxkez needs a better camera man too. Made me sick.

[@edwardpiner8691]

I've been playing with similar lenses on a much smaller scale now I have some ideas thanks

[@lochinvar00465]

Shaving cream cans are great for exploding. I once stuck one in a fire upside down with the top below the coals. Blew the top off of it and it shot up straight like a rocket on a column of foam. Neat!

[@louiebueno9567]

Clicked so fast i burnt my skin

[@bobthehognog569]

Louie Bueno LoL same

[@drewwatchesyt]

So worth it though 😉

[@louiebueno9567]

@@drewwatchesyt hell yeah

[@brandonbenjamin9452]

Louie Bueno Clicked so fast I could have cooked a chicken

[@danielmolineux3644]

His mrs almost burnt her testicles.

[@edwardmongan8004]

My notification just popped up I haven’t been this early 👀 much respect from Ireland 🇮🇪

[@atomik7066]

Im irish too :)

[@Disktoaster]

As an AV tech, just dropped in to shout out your (fairly rare) correct pronunciation of the word "fresnel." It was named after someone, after all. Credit where credit's due.

[@m.haruniqbalqurashi267]

i loved your garden !

[@natemillner7199]

Backyard scientist is a underrated youtuber

[@JunkyardDigs]

Thumbs up for KZbinrs named Kevin 👍

[@OmnicronDelta]

Wot r u

[@hitandrepair]

I made a whole series of this before grant and you, gotta love it! They are fun to play with. You can boil water with it too. Solar cooking with this is a thing as well. I do have a play list on my channel, sadly it did not get 400k views like yours.

[@omeganinjaboy]

Fighting inflation by melting pennies with a giant old TV magnifier.

[@aricwang5107]

Gotta do your job in the economy

[@anthonym9626]

That smoke demonstration to show the light beam was really good

[@solarrayofdeath208]

Cool! I've been having fun with one of these solar death rays for a while now. I'll be posting more videos this summer.

[@dismal8294]

Awesome stuff! 😎 -King of Random

[@facitenonvictimarum174]

Some science for a change, good video!

[@waffielz3106]

Florida man harnesses the power of the sun

[@xenonram]

Calling Kevin the _Florida Man_ is an insult. Lol.

[@quigpig455]

I have an idea, try melting every single metal and mix them together and make a supermetal

[@drewwatchesyt]

Nice idea!

[@Scott_C]

It would be an amalgam, seen Cody's channel or Nyle Red for an explanation.

[@unlokia]

@@Scott_C *Nile red :)

[@blazortheepic0384]

HO LAM YIU oof

[@Abdega]

Those are called “High Entropy Alloys”

[@ahlahspaget]

He does not get enough attention. He is really underrated.

[@S0K0N0MI]

You lured me with burning things and then you made me learn something! Fiend!

[@NikoKun]

A couple years ago we ended up with a friend's junk projector TV.. but after not being able to fix it, just ended up throwing it all out.. Now I'm really annoyed we didn't save the big lens thing. damn.

[@theFLCLguy]

I worked at goodwill and took the lens off one that was going to be tossed. It's only a little better than a normal big magnifying lens.

[@electronicsNmore]

It doesn't make a difference if it's been done before, just make sure you do it better. :-)

[@TheBackyardScientist]

That's true! Or at least have fun doing it :p I was thinking I could make it track the sun, attach a solar cooker to it, or something to distill water but then a small project turns into a huge thing ya know?

[@electronicsNmore]

@@TheBackyardScientist I always enjoy your videos! Keep up the great work. :-)

[@muhdrasydan5247]

Very Fascinating!

[@tatchik77]

I boiled a 2oz lead fishing weight in under a minute with the fresnel lens out of a Mitsubishi rear projection TV & it would catch wood on fire instantly! I had to keep a blanket over it & store it in my shed because even light coming through the window & hitting it could have started a fire. Mine was that powerful straight out of the TV, you can also polish them to make them reach temperatures above 2000°F!

[@Fede_uyz]

4/10 of an am.... or 2/5? Reduce your fraction man! Hahahhaha great video!

[@Frank85t]

I coulda watched half an hour of you melting/burning stuff

[@amitk3474]

Westerners are very destructive in nature.

[@alexevans2901]

Pretty sure this is the best video I’ve ever seen.

[@WhizzarD44]

I use a pretty standard magnifying glass, but it starts instantly and has a very sharp focal point. I can write your name on a popsickle stick with it. Very relaxing activity.

[@saumypatel1179]

dis mans gonna make a explosive bow

[@user-Monalisa]

*this

[@jasoncallahan2329]

Nice prediction

[@DTorto]

@@user-Monalisa *dis

[@quasquasquas]

Nobody: TheBackyardScientist: *harnesses the power of the sun to melt sunglasses and metal*

[@LittleWhole]

TheBackyardScientist: *melts a solar panel and sunglasses with the sun*

[@veesoho93]

Amazing ! Did you polished the glass at all? What brand and model tv was it ? Thank you very much!

[@JayCrosby32]

Doctor Octopus - “The power of the sun, in the palm of my hand”

[@msmrreckoning]

Impossible Humans: very possible E.T.s: I am the sun, the moon, an atom, I am consciousness that morphs into any being

[@username4209]

TheBackyardScientist should do a collab with The SlowmoGuys

[@holden-minecraft8051]

Nice work

[@roflcopterkklol]

What if you stacked like 10 of these in a giant death ray? I imagine it would have to be like 5 meters tall but worth it.

[@pierro281279]

It would be worse than this. The goal is to have as much SURFACE as possible. meaning you'll have to build a bigger fresnel lens, or put lenses next to the center, then use mirrors to redirect the light to a center point ( and using different focal lenghts, because the light ray for adjacent ones would be a lot longer.

[@tasmanmillen]

Or instead have other ones next to it, but with the same focal point.

[@KingOfSpace1]

Meters 💀

[@tedeisner822]

Concentrating heat onto another plastic lens….hmmm. I wonder….

[@ArmchairDeity]

Dude!! Love your stuff, been watching for years!! So... hey BYS! This is only the second time I’ve ever requested a video from any of my favorite KZbin folk. So... here’s what I want to see: What happens when you add salt to boiling water? I mean, we all know that salt, water, and ice makes for a colder cold than ice by itself... but... What happens if you add salt to boiling water? How much salt does it take to change the behavior of boiling water? How does that affect the thermal properties or behavior of boiling water? My hypothesis: Since you’re making the water denser, more energy will be spent maintaining the temp of the mass, which means the max temp will drop from 212°F to... say... 190°-200°F. But since it’s denser you’re essentially increasing the surface area of contact with the inner chamber on a molecular level. So if you measure the temp delta over time of the inner chamber with plain and then with salt water in the outer chamber, the salt water will heat it faster and the max inner temp will be closer to the temp of the outer chamber. Possibly the salt water double boiler will exceed the max inner temp of the plain water because of the increased efficiency. Is there a max amount of salt that is effective, or does it turn into diminishing returns as the salinity increases? And does the increased energy use of heating the denser salt water offset the more efficient heat transfer between the inner and outer chambers? What’s the total energy consumption to evaporate 100 ml of frozen water from the inner chamber starting with room temp plain or salt water? Actually that was really fun to write out... 😉 Hope to see it soon!! 👍🏻❤️

[@Scimi2000]

7:10 “hold out your hand... it’s quite cool”

[@antontxu]

you should fire your camera assistant, he missed half the shots and the few ones he got right are overexposed.

[@TheBackyardScientist]

lol i dont pay my brother so i cant fire him ;) in his defense its hard to get the exposure right going back and forth on the fly.

[@TheLordoftheGings]

I couldn't watch the video to the end as the camera shaking that much on 60fps made me feel ill...

[@sirsymbro]

@Austin Friedner careful man... that is too far. lol

[@flapjackrabbit480]

I think the camera was just fine, I guess i just find shaking as a human touch, gives it more personality. Much better than tripods imo.

[@vexatron_]

finally, I can comment I just got my youtube account I had been watching on my tv your videos are so good

[@TheChangospace]

Amazing content!

[@nazarderkach9320]

Burning things with sunlight through a giant magnifying glass? *_Archimedes wants to know your location_*

[@KnightSlasher]

*That's how DLP projector works* _i'm sorry_

[@primitivecereal]

Spongebob SquarePants that’s how nino works

[@dartsmod2586]

Hahahaahahahahhahaahahahahahahahahahahhaah

[@Stark81766]

They actually have a really great picture for the tech.

[@keng8523]

new favorite youtuber.

[@srussert28]

In order to help keep the direction of the sun to the lens at 90 degrees I screw a small 1/2" id X about 2-3" long tube to the wood frame. For storage you turn it so the tube is parallel to the lens. To power up you turn the tube 90 Degrees to the lens and turn the lens so you can see the sun through the hole in the shadow of the tube on the ground. Since there is a nail or screw through the tube you will get a circle of light split in two. Simple quick and easy. You could use something like a chopstick but something hollow is much easier to get in aim.

[@IrishSkruffles]

I feel like the suns average power per m^2 In Ireland is like.. 11W/m^2 on a decent day

[@TheBackyardScientist]

I've been there, sounds about right! Rained for 2 weeks straight :p

[@NoTraceOfSense]

"overclocking a solar panel" LTT where ya at?

[@Frankybroadcast]

Thats very cool about the projection wheel

[@TheRea1Man]

Hey could this be applied to desalination as a near-free heat source? For example, a reservoir with a roof made entirely of these built in an ideal location for sunlight sloped with a collection/cooling coil coming from the outside?

[@matthewcox7985]

Heavy Metal Poisoning? I still think a better band name would be Actinide Series.

[@vodkainglassofstalinium1221]

5:41 Dude , if YOU dont have heavy metal poisoning by now then I don't think anyone does !

[@Zane-TheToiletSalesman]

This Science is better than my science class because its FUN unlike school science at my school which we never done an experiment that’s fun except for the volcano one that was fun.

[@blackmooose]

He's always so happy

[@theapeshitmonkey]

Why do I feel like I'm still damaging my eyes by looking at the focused sun through my phone...

[@OmnicronDelta]

I will ruin this comments history by commenting

[@johnyapple8447]

Now, imagine taking a screen with a one mile radius to space (outside the Van Allen Belt) and focusing the sun’s UV rays onto a single point the size of the penny. No flames could form, but energy would be HIGHLY concentrated on that single point.

[@jeanh2288]

I think they called that the death star didn't they? 😂

[@Berm_Blaster]

My brother has a 9x12 magnifying glass tray thing. We were messing around with it outside and we were quite surprised with how strong it was. We burned words into real leather boots, melted the garbage bin, set the grass on fire etc. We weren't expecting it to work so God.

[@zacharyohare6029]

Dude.... If I ever get into bullet casting this looks like a dam efficient way to melt bulk lol

[@maxwellringdahl2299]

U should build mr freezes gun

[@Handom1]

"Uh, solar panel dust! Don't breathe this!"

[@bigtony4930]

*The power of the sun...in the palm of my hand.*

[@williamabel8485]

So I have been binging this guys videos, and I can honestly say this guy is the archetypical Florida man.

[@defaultmesh]

6:10 _y e e t_

[@abhinavgirish1609]

4:08 it that a Borat reference?

[@dylan4400]

1:57 As he talks the grass catches on fire lol

[@Denisb013]

Yay finally new video!!