Turbulence: One of the great unsolved mysteries of physics - Tomás Chor

What is turbulence and why does it happen? Explore the phenomenon that has perplexed physicists for over a century.
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You’re on an airplane when you feel a sudden jolt. Outside your window nothing seems to be happening, yet the plane continues to rattle you and your fellow passengers as it passes through turbulent air in the atmosphere. What exactly is turbulence, and why does it happen? Tomás Chor dives into one of the prevailing mysteries of physics: the complex phenomenon of turbulence.
Lesson by Tomás Chor, directed by Biljana Labovic.
Animated by Hippolyte Cupillard, www.studiotabassco.com
1:46 - Original footage by Think Twice: • Double pendulum | Chao...
2:17 - Original footage by 3Blue1Brown: • Why 5/3 is a fundament...
4:14 - Original footage by VERIFI: • High-Fidelity Turbulen...
4:23 - Original footage by UWSSEC: • Tornado Simulation of ...
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View full lesson: ed.ted.com/lessons/turbulence...
Thank you so much to our patrons for your support! Without you this video would not be possible! Rohan Gupta, Senjo Limbu, Martin Lau, Robson Martinho, Jason Garcia, Cailin Ramsey, Aaron Henson, John Saveland, Nicolle Fieldsend-Roxborough, ReuniteKorea , Venkat Venkatakrishnan, Sandy Nasser, QIUJING L BU, Yoga Trapeze Wanderlust, Jaron Blackburn, Alejandro Cachoua, Thomas Mungavan, Elena Crescia, Edla Paniguel, Sarah Lundegaard, Anna-Pitschna Kunz, Tim Armstrong, Erika Blanquez, Ricki Daniel Marbun, zjweele13, Judith Benavides, Ken , Caitlin de Falco, James Bruening, Michael Braun-Boghos, Ricardo Diaz, Kack-Kyun Kim, Alexandrina Danifeld, Danny Romard, Yujing Jiang, Stina Boberg, Mariana Ortega, Anthony Wiggins, Hoai Nam Tran, David Petrovič, Lowell Fleming, Anuj Tomar, Sunny Patel, Vijayalakshmi , Devesh Kumar, Uday Kishore, Aidan Forero, Leen Mshasha, Allan Hayes and Thomas Bahrman.

[@Zoronick]

Three word phrases better than "I love you": Engineering edition 1. Incompressible laminar flow 2. Assume Ideal Gas 3. Completely reversible process

[@MarkManuel15]

MechE for life!

[@RaphaelCh]

4. Assume steady state

[@weijianlim4431]

@@RaphaelCh 5. TURBULENCE INCOMING

[@tringuyen121]

You forgot 2d flow and fully developed!!!!

[@denniii09]

When I read "... neglactable" I'm happy

[@Migikun]

Turbulence: Everyone: OMG WE’RE GONNA DIE Baby: Yay~*

[@Nugcon]

bruh moment

[@mussellpixelberg8693]

@@Nugcon forehead bruh moment

[@mohammadzohorul8887]

No turbulence is strong enough to break the airplane.

[@weijianlim4431]

@@mohammadzohorul8887 MAYBE VOLCANO CAN STOP AIRPLANES

[@nicluvin3731]

I wish they were like that on every plane ride

[@helium3624]

1:20 this guy brought lighter to the plane!?!?!? absolute madlad. bet the security only took away his water bottle.

[@ArsenalThom]

Lighters are allowed on the plane, better yet if you want to bring one you have to take it with you, you arent allowed to have one in your luggage

[@ee5142]

Me: poops in the plane bathroom The pilot: we are currently experiencing turbulence

[@weijianlim4431]

Turbulence is a plane accident that caused from large heap of wind

[@zarifaiman5005]

@jingyu byun Actually most airplane passanger cannot go to the toilet while having a turbulence....They also wearing selt belt until it safe to move around.... Sorry for my bad english:)

[@AxeAR]

@@zarifaiman5005 What if he's already in the toilet when turbulence begins?

[@x-Abraham-x2]

Haha

[@deadpineapple]

@@weijianlim4431 i dont know if you get the joke or not

[@Keys879]

As a pilot I can confirm the turbulence button is right next to the chemtrail button.

[@shudha5214]

what's chemtrail?

[@dhruvshah3909]

@@shudha5214 it is a Conspiracy theory

[@VerixLin]

Keys879 idk but on airbus i fly its kinda far away from that :^

[@jobama9909]

@@mcwatcher7790 why won’t it let me read more

[@thunderblossom8114]

Good troll. However, there’s no such thing as a chem trail. It’s a contrail or condensation trail. So basically, some nuts act like clouds are bad

[@presentlee9403]

3:13 Animation error. Ice cubes also float on water.

[@maskedpotatoes]

That's a glass cube then.

[@Mbernal10]

Present Lee wut

[@JonathanGarcia-dn7hn]

Just entered the comments searching for this hahahaha

[@alejandrootero8894]

Your avatar kill me :D

[@chroma9848]

Maybe the ice cube was dropped from a height that generated a force greater than its bouyant force and just before it started to float the animation stopped 😂

[@danielthrasher]

bUt wHaT aBoUt TuRbUlEnT rElAtIoNsHiPs

[@azharimran1969]

Underated coment

[@manuchulliat]

Hi Daniel. WTH ARE YOU DOIN HERE PAL

[@abhiencoded]

Hi!

[@amonchhetri1053]

even more mysterious..can occur with any one at anytime anywhere..lmao!1

[@imaginarypal4688]

ye, help me with that. so I could answer my communication assignment

[@anshumanmishra2012]

even if there is no explanation ,ted ed will give you so many probabilities with best available science .

[@mennatallah4068]

you are right i agree with you

[@iceyberq]

@@mennatallah4068 Arabic

[@rancor4513]

Did u realize they make the animation wrong, becuz ice cube will always float on top of water

[@taefinesse730]

Factz💯

[@devanshsengar1877]

@@rancor4513 correct 👌🙂

[@uyendo8592]

"Despite how difficult it is to explain turbulence mathematically, Vincent van Gogh was able to capture it with astounding accuracy in his iconic painting "The Starry Night" - so smooth ~~~

[@gaspardhassenforder4377]

The animation at 1:50 is from the Chanel “Think Twice “. Really recommend if you like maths or aesthetically pleasing thing

[@npc4416]

its literally written on it

[@owlesent]

@@npc4416 this comment was before they updated it

[@npc4416]

@@owlesent oh thanks

[@mandalorriian]

A whole buncha turbulence

[@shadew04]

I’m actually studying dynamics of fluids and I’m very invested into it.. seeing this little introduction to it makes me acknowledge how much this topic is important even more! Thanks ted-ed !

[@vivianloney8826]

I'm learning about turbulence in geology- both in magmatism and fluvial morphology. I'm really interested in developments being made in modeling sub-laminar flow! Finding more patterns in sub-laminar flow seems to be the key to understanding more about turbulence.

[@Twas-RightHere]

Ayyy, that double pendulum footage is from a channel called Think Twice! :) You should have given him some acknowledgment so people can check out the rest of his awesome content!

[@seanwilliams7491]

Not only that but it would have been nice if he had broken down the difference between chaotic and random a bit more. I'm going to the Think Twice page to now to hear that explanation. Otherwise pretty informative video

[@MedvediPetrovichi]

I've submitted a request to make this video a few weeks ago and here it is. Not sure how much my request influenced the actual making of this video, but thank you very much for making it happen.

[@josecarloscesaramorim1518]

This TED-Ed animation is fantastic! The TED-Ed Team easily explains complex physics concepts. Great job! Congratulations.

[@mjsharif2]

This is one of the first physics mysteries that I fell in love with, and you captured it wonderfully!

[@powerxi2450]

I have studied about this in my physics classes but your animations made it more interesting!! Always the best TED-ed ❤ keep it up.

[@dagachasquad348]

1:50 Og clip is by Think Twice so please credit them

[@AaronShenghao]

Co-pilot fallen asleep.... Captain rushes in from the lavatory: Johnny! what happened?!? Co-pilot: Errr we got sudden turbulence captain.

[@cjezinne]

Shout out to the TED-Ed animation team... this was visually beautiful! Kinda gave me an old Junie B. Jones Book vibe

[@chaddusmaximus643]

1:46 did you really steal this from Think Twice and gave no credit?

[@nxncy]

THE ANIMATION IS SO GOOD AND HUMOROUS TOTALLY LOVED IT!

[@firaca100]

Again, a great video from Ted-Ed with the best illustration and animation, also a very understandable naration! Always be your fans, Ted - Ed!

[@yassfishy]

can I just say that this animation is soo adorable and awesome? I have giggled quite a few times during the video

[@ShrimpBarbarian]

**vogueing** TURBULENCE! YOU SPILL EVERYTHANGGG

[@weijianlim4431]

Turbulence is not a DRINK, OR A PERSON. ITS JUST A PLANE ACCIDENT

[@einsteinboricua]

AMBULAHNCE YOU BROKE EVERYTHING!

[@Auoric]

Ted-Ed is such a unique educational channel; entertaining us with their animation and the soothing voice of the narrator. Keep it up!!

[@ruthhh.m]

Whoever did the animation on this, you made me laugh on a Monday with very little sleep and way too much work. Basically, you are a wonderful person 🧡💚

[@magansingh8842]

I love how you animated turbulence to explain its simple aspects.

[@zelda12346]

The thing about chaos is not that it's unpredictable but that it quickly becomes less deterministic as iterations increase. This is why statistics would be useful in this scenario. Reverse engineering may not be possible, but since most adaptations are preferential, not uniform, there has to be a correlation even in chaotic systems.

[@MikeAIright]

its because the magnetic fields shift a tiny way that changes everything

[@bhushanshetye196]

I don't think they will allow a lighter and an incense stick on the plane for you to experiment 😂😂

[@GauravSingh-qi9xj]

That isn't a plane experiment. It can be performed anywhere, with similar results.

[@rociodanielacantuleos4871]

The concepts are so clearly explained, thanks

[@Aaron-yx8km]

Okay the honey, water, and ice is forgivable simply because how gorgeous the animation was done and appreciate laying the ambient sound on being on the plane nicely done.

[@disguisedhell]

Yes, I guess some member of Ted ed team was on that plane and came up with the topic

[@wizardinchiktrodon]

1:46 this is from Think Twice's channel!

[@walerominiyi]

Even if we are able to fully understand it, in the sense of what it described in this video, we’ll never be able to make meaningful predictions that we can apply to real-world problems because of the increasing difficulty in defining the real-world parameters to define the state of a system as a starting point. Truly understanding turbulence, however, is actually akin to being able to completely mathematically describe the game of life. When a system is so complex, with increasing levels of complex interaction, it’s essentially not possible for us to be able to fully describe it mathematically. It’s a level of complexity that’s beyond our capability to fathom, even with the fastest possible conceptual computing devices.

[@YamenNazer]

Amazing video as always..i love you Ted Ed💜❤️💜

[@rupasinha3355]

Ted-ed Thanks for this video as it was very informative on one of the most asked questions

[@sanath8483]

Hey, you used the Think Twice animation!

[@weijianlim4431]

THINK TWICE before the TURBULENCE hit you

[@shoaibakhtar4389]

I love the animation and narration of this video

[@denjiecoronel2169]

Very clear and nice explanation plus very hilarious graphics i love it

[@thedarkermoon7914]

Hey Ted Ed You took part of think twice's vid and didnt give credit. You should give credit

[@robertobuenafe]

*Oh they're right! You didn't credit Think Twice for the pendulum clip.*

[@artschannel1359]

I was on a plane yesterday wondering about that. Thnks for the video. I'll think a out that on my way home ;)

[@mennatallah4068]

the best scientific channel at all : أفضل قناة علمية علي الإطلاق👍

[@ramanrendersrandomly]

I'd like a copy of the TED ed daily please

[@tenct3257]

this video literally just summed up a whole chapter of turbulence

[@its_kaloyan]

The more educational channels I stumble across on KZbin the more I am able to appreciate the quality of your content when i eventually turn back to TED_Ed. Thank you for your effort!

[@hardaway6711]

Another simple work for simple ppl 👏👏👏👏 ty Ted ed

[@aryansinghal6270]

3:14... well ice doesnt sink in water here.🤔

[@itsnaazzahra6850]

Lol yeah 😂

[@AbishekMahe]

you assume it is ice but they never said it was ^^

[@warrenkeystone5195]

This video is coincidental since Vox uploaded a video today also about planes lol :p

[@lopamudrakar5680]

Thank you!! Very nice video!!

[@mcseedat]

This is a very informative clip about PMS.

[@CosmicElder]

Credit the pendulum graphic from 1:46 please

[@smartart6841]

1:48 is it just super similar or is that from think twice's video without credit

[@joshantanallon5699]

Its interesting to learn because the animation always looks so good!😂

[@mikemulti8582]

*I AM ALWAYS ROOTED TO THE TED ANIMATIONS AND FORGOT EVEN WHAT THE NARRATOR IS TALKING ABOUT...I LOVE YOU TED*

[@ChiliForEveryone]

ahhh...just in time when I try to procrastinate from writing my graduate thesis.....about turbulent flows

[@elan4008]

Was the chaotic system animation taken from Think Twice?

[@dina2418]

I think i have a nice question for a video: Is TedEd ever gonna run out of topics to talk about? the amount of content you create is astounding and it seems infinite. Love what you do

[@ankitjainwal4414]

Although Reynolds number was in our syllabus during graduation but they didn't taught us that much. Thanks for sharing this information

[@safir2241]

Boy this sounds interesting

[@MoneyyMike]

Safir if u can go to my page and watch Victim

[@mozarteanchaos]

1:50 why do y'all think it's okay to steal from other people's videos? just because you're verified doesn't mean you're immune to the concept of plagiarism

[@someonethatexists46]

TED Ed never stops teaching you new stuff, and that’s what I like about it: 👍🏻

[@yashveersingh1795]

Loved the sarcastic animation ❤️

[@sotypme4813]

"Eddies," said Ford, "in the space-time continuum." "Ah," nodded Arthur, "is he. Is he."

[@pedroivog.s.6870]

3:09 when ice sinks in water: WAIT THAT'S ILLEGAL!

[@krkrbbr]

Also sinks in honey

[@hakeemcanonio3840]

Great content! Keep up!

[@FoysalAhmed-rp1ku]

How do you guys select the excellent topics........this channel is addictive.

[@sudha4241]

1:46 They copied think twice channel animation from double oscillation video

[@swift3564]

1:47 hey did you steal Think Twice’s animation?

[@lgloves28]

The amazing animation blew my mind off.

[@shyamnandan889]

This video about physics behind flying plane satisfied us so thank you thank you and also we want to know about balancing plane clearly and easy

[@thelegend8570]

1:46 Now I'm not saying you stole this, put it through a filter, and then used it in your video without giving credit, but... You stole this, put it through a filter, and then used it in your video without giving credit. Link to the original video: kzbin.info/www/bejne/mmG9aaqCgbWBe5I

[@sharan3896]

Ice cube floats on water right? 3:08

[@minifridge8315]

Sometimes

[@suryavikaas5963]

He dropped with so much velocity but eventually it will float.

[@alphaq83]

Water has a special property. It's density changes with temperature, it isn't proportional because sometimes it increases as the temperature increase and sometimes it decreases as the temperature increases.

[@mjstory1976]

Awesome and informative video

[@ayushxrawt]

🤩i was searching for this from a couple of days

[@stormysamreen7062]

0:20 When you're so done with life

[@dheerajlakhani217]

Finally something which I already knew.. Hash, now I can die in peace!

[@fredroberts8275]

Some from what I can tell from all my readings on turbulence. We have a good basis for understanding when and in part why it happens. We also can already describe some of its characteristics in depth and predict outcomes based on previous empirical data. However due to the mathematical complexity of the naiver-stokes equations and the chaotic nature of fluids. It is nearly impossible to come up with a good set of both mathematical models and ideas surrounding them. Where we can go from the initial state of the system and predict in detail the individual formations of the fluid. The only exception appears to as previously mentioned when there is already a large volume of empirical data.

[@januargumelar3495]

THIS IS GOLD.

[@amaeyparadkar9632]

Wait. Ice floats!

[@Vugen18]

i hope u are kidding cause u did not pay attention to what he said if u think so :)

[@herr_crustovsky]

1:46 credit this man you bums

[@jalureswara2719]

Do the Navier-Stokes Equation next! It really has a connection to these kinds of stuff

[@patrickoreilly3303]

Awesome vid!

[@ananonymousidiot3156]

I don’t care WHY it happens ‘cause every time it does, I see my life flash before my eyes. Like, I start saying my prayers and mentally prepare myself for death.😂

[@Obsessivemind]

Thats why i havent flown in 4 years, fear of heights lol plus turbulence. Not a good combination

[@oracle372]

Miss Ravenclaw when I feel a turbulence I go like “YEEEHAH!”

[@vinodvagadurgi414]

lol true

[@donaldsawyer2618]

@@Obsessivemind I feel you. Im the same way but I know Im missing out

[@keanenbraaf711]

I hate it. I prepare for my death and start sweating profusely and feel so dizzy afterwards

[@clown445]

Turbulence doesn’t really scare me. I’ve been on a lot of flights XD too many.

[@camiloiribarren1450]

This is interesting! I like learning more

[@aniket4572]

Wow What a graeat explanation....

[@mackenziegray8762]

thanks for stealing from the youtube channel "Think Twice" at 1:46 from Think Twice's video "Double pendulum | Chaos | Butterfly effect | Computer simulation"

[@riley4964]

Sometimes I feel like I’m the only one who actually likes turbulence. Like as long as the plane isn’t violently ripping apart or dropping hundreds of feet out of the air, I’m chilling. It’s like a mini roller coaster for me!

[@francescabusuttil4952]

How is his voice so calming i-

[@shivanshdengla9560]

Didn't understand a word but I really liked the soothing voice.

[@yashsawalkar646]

3:08 . False, ice is less dense than water. Hence, it will float

[@ravitripathy2479]

Yash Sawalkar damm you studied specific gravity damm smart

[@ravitripathy2479]

Also it depends on the the mass of the ice

[@turtleburger7480]

@@ravitripathy2479 You should go back to school

[@ravitripathy2479]

Turtle Burger what do you mean

[@ravitripathy2479]

😳Sorry for the above comments,I wasn’t thinking straight i should of applied the formula d=m/v.So I am wrong also I am in I sixth so-😬

[@kuroshite]

First man to go to moon was Neil Armstrong

[@annymus4502]

aayus patre Good!

[@fabianalfonsoooo]

you must be fun at party

[@anab9601]

This animation is on point

[@vickeykumaryadav4156]

Outstanding

[@animawi]

I aways thought that turbulance was when the plane just crash into some bird or something caught in the propelar

[@stormysamreen7062]

You've heard of Ed, Edd and Eddy. Now get ready for 2:20

[@coolguypablo6935]

Mujahid Syed no

[@stormysamreen7062]

@@coolguypablo6935 Well okay then. What should i do?

[@AshHeaven]

I was thinking that too. XD

[@mateusramos7805]

Great video! I missed a little that you did not include Navier-Stokes equation though

[@Macrocompassion]

Turbulence within the boundary-layer of air speeding past a wing, is due to the failure of the laminar flow to remain stable, as the distance from the wing's leading edge and the corresponding Reynolds Number grow. If a means were to exist to stabilize this boundary-layer and stop it becoming unstable, there would be much less aerodynamic parasitic (or skin-friction) drag and this would result in big fuel savings. Proposals to achieve this range from suction of the boundary-layer, to various damping devices, to specially smooth outer surfaces, to modified wing profiles, all aimed to stop the degree of turbulence from growing. In practice these ideas have been found to be more costly than what they save, but the subject is far from over. (The video shows how turbulence breaks down into smaller vortices, but within the boundary-layer the opposite happens and the turbulence grows with increasing Reynolds Number as the air passes.) I used to work for an aircraft company that proposed the suction method, and it showed through testing on a swept wing that such a method does work and that the engineering cost of arranging the suction to be applied will save fuel and operating costs over the long-term. Other design changes to have greater wing areas and less high-lift complication for landing and take-off, were found to result in a flying-wing design that can be much more economical. But today the conservative air industry prefers to continue to waste fuel and make more pollution and avoid the costly research needed before this proposal yields some serious treatment and practical results.

[@heynando]

The guy that drew the animations of this video rocks!