How does a whip break the sound barrier? (Slow Motion Shockwave formation) - Smarter Every Day 207 

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One moment in my life I was eating spaghetti and I slurped a single noodle as fast as I could and I got whipped in the face by the end of the noodle. Thanks to this data I understand now why the spaghetti noodle acted as a bull whip.

Destin, this is some serious hardcore science! AWESOME!

That ladies kids are the most disciplined kids on Earth.

In case anyone wonders about the strange costume in the german paper at 4:11 😂 ...this is traditional carneval in southern germany, to be exact in the Region around the Black Forest. One key element in this tradition, besides the costumes, is the whip cracking to scare the winter ghosts away. Greetings from the Black Forest, Germany😉

I can break the sound barrier with a bath towel.

This is why I love the internet. You can take something as unbelievably complicated as a supersonic physics and make a compelling video simple enough for a common person to understand. Not only that, but you're showing things that are likely the world's first observations, and sharing them with the entire world

Honestly, I'm still just impressed that people figured out how to make the whip do that hundreds if not thousands of years ago. And only NOW do we understand exactly why it does that. So cool.

"She's good with whips" Me: "Continue"

"Let's make a RU-vid video!" "Let's publish research!!!!"

OMG! 40 years ago a girlfriend convinced me to join her in an evening class where we made our own braided leather bullwhips from scratch. We started with tanned hides, sliced them, shaved them, dressed the strips to precise tapers, oiled then braided them. It took a team of two about 20 hours to make both whips. Then we got to learn various techniques, from gently capturing things (we learned to wrap our whip around a balloon without popping it), to wrapping hard enough to break things (my favorite was sidewalk chalk, which exploded). But the best part was learning to crack our whips. We started by simply rolling the loop of the whip down onto the floor, where it would snap when the tip smacked down. Then we gradually added more energy, a truly small amount at a time, until it started to crack in the air. Large, graceful motions that finished with a crack. Then we learned quicker moves that brought the snap a little closer in, where we learned to place it where we wanted it. I envied the folks who were ambidextrous with their whips, because my right arm was getting ready to fall off. We wanted to see if we could capture the motion of the whip by cracking it horizontally over sand, so a few of us took our whips to the beach and tried to crack the whip horizontally within an inch of the sand. Almost impossible to do, but once in a while we did notice a puff of sand happening well before the whip had reached full extension, from a part of the whip not in contact with the sand. If only... Fast forward 25 years, and I was on the team making a camera that could take 100,000 frames per second (the Redlake HG-100K). When the third alpha unit became the first to work at full speed, we searched for targets that would both test the camera and thrill Marketing. Popping a balloon wasn't nearly fast enough. I thought back to my days with the bullwhip, and we immediately went out and bought a few. Despite dumping a zillion lumens into the field of view, nothing useful came of it. (Clearly, using Schlieren photography and capturing the shockwave is crucial.) What we did wind up doing was pointing the camera at the HID bulb in an Epson video projector (torn from the ceiling of a conference room), where we captured the most amazing video of the arc wandering between the electrodes within the bulb envelope. We put a GIF of the sequence up on our website (this was before RU-vid), which caused some small level of buzz online. The next morning we received phone calls from the Japanese executives of both Epson and Panasonic (the maker of the bulb). It turns out that arc wander was the primary factor limiting projector sharpness, so stabilizing the position of the arc was crucial to gaining any benefit from using higher-resolution LCDs. Two days later they were in our offices for a demo, and left an awesome pile of money behind when they departed with our very first beta unit. Their problem was that high-speed film limited the rate of innovation to one test run per day, with the film developed overnight: Our camera allowed them to do a dozen runs every day, leaping their R&D further ahead of the competition. You may have noticed I mentioned we had to go out and buy some bullwhips. My treasured handmade bullwhip had disintegrated within a year of making it: Evidently, the tanning process used on the leather wasn't compatible with the oil we applied to it. It sure was fun while it lasted. Now you two have got me wanting to make another one!

This made me realise that Einstein would probably have a RU-vid channel too explaining science and publishing new scientific papers

Merci le gars dans les commentaires de la vidéo de dr Nozman

4:54 destin: learning stuff

best example that everyone can relate: when you slurp on noodles and when the end of one is right before your face, it smacks you

Merci Dr Nozman

I love how... iv been watching SED for years... and a question pops in to my head, and I youtube search it... and here you are! Perfection.

I've been subscribed for almost 4 years I believe and this has to be the most interesting video you've made in my opinion. Keep up the good work!

>Goofs around with a high speed camera. >Accidentally gets a PhD in whip mechanics.

I hypothesise that the knot that helps to start the force of the air breaking, leading the waves, is just enough mass change in a quick transition towards the end of that whip that is the ultimate catalyst, seeing as how the wave suddenly goes from very little mass to a sizable addition of mass, and the frayed ends are trying to catch up to the equilibriam of pressure exerted by the wave as the sound barrier is broken. Great work on this, my science bug is wanting more. Subbed for awesome whip cracking science!

9:02 I love how he put eye protection on for this explanation

This is so freaking cool.

Hang on I just realized something.... the whip in slo mo looks exactly like the dancing inflatable guys outside of car dealerships.. SOOO if the inflatable moved fast enough... oh god SUPERSONIC INFLATABLE MEN

3:10 there's that look again. I see it so often in your videos...that spine tingling experience of discovery. I love it!

I like that Destin refer himself as 'learning stuff' instead of adding title. Humble guy :)

Contributing to research and making RU-vid videos? Dope.

I love how this escalated from messing around with high speed schlieren photography to writing a groundbreaking paper on whip dynamics.

Love your channel so much. Just a simple TY.

Nozman

This is the type of youtube channel that deserves ad revenue and sponsors because they put work in their videos, real work. Videos that are compilations of other videos do not deserve revenue

This video was absolutely fascinating, and I feel privileged to witness this development in human understanding. Had a moment in the video where I said, “wow, that’s a lot of doctors!”

when you do this, there isn't a better channel out there! Fascinating and counter-intuitive!

Asians: It's just a belt, it can't hurt anybody. The belt:

I love this! Reminds of how, in saber fencing, a professional technique is hitting the opponents blade in such a way it “whips” around. Hurts like a mother. And also makes the tip of a saber the second fastest object in the olympics, only beat by bullets.

4:19 "I'm limited by the technology of my time"

4:10 “there’s a dude in it that looks like a moose wearing bells and a clown suit” EXCUSE U HE’S CLEARLY A REINDEER 😤🎄

This was awesome never thought whips would be so interesting or come up in my recommended lol

Fantastic guys, my husband use to crack whips all the time on his farm in Australia when he was young, ( his 63yrs old now ) and always wondered what caused the crack noise, and now he knows 😊. Great work. 😊😊

The guy in the wierd suit is part of a celebration in Southern Germany. It is called 'Alemannische Fasnet'. In this tradition, people gather every spring around February for parades. The people in the parades usually wear historical costumes. Part of this custom is to make a lot of noise with bells, ratchets and sometimes also with whips.

Great work, Destin!

4:10 now this is a legendary reaction

Dude that's some of the coolest footage.

I clicked so fast my finger broke the sound barrier.

I love that scientist youtubers are friends together and not opponents.. but of course, they’re smart

+1 Si vous êtes là la suite de la vidéo de Dr Nozman ^^

My 5 year old daughter loved this video. She wanted yo see what the tiny explosion looked like that i had mentioned when she tried hitting me with a t shirt. Didnt realize this isnt a phenomenon that was often filmed. Thank you. Truly.

This was actually a lot more interesting than I thought it would be.

“I think all this whip business is a reason for you to explore *pause*” Hold up now

really great work! You should totally publish this!

This is why I love this channel. I thought I knew how this worked and therefore there was nothing I could learn from it, and was absolutely incorrect

9:39 dabbed so hard he teleported.

We went from Smarter Every Month to Smarter Every Week. In a few years we’ll finally have a literal Smarter Everyday

For me, one of the best experiments you did.

I liked this video, at 8 mins 25 seconds when I realized how the whip looks like it holding the shock wave like it was a ball , and the Shockwave got bigger the further it traveled the whip. And it wasn't until the tip of the whip started coming out of loop at the end . The force behind the whip loop grew stronger and then there wasn't enough whip material left at the beginning of the shock wave to hold back that collection of energy from the speed f the whip. I looked at the Shockwave as it's water and you could cast out a tarp into water . And pulling in the tarp is the same has the whip being extended, so as the whipped travel in the air it collected energy in the from of are atmosphere atoms of oxygen an nitrogen. But the whip velocity and it material is able to pick up enough atmosphere particles at the beginning of the Shockwave released all those atmospheric particle and a high speed which is what creates the Shockwave it's self , cause you need sometype of substance there to be big enough and fast enough to break the atoms in the atmosphere apart.

This 11:21 minutes flew by as if the video was just 1 minute long

The moment you realized you just watched history being made.

Absolutely love the enthusiasm here.

I love this guy and his findings!!

Interesting, now how can we apply this to space travel.

!!!! What the heeeckkk!!!! I thought this was going to be an easy answer! Then the video kept getting deeper and deeper as the mystery kept on raveling and unraveling and I got more and more confused as I realized that I know less and less and I've never been more excited to know that I know nothing! I had NO idea that a whip could be such an incredibly beautiful and complicated piece of artistry. Think about that! We have jetpacks and lasers and cars in space and still do not understand how whips work. This is so exciting and cool to me that I can't even explain it.

Loved it!

I like your content. It makes interesting and difficult science accessable and understandable for many people without losing quality in content. I'm not a physicist but could it at the last moment when the end of the whip is like being dragged its because it breaks the sound barrier and therefore encounters less air resistance. I like when the barrier is broken the forces are not held back and thats why it seems like its getting pulled. Would love to see an update on the whip science :D

3:40 Oh wow, you can actually see the shock wave initiate. You're literally seeing it as it goes from subsonic, to transonic to supersonic, right? That's incredible

When you kinky and scientific at the same time😏

really great Thanks for taking the time to make the video, it was really interresting......

The joy of your discoveries is MAGICAL! Thank you for sharing your incredible insights and discoveries. We are ALL smarter today.

Fighter Jets: we can break the sound barrier THE whip: well That's cute

This is the sound when your Mexican dad takes out the belt

One of the best ones yet! Amazing work @smartereveryday !

I agree that the hypersonic movement is caused by the acceleration of the tip and that the acceleration is caused by conservation of momentum and the decreasing diameter (or, more exactly, mass density) of the whip along its length toward the tip. But I think the acceleration is still high even if the diameter or density is constant along the length of the whip. This is because of the following fact. At any time during whipping, we can devide the whip into two parts the upper part (near the tip) and the lower part (near the hand). The main momentum is generated by only the upper part because the lower part is almost stationary during whipping. Due to the law of conservation of momentum, the upper part has to speed up because the length (and mass) is decreasing during whipping. The rate of relative decrease of mass of upper part is, in fact, accelerating toward the end of the whipping process, which results in accelerating rate of relative increase of the speed.

just make sure to include the part that almost anything can be used as a whip so the dynamics must work even if the weight and length doesn't decrease further along. So cool!

Well, I learned something

0:33 really thought he was gonna say “sadism”

thank you this video 🌸

Just two guys having fun... i love it 😆

9:02 **wears goggles in car for dangerous demonstration**

3:07 I love how they both freak out at science at the same time lol

Everyone in the world should be subscribed to this channel. Never settle with the knowledge you have today. Everyday day you should be striving for more

Love this channel!

I got to experience this phenomenon firsthand when I picked my wife up for our first date. She was still drying her hair with a towel and she thought it would be cute to throw the towel at me. So I thought it would be cute to pretend that I was going to “whip” it at her. With a lazy motion I whipped the towel towards her but unfortunately that towel conserved energy perfectly. The crack was so loud that I am pretty sure it broke the sound barrier and left A bruise on her bottom even through her jeans. And with all that we were still married a few years later and have been for over 18 years. 😄

This guy would be the best physics teacher.

Love the reenactment.

Such a beautiful study of such a simple mechanism :)

My wife pulled a vacuum cord out of a wall just like that whip. It came flying smack dead right on her nose it ended up breaking it and giving her 2 black yes. Now I can tell he it was fluid dynamics that broke her nose. GO SCIENCE!!!!

That was awesome! A little channel called Peninsula Seniors has a bunch of lectures from quite a few SR-71 pilots with their personal stories of flying the plane. Really good stuff for Blackbird fans.

After watching sooooomany videos of u......i think u deserve a price...something to honor your work for us. thx man

Dustin... I LOVE the way you LOVE science...... I am 60 years old and wish I had you as a teacher I would have loved science a lot more that saying... DUDE WHAT HAVE YOU DONE!!!!

I'm watching this thing develop and grow... It's amazing

Great video! I recently learned how to crack a whip. The other day it was pretty cold, and I cracked it. My brother and I both saw a little cloud of condensation near where the crack started. The only explanation we can think of is that it was a small vapour cone, like at the nose of a fighter jet. If you plan to do another video about whip dynamics, it would be incredible if you mentioned that, and looked into it a bit more. (I would, but I don't have access to the same sort of setup as you) Thanks!

I think that this video deserves an update from 2021, to see if they have had any revelations and have a greater understanding, or to redo this in a somehow more advanced environment.

incredible episode

Wow, a perfect video, even the plug for Audible was informative and captivating. Love your work, and the fact you seem to enjoy it so much. Keep it up.

I just watched a video starring a pretty lady with a whip. It was about science.

I love watching your older stuff and hearing you recommend books that I have already read. We have very similar interests. Skunkworks is one of my favorite books. It is not only an interesting story of the U2 and SR-71, but it is also a master class in project management and overcoming unexpected challenges.

What a great video as always! you had my sub from the first vid I ever saw!!! She is incredible!

Your child like enthusiasm for the simple things in life is contagious. Lol. I love your videos.

This is insane. Please do an update video for us to let us know how this turns out!

Amazing!

That’s so cool!

9:23 to BREAKTHESPEEDOF SPOUND