Welcome


The title says it all: this blog features physics videos found everywhere on the web: animations, demonstrations, lectures, documentaries.
Please go here if you want to suggest other nice physics videos, and here if I mistakingly infringed your copyrights. If you understand French, you'll find a huge selection of physics videos in French in my other blog Vidéos de Physique.

Saturday 28 July 2012

Amusing Surface Tension Experiment

How does soap change the surface tension of water?

 

Work - Sixty Symbols

A rubber band and hair dryer are used to explain the concept of work.

Other Sixty Symbols videos

IDTIMWYTIM: Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle

The Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle might not mean what you think it means: Hank clears things up for us in this edition of IDTIMWYTIM, by distinguishing between the Uncertainty Principle and the Observer Effect, which are often conflated.

Other Sci-Show videos

 

Thursday 26 July 2012

Science off the Sphere: Astro Puffs

In his off duty time, NASA Astronaut Don Pettit explores the physics of water in a weightless environment. Published as a collaboration between NASA and the American Physical Society.

This time:  waves and refraction with a big sphere of water.

Other Science off the Sphere videos

Higgs Boson Part III: How to Discover a Particle

How do you know when you've "discovered" a particle? What do we mean by "discovery"?

Other Minute Physics videos

Wednesday 25 July 2012

Hewitt-Drew-it! 5. Nellie hanging on Gym Ropes

Paul shows two different ways of solving vector problems; resolution of vectors and the parallelogram method. Paul also shows a pulley problem.

Other Hewitt-Drew-it! videos

Standing Waves Generator - Vernier

Relationship between Frequency and Wavelength in a Standing Wave.

 

Feather in Vacuum - Backstage Science

Dropping a feather and metal balls in a vacuum chamber to see what gravity is really all about... The astronaut David Scott performed a similar experiment on the Moon with a hammer and feather.

 More Backstage Science at http://www.backstagescience.com/

 

Monday 23 July 2012

Cryogenic Experiments on Passive and Active Electronic Components

In this episode, Shahriar investigates the theory and experimental results of the impact of extreme low temperatures on passive and active components. Liquid Nitrogen in used in a transparent glass Dewar where different components can be fully submerged in the liquid. Various types of resistors are compared for their temperature stability. An electromagnet which uses Copper coils is used to generate a magnetic field at a constant power consumption at both extreme temperatures. The impact of liquid nitrogen on the junction voltage of an NPN device is measured as well as the frequency shift of a CMOS ring oscillator. Finally, the wavelength shift of an LED submerged in liquid nitrogen is studied.

 

Saturday 21 July 2012

Absolute Zero: Absolute Awesome

Hank explains absolute zero: -273.15 degrees Celsius - and the coldest place in the known universe may surprise you.

Other Sci-Show videos

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Hewitt-Drew-it! 4: Nellie's Rope Tensions

Paul Hewitt explains how vectors are used to figure out forces and equilibrium. Paul uses a parallelogram rule to find resultant tensions.

Other Hewitt-Drew-it! videos

 

Falling into Black Holes (NEWS) - Sixty Symbols

Two new scientific papers look like changing the way we think about event horizons and what happens when you cross one - as Dr Tony Padilla explains. The papers are at http://arxiv.org/pdf/1207.3123.pdf and http://arxiv.org/pdf/1207.4090.pdf

Other Sixty Symbols videos

Friday 20 July 2012

Science off the Sphere: Spring Theory

How do you measure mass in a weightless environment? NASA Astronaut Don Pettit demonstrates as part of a collaboration between NASA and the American Physical Society.

Other Science off the Sphere videos

Terminal Velocity

The terminal velocity of an object is the speed at which the force of drag equals the force of gravity on that object.

Other Sci-Show videos

 

Thursday 19 July 2012

Hewitt-Drew-it! 3:Net Force & Vectors

Paul Hewitt explains how vectors are used to figure out forces and equilibrium.

Other Hewitt-Drew-it! videos

 

Wednesday 18 July 2012

Colliding Particles - Episode 7: Data

The 7th in a series of films following a team of physicists involved in research at the Large Hadron Collider at CERN in Switzerland.

We're back on the Eurostar as Jon, Gavin and Adam travel to the ICHEP conference in Paris for the announcement of first results from the LHC. It's the culmination of over 20 years work and the first step on the road to many years of new discoveries at the LHC.

Post-ICHEP, Gavin moves to Geneva, Adam finishes his PhD), and Jon continues the fight.

 
Colliding Particles - Episode 7: Data from Mike Paterson on Vimeo.

Colliding Particles - Episode 6: Beam

The 6th in a series of films following a team of physicists involved in research at the Large Hadron Collider at CERN in Switzerland.

 'Beam' looks at the role of competition in science and joins the night shift on the CMS detector.

 
Colliding Particles - Episode 6: Beam from Mike Paterson on Vimeo.

Tuesday 17 July 2012

Colliding Particles - Episode 5: Collidonomics

The fifth in a series of films following a team of physicists involved in research at the new Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN in Switzerland.

This episode looks at the issue of funding, has an update on the status of the ATLAS experiment, joins Gavin in the mountains, and continues to follow the progress of the 'Eurostar' idea within ATLAS.


Colliding Particles - Episode 5: Collidonomics from Mike Paterson on Vimeo.

Colliding Particles - Episode 4: Problems

The fourth in a series of films following a team of physicists involved in research at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN in Switzerland. 'Problems' travels to Paris for a look at some of the theoretical work behind the 'Eurostar' paper. Gavin and his PhD student Mathieu explore the mathematics behind the behaviour of fundamental particles, and we have an update on the 'incident' which is holding up work at the LHC.

 
Colliding Particles - Episode 4: Problems from Mike Paterson on Vimeo.

Monday 16 July 2012

Colliding Particles - Episode 3: Conference Season

The third in a series of films following a team of physicists involved in research at the new Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN in Switzerland.

Visit the project website at collidingparticles.com.

Jon travels to Philadelphia to present the Eurostar paper to ICHEP. Held every 2 years, the International Conference on High Energy Physics is the most prestigious conference in particle physics, and brings together the worlds leading theorists and experimentalists for a week of discussions and sharing of ideas.


 
Colliding Particles - Episode 3: Conference Season from Mike Paterson on Vimeo.

Colliding Particles - Episode 2: Big Bang Day

The second in a series of films following a team of physicists involved in research at the new Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN in Switzerland.

Visit the project website at collidingparticles.com . At 10.28am on 10 September 2008 the first beam of protons was successfully steered around the full 27 kilometres of the world’s most powerful particle accelerator.

Episode 2 introduces us to life at CERN and the excitement surrounding 'Big Bang Day'.

 
Colliding Particles - Episode 2: Big Bang Day from Mike Paterson on Vimeo.

Sunday 15 July 2012

Colliding Particles - Episode 1: Codename Eurostar

The first in a series of films following a team of physicists involved in research at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN in Switzerland.

Gavin, Jon and Adam have a cunning plan to find the Higgs Boson, an elusive particle which physicists have been trying to find for over 40 years. One of the main aims of the the LHC is to discover once and for all whether the Higgs actually exists or not, and ‘Eurostar’ might just hold the key to finding out… Visit collidingparticles.com to found out more.


 
Colliding Particles - Episode 1: Codename Eurostar from Mike Paterson on Vimeo.

Space Elevators

Hank talks about space elevators, and why we shouldn't expect to see one any time soon.

Other Sci-Show videos

 

Saturday 14 July 2012

Eddy Current Brake

A spinning copper disc is slowed down when a magnet is brought near it. Note that copper is not a magnetic material. Eddy currents are induced in the disc due to the relative motion of the disc and the magnet. The magnetic fields associated with these currents have such a direction that they oppose the cause that created them in the first place (Lenz rule). As a result they oppose the relative motion between the disc and the magnet and hence the disc is slowed down.

Other videos by Horatiu Pop


Eddy Current Brake from Horatiu Pop on Vimeo.

Weekend Projects - Bottle Radio

Crystal radio technology has been around for many years. This "bottle radio" take on a crystal radio requires no power source, operates on the power from radio waves, and receives signal from a long wire antenna. As radio stations slowly move away from the AM band, the "window of opportunity" to experience this remarkable technology is dwindling. The "crystal" in question is contained inside a germanium diode, and is used to rectify the radio signal so that our ears can hear it.

 

Friday 13 July 2012

ScienceCasts: The First Extraterrestrial Marathon

More than 8 years after landing on the Red Planet, Mars rover Opportunity is still running. Indeed, mission planners say the tireless robot is poised to complete a full marathon--the first ever long-distance race on an alien planet.

 

Higgs Boson Discovery! We think?

Hank gives us the specifics on the "discovery" of the elusive Higgs boson. It is, at the very least, a victory for the scientific method!

Other Sci-Show videos

 

Thursday 12 July 2012

Wednesday 11 July 2012

Hewitt-Drew-it! 1: Equilibrium Rule

Paul G.Hewitt (author of "Conceptual Physics") explains equilibrium by drawings so everyone can understand the topic. This is the first in a series.

Other Hewitt-Drew-it! videos

 

The Higgs Boson, Part II: What is Mass?

What is mass and what does it have to do with the Higgs Boson?

Other Minute Physics videos

Tuesday 10 July 2012

Argonne nuclear pioneers: Chicago Pile 1

On December 2, 1942, 49 scientists, led by Enrico Fermi, made history when Chicago Pile 1 (CP-1) went critical and produced the world's first self-sustaining, controlled nuclear chain reaction. Seventy years later, two of the last surviving CP-1 pioneers, Harold Agnew and Warren Nyer, recall that historic day.

 

Simulation of Magnetic Domains

A large number of compass needles are mounted on a Plexiglass sheet. A bar magnet is used to set the needles in motion. When the needles come to a stop, interaction between the needles simulates magnetic domains.

See other MIT physics demos

Monday 9 July 2012

Fiber Optic Bundle

The image of printed words is transmitted through a bundle of approximately 25,000 coherent optical fibers and projected onto a screen.

See other MIT physics demos

Sunday 8 July 2012

Fermilab Accelerator Technology

There are more than 30,000 particle accelerators in operation around the world. At Fermilab, scientists are collaborating with other laboratories and industry to optimize the manufacturing processes for a new type of powerful accelerator that uses superconducting niobium cavities. Experimenting with unique polishing materials, a Fermilab team has now developed an efficient and environmentally friendly way of creating cavities that can propel particles with more than 30 million volts per meter.

 

Saturday 7 July 2012

Real plutonium

We're given special access to various plutonium compounds at the National Nuclear Laboratory, in Sellafield. A chance to meet the "Hannibal Lecter of the Periodic Table". In part this video shows how plutonium is extracted from nuclear fuel waste.

 

Scientific Searches' Statistics Explained

Searching for the Higgs boson and other particles requires scientists to take into account statistics and probability in their analyses. Fermilab physicist Don Lincoln explains these concepts using simple dice.

 

Friday 6 July 2012

Ian Hinchliffe Answers Your Higgs Boson Questions

Ian Hinchliffe, a theoretical physicist who heads Berkeley Lab's sizable contingent with the ATLAS experiment at CERN, answers many of your questions about the Higgs boson.

 

Thursday 5 July 2012

LHC collision event at CMS showing two photons -- 8 TeV (CMS Higgs search)

Real CMS events in which two photons (dashed lines and yellow towers) are observed in proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 8 TeV. The event shows characteristics expected from the decay of a Higgs boson but is also consistent with background Standard Model physics processes.

 

Observation of a New Particle with a Mass of 125 GeV

CMS Spokesperson Joe Incandela talks about the observation of a new particle by CMS.

 At a seminar held at CERN on July 4, as a curtain raiser to the year's major particle physics conference, ICHEP2012 in Melbourne, CMS presented the collaboration's latest preliminary results in the search for the long-sought Higgs particle. The experiment observes a new particle in the mass region around 125 GeV.

 

The Higgs Boson, Part I

First Minute Physics video about the Higgs Boson (two more to come).

Other Minute Physics videos

Wednesday 4 July 2012

Higgs Boson Experimental Discovery at CERN

Director General of CERN, Rolf Heuer, and the head scientists from the ATLAS and CMS at CERN in Geneva gives a conference on the discovery of the Higgs Boson at a rest mass energy of 126.5 GeV at a 4.9 confidence level (the maximum limit being 5) . This confidence level, in experimental physics, constitutes a discovery with 98% probability of certainty, making it the first true discovery of the Higgs Boson in human history.

 This is the whole press conference.

 

Interview to prof. Peter Higgs about the latest results on the searches for the Higgs boson

Peter Higgs answers questions about his feelings following the announcement of the discovery of a new particle by ATLAS and CMS that looks like the Higgs boson, at a seminar at CERN on July 4, 2012. He also explains his role in the proposal of a Higgs mechanism. (The video ends abruptly!)

 

Joe Incandela talks about the Higgs Boson

Joe Incandela, CMS Spokesperson, on CMS progress on the search for the Higgs Boson.

 

The Higgs for me

"They got sentimental when thinking of Higgs" - Physicists give their thoughts on the Higgs Boson: including Nobel Prize winners Gerhard 't Hooft, David Gross, George Charpak, Jerome Friedman, Murray Gell-Mann plus Vivek Sharma, Guido Tonelli and Gigi Rolandi (CMS), Eilam Gross and Joao Guimaraes da Costa (ATLAS) and theoretical physicists Guido Altarelli and John Ellis.

 

Rolf Heuer on the results of the Higgs searches at ATLAS and CMS July 4 2012.

Rolf Heuer, CERN Director General, answers questons on the results of the Higgs searches at ATLAS and CMS, July 4 2012, his personal feelings of the importance of the results and its implications on CERN and particle physics.

 

Tuesday 3 July 2012

Boaz Almog "levitates" a superconductor

How can a super-thin, three-inch disk levitate something 70,000 times its own weight? In a riveting, futuristic demonstration, Boaz Almog shows how a phenomenon known as quantum locking allows a superconductor disk to float over a magnetic rail -- completely frictionlessly and with zero energy loss.

Other TED Talks

Monday 2 July 2012

What is the Higgs boson? John Ellis, theoretical physicist

John Ellis answer the question What is the Higgs boson? in preparation for the press conference following the seminar on LHC 2012 results on the Higgs boson searches, due on July 4 2012 at CERN.

 

Sunday 1 July 2012