The experiment that revealed the atomic world: Brownian Motion
2024 ж. 28 Ақп.
2 284 459 Рет қаралды
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Brownian motion was the first visual evidence of Atoms and Molecules. Einstein was able to show that the mass of atoms could be calculated by watching the particles jiggle
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EDIT: KZhead's compression algorithm seems to have obliterated the smoke jiggles at around 1:00. That combined with an OLED screen makes it look like a black screen! I don't think there's much I can do to be honest so I'm going to leave it up! I didn't get into John Dalton in this video. He noticed that chemical reactions always happened in small whole number ratios of mass. From that he hypothesised the existence of atoms. But Brownian motion is arguably the first direct evidence.
Thank you Steve, excellent video, I love the way you present things in such a clear and concise way which creates such intrigue from your viewers.
I know you explained moles before but are Dalton's observations similar to how they work?
*"brownie in motion"* gotta love those YT closed captions
How do we know that the same amount of atoms are in each syringe? It doesn't make sense.
@@Blackmark52It is by appetite alone I set my brownie in motion.
The particle jiggle is actually just floating-point rounding errors in the simulation of the universe.
I prefer this explanation
It can be exacerbated if the operating system only uses integers
L
Anytime I read up on either atomic scale things or quantum mechanics the universe just ends up seeming more like a simulation.
@@oliverer3Quantum tunneling is just a precision error in the collision detection algorithm.
To be very precise, and to avoid any possible confusion, at 10:19 each syringe doesn't contain 100 million trillion atoms, but 100 million trillion particles of the gas - be they N2 particles, or Ar particles, or CO2 particles, or a mixture of atoms and molecules as in air. This always blew my mind, and the physics behind it is so simple and elegant. Another really great video by Steve.
Ooh, thanks for making that important distinction.
There's also a small mistake just beforehand, where he states at room temperature 22.4 litres contain one Avogadro's number of molecules, but that's the value for 0 °C. It's 24 litres at room temperature.
I was about to comment this too
It's not that big a difference when the molecules are that simple, not even a full order of magnitude.
How about solid stuff like metals? Does a 1dm³ block of steel has the same amount of particles as 1dm³ of Aluminium?
It's a good marker for how brilliant Einstein was to say that his 3rd greatest achievement was to prove atoms exist.
@@miked8497as your pupil? Most of what you know about modern science is due to Albert Einstein, assuming there were enough things you could teach him if you were alive back then is incredibly egotistical. You are assuming you would be better than one of the greatest minds in modern science, what makes overinflation of one’s importance
His 3rd greatest achievement THAT YEAR. Who but Einstein has the ability to "correct" Newton on such a fundamental and pervasive scale?
@@herbpowell343 well no one believed him until the eddington experiment. he was a nobody. einstein was catapulted to fame overnight. So back then "einstein" meant nothing to anyone.
Or fourth, even: general relativity is a pretty big deal, too. And the EPR paradox took 30 years to explain, so that one was pretty important as well. There's a reason that Einstein was Time's man of the 20th century.
Sorry wasn't there a paper about 2 Phase viscosity also?
"Anus mirror balls"?! Steve, you are my FAVORITE science educator, and dumb jokes like this are just icing on the cake.
The deadpan on that was amazing! Now I'll be looking for a context where I can use "anus mirrorballs!" as an exclamation of wonder and amazement.
@@clinthall9011 I thought this was hilarious as well hahaha buuut unluckiy for you guys I think there was an error in translation here, annus mirabilis should actually translate to "Wonderful year" or "Admirable year" from Latin to English, nothing refers to either anuses or balls hahaha
I thought anus mirrorballs was an accident at the disco
Uranus is my favourite planet. Año milagroso. Admirabilis.
1:06 Me watching this outside in bright sunlight and low streaming quality: Oh course, very obvious.
chinburn incoming
I can barely see it in on my phone in bed lmao
Einstein figured out how to count a pixel in our 3d simulation
I'm an idiot, I kept hearing "Brownie in motion" at first and I was wondering how Einstein used a Brownie to do science
No no, that's the Universal Perspective Vortex
The famous thought experiment where you have two brownies on a moving train ...
Neat stuff! Brownian motion will feature prominently in my next video also. It really is pretty amazing how large the particles can be before the forces average. Really like the vibrating plate demo.
Thanks! Looking forward to it!
I keep hearing, "Brownie in motion" and getting a craving for Thin Mints.
Veritasium did one as well. Is March Brownian motion month?
@SteveMould, I’ve been told I’ve been messed up by mold hyphae in brownian motion carrying toxins from bacteria in water damaged buildings. There is an ERMI test that was used to classify buildings that have had water damage by looking at proportions of different mold DNA. It might be BS or it might be causing a lot of people cognitive problems.
Why do youtubers all copy each other at the same time?
One piece of intuition missing from the video is that Brownian motion is thermal energy. The more heat, the more motion.
Or vice versa.
@@Hei1Bao4 That sounds like it implies that they are correlated rather than merely two representations of the same phenomenon.
I thought it was kinetic energy 😅
@@DanKaschelreally? i felt just like that when i read your original post, but i think it’s just because my brain doesn’t like the term ’thermal energy’ because it feels like it abstracts away the fact that it’s only kinetic with my previous idea of heat/hotness. am i crazy?
@@Arcflow_ at that scale, kinetic and thermal energy are the same thing
It's not the oils in the Ouzo forming an emulsion. The major flavour component of aniseed is methoxybenzene which is soluble in ethanol but poorly soluble in water. When enough water is added, the methoxybenzene comes out of solution as tiny particles in suspension. It's not an emulsion; that would require something to stabilise micelles.
I now know what you're talking about: go Organic Chem! Be there, or be... cyclobutane.
Well done, but he actually published 5 papers in 1905, his annus mirabilis. These were 1) On the Electrodynamics of Moving. Bodies (Special Relativity) 2) Does the Inertia of a Body Depend on its Energy Content (a study of the consequences of the first reference, where he derived the equivalence of mass and energy i..e. e = mc^2. 3) On the Heuristic Point of View Concerning the Production and Transformation of Light (the photoelectric effect, that ushered in the quantum revolution and his 1921 Nobel Prize) 4) A New Determination of Molecular Dimensions, used to calculate Avogadro's Number and the size of molecules. This paper was in fact a summary of his doctoral dissertation. 5) On the Motion of Small Particles Suspended in Liquids at Rest Required by the Molecular-Kinetic Theory of Heat, which explained Brownian motion as the result of molecular collisions. This insight did in fact lead to a second Nobel Prize in 1926 to Jean Perrin. The five papers are collected together with annotations by John Stachel and a foreword by Roger Penrose, called "Einstein's Miraculous Year"
Sure, Einstein!
Five papers in one year?! ANUS MIRROR-BALLS!!!
Anus Mirrorballs indeed.
In 1905 Einstein finally hit that anus... quite an accomplishment yo. :D :D
In 1905 Einstein finally hit that ass... quite an accomplishment yo. :D :D
Did I just Derek you?! But you went into way more depth and it was fascinating! Kudos, this might just be your Anus Mirrorballs!!
Another Anus instead of an Annus
A mild Derek on this occasion! Glad you liked it. Loved the trading video!
WHAT ARE ANUS MIRRORballs?????
I was thinking of Dr. Muller during this video. There isn’t much overlap. Both are great in their own right. I admire the breadth of Dr. Muller’s topics and the practical demonstrations of Mr. Mould. You are complimentary in SciComm. Keep up the great work!
Hah, my first thought was also that Steve got slightly Dereked 😁 Perhaps you could link to this video in the description of yours for those interested in a deeper dive on Brownian motion as atonement 🤔
9:38 That's not even a Dad joke, that's a grandpa-level joke... and I love it.
I couldn't believe that was in the video. I thought maybe I was having a stroke listening to that, I had to tab over and listen again (and watch).
@@dotancohen Same with me, I didn't know this level of intellectual subterfuge was even allowed on KZhead 😆
That's what I really like about Steve's videos. Very fast paced, serious and highly informative, but occasionally, out of nowhere, some ridiculous silliness with the deadpan delivery only a Brit can do justice
that was so dumb actually how cringe
@@user-bd6yi5gj9o get off our lawn!
Your style, cadence, and knowledge come together to make videos on complex subjects that are easy to understand and that make learning enjoyable. And I appreciate that you get straight to the point without dawdling about. Thank you for an excellent channel.
If you are interested in looking inside of quartz or other crystals, there are many very simple, cheap ways of doing it. We do it in the lab, and there are plenty of papers that actually look at the water within crystals as they tell us a great about about the time at formation of the crystals. We do it for glass inclusions as well. Reach out to a research geologist, and I'm sure someone would be happy to help with your demonstrations, including myself.
Excellent video Steve! As an MRI radiographer, we study Brownian motion in many of our patients using diffusion weighted imaging. Your explanation here has improved my understanding, thank you!
Med student here (intern almost done), I always asked myself how difussion and MRI worked together specially because I look at the images and they seem like they're still when in reality everything moves, specially if you take into account heart beats and respiration and the biomechanics of it (e.g. in the brain, because it's and organ that's surrounded by CSF, perfused by arteries and drained by veins, 3 hydrodimamic systems that vary in pressures, velocity, viscosity, etc.); this kind of questions made me think that I want to be a biomedical engineer just to understand how things work
@@noctisumbra4656 diffusion of water affects its magnetic field, regardless of macroscopic movement
Hmm... that makes me want to be an MRI radiographer!
As a Greek, I was especially touched by the "ouzo effect" (and the "Ouzo 12" bottle appearing pouring the liquid)! I had never thought is as a scientific tool - I think I'm going to start experimenting with it, right on!!! 😎😎
opa!
There's another "Ouzo effect" that usually occurs after abut 2am. Completely different though.
The ouzo effect is when you wake up next to a fat and you cant remember her name.
make sure you remember the experiment hahaha
ew, ouzo
I did a presentation on Brownian Motion during while studying physics in college. Nice to see it get some more attention.
Thank you for finally explaining this mystery to me. When I was 9 years old, I was asked about Brownian Motion in a physics exam and I had no idea. It was the very first F I got and it's been haunting me for almost 20 years now
I almost failed a university physics class and it almost caused some Brownian Motion in my trousers!
Yeah, right, you got this in a 3rd grade physics exam and did not find out for yourself for 20 years.. Totally not BS.
As a chemistry researcher I use Einstein's diffusion equations all the /2D
Very good. What does the mean though?
Average
At room temperature (22-23°C) a mol of an ideal gas occupies about 24 liters. 22.414 liters is the volume at the "Standard" temperature and pressure of 0°C and 1 atmosphere. Standard is a misnomer because there are dozens of STPs around the world, so at the national institute of science and technology, a mol of gas at STP occupies 22.414 liters, to the International union of pure and applied chemistry the figure is 22.711, and at the US environmental protection agency it's 24.47. An unbelievable number of phone calls every year is exchanged between worried junior scientists who can't figure out why two gas flow measurements aren't lining up by almost exactly 9%
Isn't part of that diversity due to the fact that the pre-1982 STP is zero Celsius & 1 atm., while the post-1982 metric (really SI) STP uses zero Celsium & 100 kPa pressure instead of the previous 1 atm pressure (which is equal to 101.325 kPa)?
I always enjoy hearing you recount the process of coming up with the right model for the video.
Steve, mate I cannot express how much I appreciate your videos. It’s like you make the perfect videos for the questions my brain hasn’t asked/been bothered to look into myself yet. Thanks
The random motion of atoms and free electrons in a conductor, which causes Briwnian motion in fluids, also causes random “thermal” noise in a conductor, with a voltage amplitude proportional to the resistance of the conductor and its Kelvin temperature. This is used to “squelch” radio receivers when no one is transmitting on a channel.
Is the term Brownian motion used for fluids only, or does the term apply when dealing with solids also. When you say you can squelch it, is that because you are increasing the noise so that the signal is lost? Why do you want to squelch a radio receiver that no one is transmitting on.. wouldnt you squelch one that is being transmitted on?.. and is this how radio signals are jammed, by causing an increase in thermal noise at the receiver/transmitter? Lastly, PC's sometimes have a temp sensitive part that is used to generate a random number by (I think) letting the voltage of the noise represent a 0 or a 1 in binary. Is this how that type of RNG operates?
no such thing as random, more mumbo jumbo bs
@@-iloveyouat the scale of electrons, there certainly is randomness. The proof for that is so fundamental that you don't even have to rely on the correctness of quantum mechanics to show it. It's at the heart of the emerging technology of unconditionally secure quantum key distribution, for example.
@@-iloveyou first off, if you're just being a pedant, substitute the word "stochastic" in place of random and fuck off. Second, randomness most certainly does exist. But yes, you certainly did just say mumbo jumbo. Proud of you buddy.
@@neutra__l8525 In a solid that conducts electric current, some of the electrons are free to move among the atoms, and thus behave like a fluid. The term “squelch” refers to silencing the random noise resulting from the random motion of electrons that comes from the speaker between transmissions, which is very annoying, especially in sensitive FM communications receivers. Basically, a receiver sensitive enough to hear the stations you wish to talk to will, between calls, produce a very loud “white” noise if the audio is left on at a normal volume. When a coherent signal comes in, the math of how FM detectors work overwhelms or “quiets” the noise. Since the noise has frequency components above the range of signals that are deliberately transmitted, part of the detector output is tapped off, amplified in the “noise amplifier” (that is its actual name), and rectified to produce a DC bias voltage proportional to the amount of noise detected. When that DC voltage reaches a certain level (which can usually be adjusted with a knob), the audio amplifier is cut off, or “squelched.” When a call comes in on a channel, the noise drops below the threshold, and the audio comes on. When the transmission stops, after a fraction of a second called the “squelch tail,” which sounds like a short burst of white noise, the audio cuts off again. Many applications, such as police and fire radios, aircraft radios (they are usually AM, but a similar system works with AM also), or even two or more “ham” operators talking, require a frequency to be monitored for occasional calls, and the squelch makes monitoring much less stressful, and allows the use of audio for other purposes while waiting.
At around 10:00 you fill the syringes and say that the number of ATOMS is the same, but from my memory, what you mean is the number of gas MOLECULES, since CO2 has more atoms than O2 an less atoms than He, the number of atoms would be different, no? PV=nrT where N is the "number of particles"
n is actually the number of moles of particles, with one mole being Avogadros number of particles. But you are right, Steve should have said “particles” not “atoms”.
Yeah, also immediately noticed that and went straight to the comments! 😉
@@DonnieX6 Proud of myself; I only got a C in college chemistry, and even I caught that one.
Your videos always get me hooked and make feel like I learned something important. Keep up the good work!
Thank you Steve for providing answers to the questions I have always wondered about throughout my life. I love your willingness to experiment to always find a way to explain complex ideas. I and I would imagine plenty of others are grateful for your channel and your passion for science! Much love 🫶🏽
You should do the Millikan oil drop experiment next. I did it 2nd year of college Physics. It's a pretty amazingly simple experiment that determines the mass and charge of an electron with oil mist.
You can definitely measure the diffusion coefficient of electrons and holes in semiconductors. A field in which Einstein's work is used regularly. Bipolar transistors and thryristors work due to this diffusion. It is nice to see a video to credit this work of Einstein which I used to use daily and is way less popular than relativity and photoelectric effect. What a genius Einstein was.
You reminded me why I love this channel so thanks!
This video made the study of diffusion and mass transfer more appealing, thank you. It's awesome to see how equations from the "mundane" world can take us to a better understanding of much more things.
8:22, I was recently telling this to people, hearing from you is also nice. Measuring things that are too small, or too big, or too fast, or too something, is done by matching the observations we made with things we can carefully measure.
so well put together this. In your inimitable understated way, you ignite the fire of inquiry and stunned admiration ... That Einstein guy - the Boss.
Nope, Sir Isaac Newton remains the absolute BOSS in physics and mathematics. The man invented calculus, just to solve some other problem. Einstein comes a good second though.
@@paulmichaelfreedman8334 .. it's an opinion. I used to rate N above E but I've come to reverse that order. Strictly speaking N was only refining the ideas put forward by Archimedes; in the same way, E had to teach himself/develop some rather advanced maths (curvature of spacetime) and adapt it to GR. As I say it's an opinion. GOAT discussions are never conclusive !!!
@@tensor131 Can't argue with that :)
This was a great episode. Always fun to see how basic observations can lead to deep insights.
Nice video, Steve! Here are some more simulations of Brownian motion: kzhead.info/sun/irmzhc6bg3Oggqc/bejne.html kzhead.info/sun/jbitibZlaJWoiHk/bejne.html
My particles don’t jiggle jiggle, they fold… 😂
I like to see you wiggle, wiggle...
I like to see it wiggle wiggle, for sure
would be interesting to see a demo of how brownian motion changes when temperature increases and decreases. intuition says it would speed up and slow down, respectively
Just watched the Veritasium video earlier this week and it's really interesting to see a different side of the story. Fantastic video as always Steve
Thanks-brilliantly presented!😊
Solved the Jane st. puzzle. Took a bit to logic my way through it but it's very similar to a sudoku puzzle.
I got DRTAE, but it's wrong apparently. Where is my mistake?
@@alexdavidouskiR should be a P You can't do diagonals. Also the routes are not in order but if you trace them out on the grid, you can read them left to right, top down on the grid it self. Very close though.
Thanks,@@brandonfrancey5592! I realized that I misread the code now.
brownie in motion brownie in motion brownie in motion.. can't unhear it
Thanks for your videos!! Always good stuff!! Always learning!
Great video. Glad I watched it. Glad you posted.
When I taught physics I used Lycopodium powder in water to show Brownian motion. It worked a treat.
No joke Einstein could’ve won a Nobel for each of those three discoveries. They only gave him one. At least the NBA gave Michael Jordan 5 MVP awards!
Most fascinating, thank you for the wonderful walk through
Beautiful stuff, and I thank you grandly!
5:10 we certainly gonna need more context on how your hands got blue
Benjamin Franklin figured out the size of oil molecules by pouring a drop onto a still pond and measuring the surface area.
Woah, the ball bearing visual was super helpful. Thank you Steve!
Fantastic work! Thanks Steve. 🙂
10:33 should say, "100 million trillion molecules" since Air is a mixture of gases, most of which are diatomic, Helium is monoatomic, and CO2 contains 3 atoms. PV=nRT where n is equal to number of moles of molecules of gas. Also, all models are wrong, some are useful. The ideal gas law fails to take into account gases' intermolecular forces and molecular size. The Van Der Waals equation takes these into account and is more accurate.
Everything you think you know about the real world is a model of one sort or another. Newtonian gravity is “wrong” but it’s a darn sight easier to compute orbital mechanics with it rather than general relativity. Which is why NASA stick with Newton for the most part.
Helium gas is monoatomic, not diatomic.
It’s simple, you’re seeing interdimensional travel of an atom. Which looks like vibration. Pretty cool.
Awesome, love the video and please keep them coming!
I'm blown away by this video. Thank you for producing and sharing with us
"Nothing exists except atoms and empty space; everything else is opinion” Democritus
That’s reductionist.. there’s emerging qualities also.. you can’t reduce consciousness, life, culture, love and other down to atoms
An absorbing subject and presentation. Thankyou.
We would never have had the Infinite Improbability Drive without that accidental cup-of-really-hot-tea.
Great stuff! Fascinating!
I remember observing Brownian motion in physics class at school, 50 years ago. We used smoke. But I didn't realise what caused it (or maybe I was told by my physics master but forgot it) so thank you for such an easy to understand explanation!
LOL 😂 the bearing balls are back! ....and not the ball bearings🎉 I love your demos! Such a great channel, thanks.
Fascinating thanks for talking about it
Very engaging and informative video. Liked & subscribed!
Incredible video quality. Subscribed.
Oh wow. This is the 2nd video I've watched. *Captivated* to say the least lol. I just subscribed and shared. I'm learning so much! 😅 I need time to process all of this awesome data. *Dropping Anchor*
I can't believe I wasn't subscribed to this channel yet. Been watching forever. Love the vids, def subbed now 🤘
For real... When i saw the Pernod, you had me by the feelings XD Aw Pastis and Absinth! So nice!
Oooh! You are such are smartie! Thanx for the info in the video!
This is a great video. Very interesting!
i love the way you make videos
A beautiful presentation! As a science educator myself, my hat is off to you sir!
You could sand down that crystal to get closer to the bubble. Thanks for all the hard work!
Wonderful program👍👍👍👍👍 Bravo to Steve Mould👍👍👍👍👍💪💪💪💪💪❤❤❤❤❤
2:42 Great Scott!
Anus mirrorballs!
Easily the most fascinating story I've heard in years thanks
i always wondered about avagadros number thanks for explaining it.
Great explanation. Thanks.
Steve, have you wver talked about the Feynman Sprinkler Problem?seems right up your alley for an interesting video.
now i understand the brownian motion algorithms on sequencers, thanks!
So easy to take for granted! It amazes me that it was only about 120 years ago and all the progress since!
我很难想象这是一个月前的视频，竟然这么厉害啊，谢谢您，您的视频知识真的是我在急切寻找想要的内容！
I remember being introduced to Brownian motion at school looking at iodine diffusion. The idea that I could set up a little experiment myself and watch the result of atoms colliding still amazes me some 40 years later.
lol love the chris loyd @243. Goooood Jauuuuuun!!!
Never thought I would thumbs up a video because of its sponsor but hooray for Jane Street! I love OCaml. Also the joke around 9:45.
I really like your channel, it's like a drug for curious people!
Perfect! Amazing ❤
That is fantastic! I truly did not know nothing of that!
5:30 Also getting some "evaporation" there too. The ones representing water are reaching escape velocity, lol.
I look forward to every video!!!!!!!
Great, great video! Congrats!
Fantastic. Well done.
Please make a video about nitinol! Thanks and greetings from Copenhagen
Very very interesting and knowledgeable Thanks very very much be continue for type good knowledge Thanks
You're the best Steve!
You beat me to making this!
Brownian Motion, I am looking for all "jitter" effects in my research. This be one of them. Thank you.
Excellent | cheers !
Love finding brownian motion in crystals within the organelles of flagellated algae.
AMAZING!!