Resources by Veritasium

How do chameleons change colour

This video shows how collaboration between physicists and biologists has solved the mystery of how a chameleon changes its colour. The colour changes are due to light diffraction and interference patterns. Nano-sized particles in the chameleon’s skin can be distributed so selectively reflect different wavelengths...

How does a quantum computer work?

This video compares the language used by classical computers (0 and 1) with that used by quantum computers (qubits).  Qubits can be photons, nuclei or electrons.  In this video the use of electrons is explained as follows.  To be able to measure something it must change and for electrons their ability to occupy...

How does a transistor work

This video explains how n-type and p-type semiconductors can be used to create a transistor.

The explanation

n-type semiconductors are made from silicon that has been doped with phosphorous.  The additional electron from the P can be used to form a current. P-type semiconductors are...

How does a wing actually work?

This video begins by showing how Bernoulli’s law can explain wing lift.  It then introduces ideas that cannot easily be explained using the law, for example, why can planes fly upside down?  Why do flat winged planes fly?

Newton’s 3rd law is used to offer a different explanation, i.e., as long as air is...

How does the Earth spin?

This video introduces the idea of inertia by using a large globe suspended by water. It shows that acceleration requires an unbalanced force and then explains that an objects inertia is its tendency to maintain its motion unless it is acted upon by an unbalanced force. 

Why does the Earth spin?

How far away is the moon? (the scale of the universe)

This video models the distance between the Earth and moon using a basketball and tennis ball. It shows that often diagrams we use are not to scale and so can be misleading.

How long does it take for the Earth to go around the Sun

This video highlights the misconceptions people have about earth orbiting the sun. 30% of Australians think it is one day.

How much information

This video discusses how data is coded and stored. It takes a look at the genetic code in humans and shows how it could be stored as 1.5Gb of data.

How old is the Earth

This video shows people’s misconceptions regarding the age of the Earth. It shows how imagining the difference between a million and billion is very difficult for people to do.

The video uses an arm span to model the age of the Earth and shows how recent in the Earth’s history the evolution of more complex...

How special relativity makes magnets work

This video shows how electromagnetism can be explained using either models of magnetism or of electric fields, induced by length contraction caused by special relativity. Length contraction (Lorentz contraction) occurs to anything that is moving – relative to something moving...