12:54 “How this is accomplished doesn’t really matter for the purposes of this video, but let’s talk about it anyway!” That’s it that’s the whole channel
The jokes are deceptively simple, and it's that "easy" appearance that really makes this whole channel(the humorous bits anyway - the channel is made by his exhaustive but entertaining info and absolute master class deadpan delivery married under the umbrella of incredible editing). Like the partial vacuum bit, all of us get it because it's simple, but it took a damn sharp mind to come up with it (and all the others).
@@TexasBaker Even then it took me longer than I care to admit to realize the full depth of the "partial vacuum" pun, but once it did hit, hoo boy did I ever appreciate the heck out of it.
My 6th grade science teacher used this in a week long project on skepticism and the scientific method, where he first taught us the "light pressure" hypothesis, and then walked us step-by-step through how and why that explanation doesn't work, and used many of the demos you used here to help us formulate a new hypothesis that's closer to the truth. For myself and a lot of kids, it was the exact moment that turned us into scientific thinkers for life. Thanks Mr Block!
As soon as I saw the black and white sides like that I assumed it had something to do with heat. Like, the black/hotter side would give the gas near it more energy, thus getting more kinetic energy when the gas bounces off it. Either that or something to do pressure or gas density.
oh wow I just got that holy shit that is so dumb xD I didnt realize the vacuum was dissasembled thus representing a partial vacuum I had presumed there was a vacuum inside even before he pulled out his dust sucker
ooo boy could you tell how mad Gul Dukat and the rest of them spoon-heads were when Sisko and his snot nosed kid showed up at their doorstep in that old ship.
Hiya! I'm in the fenestration industry. The Low-E coating is on the inside of the outer pane of glass, and does both the rejecting of outdoor IR and retention of indoor IR. The coloration you see under certain lighting conditions is a result of the recipe of the sputtered silver coating.
I was in a store with my father many years ago... and they had a display with a fluorescent E27 energy saving lamp and an incandescent bulb, just as you suggested. They used two radiometers, just as you suggested... and the only thing my father said was: "You see? The old style is much brighter. You just need the right tools to show it." ... Maybe to him, it wasn't as intuitive as you suggested. 😅
I think the radiometer demo only works as Alec describes if you know that it's _heat_ and not _light_ that makes it go nyoom. Maybe a little placard that says "the faster this spins, the warmer it is" would be in order. I'd be tempted to put some kind of visible-light-sensing device in next to the radiometer, too, ideally one that has a similarly interesting and pleasing output, with a similar label. And a screen telling the customer how long each bulb has been lit, their total watts consumed, and how much each has cost the store to run. Just to make it _abundantly_ clear what's going on. Is that going too far?
You know one machine I've never grasped how it works is a van der graaf generator. Sure, I've read numerous explanations of how they work. But for some reason my brain doesn't actually seem to lock onto the mechanism. Your explanation of the radiometer, on the other hand, makes total sense.
I once went inside a giant van der graaf generator. They still use some of them for small scale particle physics experiment. They look a little bit like small submarines. Instead of the rubber band of a desk top van der graaf they use a large metal chain
For me, The key to those is understanding the belt inside. It's floppy and slips a lot. So in actuality, it's like using duct tape to clean lint off a sweater. Only in this case, the lint is charge (from an ion, proton or electron is still debatable.) Once the belt touches and pulls away enough ions (from the roller or buff), you have a charge potential. Maybe you already got that far, but realizing it isn't horizontal sliding, but perpendicular touching and pulling away, made the difference for me.
The only youtube channel who can make videos that last for 20+ minutes, keep my attention, and teach me the most, pointless, but yet interesting stuff... Alec, you're a bloody genius.
A portable AM radio tuned to a blank spot on the dial can be used for all sorts of things, such as testing a remote control, demonstrating the different designs of power supplies used in LED light bulbs, or even getting a computer to play music wirelessly.
also for listening to meteors. Only with FM though. The plasma trail will reflect the radio waves of distant stations beyond the horizon for a few seconds.
After my grandfather died, I kept one of these from his home office. I've been trying to figure out what it was and how it worked since then. All I knew is that it spun super fast on sunny days and slow on cloudy ones. Thanks for helping me solve the mystery; it means a lot to me. :)
I have to admit - I caught the Nixon reference but it took me just a minute to catch the meaning. That joke is going to fail to launch with a certain number of viewers who are in the younger demographic.
That was it! Thanks, that Nixon thing has been nagging at me since i first watched the video last night. I knew there was a pun or joke in there somewhere but couldn't quite tease it out.
“Have you ever seen one of these?..... I sure have, *Theres one right here* “ has the same energy as “Every 60 seconds in Africa, a minute passes” And this is why we all love your content. Because it’s legitimately the purest form of awesome.
@@lordjaashin As of this moment, 576 people seem to disagree with you. Different strokes for different folks and all that. (Yes, I did consciously resist the urge to use the turn of phrase you dislike so much)
When I was a kid I put mine in the freezer and it spun backwards, I realized that it was thermally reactive then. Also noticed that the heat from my hands on a cold day was sufficient to make it rotate slightly. Great explanation. 😊👍🏻
heat is quite fascinating for that. In winter I tend to activate the traffic light switches with the heat from my hands. Don't even have to touch it, just be closeby, maybe 1-1.5cm/0.5''
A bit late but you know what's incredible about this story? The fact that you learned something far above your knowledge "tier" through observation and critical thinking. Now imagine just how much knowledge is collected from people worldwide that goes completely unnoticed because we just thought everyone else either knew just didn't find value in knowing. I had a similar experience at a younger age when I discovered that our nerves and response times that are longer than instantaneous and a very early existential crisis when I realize that we can never experience the world exactly as it is... but has an ultimate speed limit of how fast our body and mind can take in and process.
@@SilverAura I've read that Bruce Lee struggled with reacting to external stimuli without excessively processing the situation presented. Although he was probably 99% more efficient than the average person in his reaction times, relying solely on strength, speed, and good old muscle memory, it just wasn't good enough for the perfectionist. I suppose we all live in the past due to our relatively slow buffered reaction times? 🤷♂️ Through the years I've always entertained my inventive nature, usually confiding in what I would think to be a good friend. All too often I've heard "they already have one of those", or something else to shoot down my ideas. Usually within 10 years or so I find that by coincidence one of the same ideas has come to fruition, makes me wonder where people could be had their ideas been cultivated opposed to being belittled? That unknown knowledge you mentioned should be tapped into by "Think Tanks" sponsored by world governments, a place where critical thinking can be utilized and stored. A recognition and rewards system would be great as an incentive to contribute, and I'm sure many problems could and would be solved. 🙂👍
Great program as always!! So I’m in the glass and window replacement business, mainly residential. Current technology low-e2 and low-e3 glass is, in my area of the Bay Area in California, dual pane glass where the low-e coating is placed on the inside surface of the exterior side of a double pane glass panel. The material used is a sputter-coated metallized deposition and works just how you described. Its designed for allowing in maximum visible spectrum light and it’s quite effective in warmer climates to bounce out IR from the sun and does work well in the winter as well to keep in our artificial heating IR. Sadly you’re correct about the IR reflection heating exterior surfaces. I myself have seen artificial lawns melted from the heat generated reflection. You’re also correct that winter is when we could use the heating sunlight. Oh, one extra benefit however is that it also reduces some of the sunshine derived UV spectrum light so as to reduce the amounts of inside fading and disintegration of carpeting, furniture etc.. Not a perfect technology but it is greatly beneficial over standard clear / clear insulated dual pane glass, though it comes at a fairly high cost. But those costs have been coming down somewhat as the technology has improved. Keep up the good work!!
Back when Trek was fun, insightful, bold, heartfelt and must watch tv. I gave up on Discovery halfway through season 2, and I did watch all of Picard.....but regretted it.
"Partial vacuum" made me reel from a pun supported by a prop, dare I say dependent on the prop. I can't remember a previous time you've propped up a pun like this. Kudos.
i think the best one he's done is when he pulled up an extension cord from under the desk saying "another plug? why yes!" it's in his vid on heat pumps, about 6 minutes in
This reminds me of a little used lighting technology: the "HIR" lamp. This was a halogen incandescent lamp with an IR coating on the inside of the bulb. The coating would reflect IR back toward the filament, helping to keep it warm. The efficiency improvement was pretty significant, perhaps 40 or 50%. (Unfortunately this was taking a 2% efficient source and making it 3%....) Jon
A regular incandescent bulb converts roughly 10% of the electricity into light. So 10% efficiency. A halogen bulb uses 20-30 percent less energy than an incandescent bulb.
@@lordgarion514 I believe that your efficiency numbers are on the high side, but admit that we might be comparing apples to oranges. When I was looking closely at the tech, it was for bicycle headlights where an output of 10 lumens per watt for an ordinary incandescent lamp was great, and doing things like using halogen IR bulbs with precise voltage regulation might get you to 25 lumen per watt. Depending upon how you define things, 25 lumen per watt might be 10% efficient or 3.5% efficient. (10% by raw visible light photon power out vs electrical power in, 3.5% if you weight for eye spectral sensitivity and compare to the maximum possible number of lumens if you had that power of photons) -Jon
I was thinking about this exact concept not that long ago. In theory, with perfect materials science (a *really good* hot mirror coating, 100% transmission of visible light through the envelope, and no conductive loss) you could make an incandescent bulb arbitrarily close to 100% efficient. You would put a fraction of the power in, and the reflected IR would heat the filament until the visible light output equaled the power in. On doing research, I learned two things: 1) that I was far from the first to have the idea, and that it's been done various times since the 60s, if not earlier, but the results were disappointing; 2) More recently, there's been some research into using photonic bandgap materials (basically a metal grid with nanoscale structure that gives it extremely wavelength-dependent properties) to create more efficient hot mirrors, and in 2008 a group at RPI reported an achievable efficiency of 125 lm/W... but that appears to have been based entirely on computer simulation, and I don't think the thing was ever built. Still, there might be potential there.
Here are a few precisions about the low-e, which I happen to know a bit about! I am too lazy to give sources but I tried to drop keywords. If you are interested, the manufacturer sites (Guardian, Saint-Gobain etc.) are IMO just the right balance (not too technical but still not pure marketing) for viewers of this channel. 12:35 - 12:52 actually low-e windows do cut quite a bit of visible light, by 15% to 40%. It's just that humans do not perceive absolute light levels well, so as long as the glass is "optically neutral" (not visibly tinted red or blue) we do not really see it. The video actually shows a change in brightness when you compare the opened or closed window (ok, the CCD does not capture the exact same wavelengths as human vision, but still). 14:40 and 17:02 the window is very probably double (or triple) glazing and the various reflections occur inside the gap between glasses. The best low-e coatings we can make (most transparent in the visible range with near-total rejection of IR range) are based on one or multiple silver layer(s) (stacked with other stuff to achieve color neutrality, resistance to glass process etc etc). Oxygen from the atmosphere tends to attack the silver over a few months, so the double glazing unit is filled with either argon or nitrogen. The low-e stack goes on the inner face of the outer glazing; the silver does not get to breathe all that nasty oxygen (at least for the first years of use where argon is still here) but the gap still provides some thermal insulation. The gap thickness is designed to minimize convection flow, and radiation exchange is low because of the low-e (Kirchoff's law, or as I call it blackbody magic, requires that if you reflect incoming IR you do not emit much of your own). If you touch the outer glass of a double-glazing with low-e it will feel hotter that a regular double-glazing (because the IR that bounces off the coating crosses the glass twice and heat it up more). There are some single-glazing low-e that do not oxyde (for oven or fridge doors, chimney covers etc) but with much poorer IR rejection performances.
Thank you so much! How it operates doesn't seem all that dissimilar from a mirror with a silver backing, just that the layer is only enough thickness to reflect infrared, If I get this right?
I've seen some low-E glass advertised as using Krypton or other more expensive noble gases instead of Argon, any thoughts? My guess is that it takes longer for these heavier noble gases to seep out of the inside of the low-E glass assembly, because I know from my interest in space launch rockets that Hydrogen (even liquid hydrogen) will "leak" right thru the atomic metal lattice structure of a metal pressure vessel wall given enough time (causing hydrogen embrittlement along the way), and that other gases (like Oxygen) will not do that, so my operating theory is that the larger the atom or molecule of gas is, the harder it is for it to treat a given barrier as porous. Xenon and Krypton have pretty much full valence orbitals in their ground state, which is what makes them avoid forming molecular bonds with other elements, but according to my theory that would also make them very resistant to being pressed thru a solid material barrier like a pane of glass. Also, why can't they just put another coating (perhaps a polymer of some sort, or even a layer of plasma-deposited graphene or diamond?) on top of the silver coating to prevent oxidation? Too expensive?
My dad had an old one of these, which was originally my grandfather’s. I’ve always loved it and was obsessed with the minutiae of how it worked as a small child. I am now an astrophysicist, and credit it as why
I got one in the late seventies when I was 8. I was fascinated with them in school and my grandmother managed to buy on in a shop that sold school supplies for my Christmas gift that year. The store clerk said it wouldn't be suitable for young children as a gift, but she believed I would take good care of it. So now it is 2021. My parents and grandparents died years ago. But I still have that radiometer on my shelf. Survived moving 7-8 times.
12:07 I *thoroughly* believe that this is TC's primary motivation for building his time machine, and that all other motivations are secondary or tertiary
You're really the only good kind of influencer. Instead of influencing people to buy a makeup brand or something, you influence people to use their dishwashers correctly.
The brand of dishwasher tabs I buy fit nicely into to both the pre-wash and wash dispenser compartments. The only time I have issues is when someone else loads the dishwasher and places a long cooking utensil in the silverware basket in such a way that it blocks the little flappy door from opening. There by sealing the main wash tab inside the compartment.
Regarding "old tech that makes things clear", ph indicators fall into this category for me. Especially purple cabbage! Simple, color indications of whether something is acidic or basic communicates far better than numeric ion concentrations.
@vbddfy euuyt What's worse, the architect (Viñoly) had already made the same mistake before in Las Vegas but he thought that London would be cloudy enough that it wouldn't matter.
One of my first jobs was working in a science curiosity shop in the mall and I remember selling these. I'm very glad to know that I wasn't misrepresenting them because the explanation we told to customers was pretty much just what you said here. Light is absorbed more by the black side of the vanes warming the air next to its surface causing the excited air molecules to exert a higher pressure onto that side of the vanes. Man that shop was so fun. It was one of those places that also sold plasma spheres, model rockets, chemistry sets, telescopes, mineral collections, fossils, etc. It's also where I learned to juggle and memorize the constellations.
That's actually the explanation I was taught, but I remember reading years ago (in a Usenet FAQ?) that that can't be the full explanation either because if it were purely ballistic, so to speak, the system would quickly reach some kind of steady state in which the rotor doesn't move, and the *real* explanation is the thermal transpiration effect at the edges of the vanes which I don't understand at all. And that's as far as my understanding ever went.
A note about low-e coatings shifting magenta on glass: they're designed to be bandpass filters, usually using repeated layers silver to shore up the UV and infrared reflectivity. One interesting side effect is that because the filter works by tuning layers against the light waves, at an angle it tunes differently. This is why you see that weird magenta effect: it's considered a defect, but also somewhat unavoidable. As you walk by commercial storefronts, look up on a cloudy day, and if you see bands of green/magenta, the coating had "shifted a* too hard" (using the CIE Lab color scale), yielding that defective Christmas tree banding effect. Given how complicated color spaces are and how light wave interference effects interact with the layers to enable the bandpass filter, it's probably more surprising there aren't more color artifacts when reflections are stacked. The way your typical glass coating interacts with glass is shockingly complex and really neat!
3:44 ST:DS9 reference for the WIN! You sir just won the internet for me today! Thank you! My heart thanks you. And thousands of DS9 fans everywhere thank you!
I love your videos so much. They're more entertaining than most of youtube, while at the same time teaching me interesting new things. And by the way, it really shows, that you enjoy yourself making these videos, which makes them even better
My grandfather, a chemistry teacher, had these on many windowsills in his home. Thank you for stirring up some sweet old memories, and for teaching me new things on top of it all.
I love learning about tech, but sometimes that experience can be a little dry, and you do such an amazing job of making learning fun. Thank you for this channel, it's like TH-cam comfort food.
This unlocks an old memory for me, my teacher had this in our grade 5 classroom, I always thought it was amazing. Now that I know what it's called I can buy my own!
My thoughts were more towards the movie Pitch Black, as they have like everything powered by Crookes radiometers on the planet the movie takes place on. In reality that's probably the least efficient way to make something solar-powered without using fancy materials, and a dish heating up a Stirling or steam engine would be comparatively easy to make.
Loved the DS9 reference. That was a great episode. But it's important to note that it wasn't just the solar sail, they also had those eddy currents in the Denorios Belt.
Specifically it was tachyon eddies as tachyons are one of the few particles in Star Trek that naturally travel faster than light. The Bajoran solar ship's relatively low mass to surface area is what allowed them to accelerate to warp speed when they entered the eddy, though realistically, without inertial dampeners, Ben and Jake should have become smears of organic goo on the aft bulkheads from that kind of acceleration.
also in episode 2F09, when Itchy plays Scratchy's skeleton like a xylophone, he strikes the same rib in succession, yet he produces two clearly different tones
Great script kid! Contact Bruce Willis's agent and see if he's available. We'll call it: 13 Monkey's - Crook's Curse. Now here on page 6, is there anyway we could have past guy be a robot? Also, I'm not seeing enough explosions here. What if when past guy and present guy meet we cut to an exterior shot of the invading alien robot army beaming down from the mothership? What about the sidekick? Present guy should have a sidekick, right? We'll get Rob Schneider! Great kid, just great! One last thing: could past guy be a duck?
"How this is accomplished doesn't really matter for the purposes of this video...but let's talk about it anyway!" Amazing, just as I would have expected.
19:40 Your split screen game is top tier. Your production quality has been on a steady rise since I first found your channel a couple years ago. Amazing work!
DS9. Sisko and Jake traveled on a reproduction of an ancient light sail for a vacation. They accidentally found the tachyon eddy that the ancient Bajorans (and misc artifacts) used for interstellar travel. Even though none of that makes sense, and it also makes no sense how ancient travelers would have made the return journey.
Your window demonstration story reminds me of an interesting event that happened to me several years ago; I was snooping through a gift shop near my home, when I noticed a display of color-changing t-shirts. The display included an ultraviolet lamp one could place the shirts on, and this would cause them to change from black and white to full-color images. I found this intriguing, so I selected a fun pirate parrot shirt, thinking that parrots are quite colorful & would look great in full color. So, I purchased the shirt, the clerk placed it in a bag & I eagerly took it out to my car. Once I entered the car, I hastily put the shirt on, excited to see what colors were to be found in the image. I checked the car mirror, and saw..... nothing - just the original black-and-white image I had seen in the store. I thought, that perhaps it just took a minute to "charge up", rather like fluorescent paint , which needs to absorb a good deal of sunlight, before re-emitting said light in the dark. So, I waited a couple of minutes, but, to my chagrin, once again - nothing. Thinking I'd been had, I bolted out of the car, intent upon giving that store clerk a decidedly unpleasant piece of my feeble mind, and to my utter surprise, the shirt instantly BURST into vivid colors, the likes of which I'd seldom seen on this planet! Momentarily bewildered, I pondered what on Earth had just transpired (and, more to the point, WHY it happened!), when it occurred to me that the windshield had shielded me from the Sun's ultra-violet rays, and the moment I emerged from the cab, those same rays activated the pigments in my new shirt, causing the amazing display of colors across my chest!
As someone working in the field of glass coatings, I can tell you that your first assumption is actually right: a low-e coating is designed to reflect far IR but let near IR through. In reality though there is a compromise to find between how high we want to far IR reflection to be and how low the near IR reflection can stay. This compromise is linked to the properties of the materials used in the coating. So If you leave in a cold place, far IR reflection is very important and everything is done to make it as high as possible even if it means increasing the near IR reflection a bit as well. The orientation and position of the coating in the window are important but it cannot really create a big assymetry of reflection in the IR. A window designed to limit solar inputs by reflecting the near and far IR is called a solar control (for big glass buildings). There the trade of becomes transparency in the visible range. Finally, if you want a windows with tunable solar inputs, look at Electrochromic ("smart") windows. They are amazing ! One example is called SageGlass.
Finally I know that smart windows are for. I was baffled why a blinds/curtains alternative would help any more with energy consumption, and thought it was surely an aesthetic consideration. But reducing heating in winter and reducing cooling in summer would reduce energy usage of the building and help. So I see now. It’s very much like how some places have a lip above their windows so high summer sun doesn’t come in and heat i as much as the low winter sun.
I have heard that greenhouse glass has coating that allows IR into the building but not out. Is that true? Or is it just totally reflective and it's only the IR generated by the plants that heats it up?
@@rhettorical afaik it’s the hot air kept inside, and the solar heating on the glass (which, heating up the panes themselves, is a separate matter from how much they actually pass through themselves)
The 8 year old in me & me at my age now are both fascinated by this device and demonstration. Very easy to understand. You out you did yourself on this video. Thanks for the knowledge and entertainment value!
There are few things as delightful as “getting” a pun 3 - 5 seconds after it is said, and then shaking your head at the level of cheesiness of said pun.
I feel like he is going insane. His intro is hilarious. "Have you ever seen one of these? I sure have. There's one right here." And the Nixon crook pun was so elaborate that I loved it.
@@BenderdickCumbersnatch agreed! Truly comedy gold!! The Nixon pun and the vacuum pun were the two that stumped me for a few seconds and then finally dawned on me haha
"I can picture in my mind a world without war, a world without hate. And I can picture us attacking that world, because they'd never expect it." -Gul Dukat
I'll just add it to my list of internal random facts that nobody needs to hear but I tell them at random anyways. "Oh by the way, did you know that Richard Nixon denied owning a radiometer?"
It is "I" who is one of the two inventors that holds the patent for creating a "motor" to the radiometer. We learned it doesn't give much energy when made big or small. Good introduction you have given to the radiometer. Thanks! Victor Mousaa
oh, a really fun thing to use with these is a camera flash! I have an old powerful one from the 90's, and it really gets it spinning even with a nearly instantaneous light duration.
Thanks - I enjoyed this! I first saw these in 1964 in a science museum in Holland (I was 14 years old then). What stuck in my mind was that a second radiometer was working next to it, was using a small twig with four leaves (with light and dark surfaces). An amazing display!
I used to have a radiometer until I had the bright idea of seeing what would happen to it in the microwave, fun fact, I don't have a radiometer anymore XD
@@redoverdrivetheunstoppable4637 Nothing needs to be metal in a radiometer. And it was a joke, which I guess I now have to ruin by explaining. Putting anything in a microwave without a liquid to absorb the energy will lead to a runaway condition that can destroy the oven and whatever is in it. A glass of water would solve that, if not the issue of excessive metal that resonates with the microwaves.
@@joesterling4299 first of all, i don't see any joke... second, the radiometer has likely metal in it, starting from the needle and probably the vanes... third, putting a decoy material you will ABSORB but not ATTRACT all the microwaves so the problem remains, infact people have bad expereinces with metal !!!AND WET FOOD!!! in a uW i'm not replying anymore, this is becoming awkward, goodbye.... and stop suggesting dangerous things for spaghetti monster sake
I've always loved these little gadgets. I've never noted the reversal in direction when removed from the source of infrared radiation. Very illustrative of the fact that it is indeed, a thermal phenomenon. I've always enjoyed your videos, but the Arrested Development reference was great!
@@flyingskyward2153 Probably rockets. That's how we would do it, and we know from that episode that the Bajorans didn't have gravity manipulating tech at the time. Nothing really rules out them using some kind of chemical propulsion system to break orbit. They do have habitable moons as well so it's possible that it was launched from one of them and/or heading to one originally. These moons will have lower gravity and every bit helps.
As a kid who really liked how everything mechanical worked and had multiple books about cars, I never could grasp how a differential worked until I got to mess with a Lego one. Being able to mess with the concept hands-on is definitely the best way to learn about it.
Back in the day GM wanted to educate people how modern cars worked and created amazing videos in the thirties. Check out "around the corner" in your favorite video service. Absolutely amazing.
I really enjoyed this video! I was so excited about each demo. I have seen radiometers around but did had no idea how they work. I think the intuitive nature of the demos was really great! Thank you!
“Especially if architects start experimenting with curved glass”. Ah yes, I remember the building in London that cosplayed a Martian tripod, complete with car-melting heat-ray.
@@danem2215 Somehow I'm not surprised. I have a feeling it was deliberately done so that the casino with the death ray would be set up to burn a competing casino down the Strip.
@@danem2215 He made the one in Vegas first, it was a deathray as well ... he thought the Walkie Talkie wouldn't do the same because it was always overcast in the UK ... we have weather and it was also a deathray ... just not often
no , you should be proud , i wanted to shout wtf and hurry up for a while till he finally explained it. i think this demonstrates oumuamuas stealthy exit amazingly.
I kinda got excited when you started talking about Low-E glass because it's extremely relevent to my current job. Mind you, I am no expert but in my experience it does matter which side the Low-E film faces out. We characterize glass with different surfaces. I.e. the pane off glass towards outside is surface 1 and on the backside of that same pane is surface 2. From what i can tell you have double pane insulated glass, so there's an inert gas in betweeen and then the interior glass would be surfrace 3 and surface 4. The Low-E coating is usually applied to surface 2 of the glass. Considering you live in a cold climate I'm going to assume that there is Low-E on surface 2 and 3 whith the intentions of keeping the uv from the sun out but surface 3 is doing the same thing to keep UV in. So flipping your windows around wouldn't do anything to change the effect. We us a fancy piece of electronic plastic that gives us a reading of where the Low-E is and how thick the glass is etc. GC3200 | Glass-Chek ELITE. Anyway i feel like i just danced around your question without answering it, but this is the extent of my knowledge. Do with is what you will.
Ideally the coating would be on layer 1 but I suspect the coating is applied to surace 2 because it is subject to less wear there. It does mean that the first pan of glass will be heated more than if it was on surface 1 but the second pane of glass is insulated from this pane by the gap between them anyway.
That was a very creative shot sequence at 14:20! I love the way you nailed the placement of the lamp, so you could almost miss that it's gone from outside the glass to being reflected in the glass, to appear as though outside.
Literally every science teacher I've ever had: "This is because photons have momentum" TC: "Nah it's just a heat engine" Me: *Complete, utter disappointment
@@Dargonhuman Well, I already know that "Boil a frog alive if you heat it slowly enough" and "Attract more flies with honey than with vinegar" are wrong. This goes all the way back to 1st grade... on day 1, the teacher wanted to be able to leave the room without us getting into trouble, so she taught us what it means when someone tells you to "freeze". She explained: "When you put an ice cube in the freezer, it can't move." Even at the time, I saw two problems with that statement. 1, You don't put ice cubes in the freezer, you put a tray of water in the freezer. You get ice cubes out of the freezer. And 2, Ice cubes are not known for their ability to move on their own, regardless of the environment they're in. Yeah, teachers are full of BS. Next I'm gonna find out the Earth is flat or something...
Much love to this channel. No loud crashing intros or banging beats. Perfect to pop on the crt and melt into the next day. Thanks tc for what you have done and continue to do
In Germany we have a window that is kind of like you described, they let infrared through at a flat angle but not from above, following the sun through the year. I'll try to find the brand.
It's called 'four seasons glass'. This contains a special layer that only transmits light coming from a specific angle. I initially heard about this almost 10 years ago, when working in a house with massive windows, asking the client about heat problems in summer.
This made me so happy. Usually purveyors of educational videos say something like, "but that's a topic for a future video" and then that future never comes to actualization. :(
My 2nd grade teacher showed us one of these, so I was about 6 at the time (44 now). She explained that it worked by reflecting light, but I still remember that day because, like you said, those things are cool.
My grandma’s house is quite old and has storm windows that she puts outside the normal windows over the winter. Someone could develop a similar window system where the normal window is regular glass, and a pane of low e glass goes on each summer
2nd ometer in a row.
ometer series
next up nuclear densitometer
If you do another on a resistance measuring device you could top it off with an Ohm-ometer ...
This made me hop over to your channel page to check, and weirdly this video doesn't appear there yet for me. ~Spooky~
Leeeeeeeets goooh
Through the magic of NOT having two of them?
12:54 “How this is accomplished doesn’t really matter for the purposes of this video, but let’s talk about it anyway!”
That’s it that’s the whole channel
I know, right?
"None of this is very important, but I think it's neat, so buckle up!" - absolutely one of the microgenres of videos to be found.
That's what I love this guy for)
This is what we subscribed for! :)
he said that at 6:03, unless he says it twice in the video
"Have you ever seen one of these? I sure have. There's one right here." It's that sort of humor that somehow manages to floor me well done
The jokes are deceptively simple, and it's that "easy" appearance that really makes this whole channel(the humorous bits anyway - the channel is made by his exhaustive but entertaining info and absolute master class deadpan delivery married under the umbrella of incredible editing). Like the partial vacuum bit, all of us get it because it's simple, but it took a damn sharp mind to come up with it (and all the others).
This killed me! 😂 😆
@@TexasBaker Even then it took me longer than I care to admit to realize the full depth of the "partial vacuum" pun, but once it did hit, hoo boy did I ever appreciate the heck out of it.
I died at "that's light pressure not light pressure."
I giggled more times than I can count. And that's a lot - I can count pretty high.
My 6th grade science teacher used this in a week long project on skepticism and the scientific method, where he first taught us the "light pressure" hypothesis, and then walked us step-by-step through how and why that explanation doesn't work, and used many of the demos you used here to help us formulate a new hypothesis that's closer to the truth. For myself and a lot of kids, it was the exact moment that turned us into scientific thinkers for life. Thanks Mr Block!
As soon as I saw the black and white sides like that I assumed it had something to do with heat. Like, the black/hotter side would give the gas near it more energy, thus getting more kinetic energy when the gas bounces off it. Either that or something to do pressure or gas density.
I wish I had teachers with this sense of humor and dedication.
Reddit channel 🤮
I *_used to_* have one
Yey Oz!
Well, technically, you have *_one._* 😂
Ozzy wozzy? I’m rewatching rn, I don’t remember seeing you here. Cool!
"...is one of these"
Looks like the filter of a vacuum cleaner, whats that?
"a partial vacuum."
Subscribed
Oohhhh...
oh wow
I just got that
holy shit
that is so dumb xD
I didnt realize the vacuum was dissasembled thus representing a partial vacuum
I had presumed there was a vacuum inside even before he pulled out his dust sucker
badum, tish!
that's the part that completely cracked me up
LMAO! I didn't even get it completely until I read this comment 🤣
That partial vacuum joke was 👌 Alec
I died
that's the hardest Ive laughed at a joke
I'm still recovering.
I had to puase the video as I was laughing too hard to continue right away :D
Came to the comments to say this, that got me so good
"It has one of these!" *Pulls up a piece of a vacuum* "A partial vacuum!"
You got me there
huuh. is that what a they look like in his homeland?
@@mgntstr James Dyson, who realised that was the best way to make a Vacuum cleaner is now worth $9.9 Billion.
That joke was quite nearly fatal to me. Yet I still double-tapped the video so I could hear it again.
I don't think enough people understood that joke, but it made the whole video for me 😁
I laughed irresponsibly hard at that joke.
That DS9 reference was legit and excellently delivered. Well done, sir!
We've achieved "maximum geek".
Hmmm...should I be proud or ashamed that I got the reference?
ooo boy could you tell how mad Gul Dukat and the rest of them spoon-heads were when Sisko and his snot nosed kid showed up at their doorstep in that old ship.
I have to admit, I laughed pretty hard when he said that.
I dunno what DS9 is but I do know that the Arrested Development reference was excellent as well
I get the feeling you’ve had that partial vacuum joke stashed for a while and just got the confidence to use it
It got me good, I had to pause the video.
I let out a very disappointed "god damnit"
I laughed out loud at that joke. Had to rewind the video because I missed good 30 seconds
that made me groan. audibly
That joke sucked
3:42 "That is, after all, how the ancient Bajorans got to Cardassia."
I love you.
Nothing like obscure DS9 references.
Now why the hell can I remember a episode I haven't seen in 20+ years, when I can't even remember what day it is?
@@benholroyd5221 real questions
I wonder how many got that reference. Pure gold!
@@r3dpuma I did. Because ever since I saw that episode I have questions
Also how sisko made it to cardassia with jake
Hiya! I'm in the fenestration industry. The Low-E coating is on the inside of the outer pane of glass, and does both the rejecting of outdoor IR and retention of indoor IR. The coloration you see under certain lighting conditions is a result of the recipe of the sputtered silver coating.
Better be good or some upset customer might ...
... defenestrate you.
😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂
‘fenestration’. Lol.
You make windows.
So the defenestration industry removes windows? I was wondering about these politicians Putin removed by defenestration...
It can be on surface 2 or 3, depending on climate.
@@HelgeMoulding It was Charles XII that coined the term during his not-so-brief visit in Bender.
I was in a store with my father many years ago... and they had a display with a fluorescent E27 energy saving lamp and an incandescent bulb, just as you suggested. They used two radiometers, just as you suggested... and the only thing my father said was: "You see? The old style is much brighter. You just need the right tools to show it." ... Maybe to him, it wasn't as intuitive as you suggested. 😅
Well the incandescent bulb was brighter, but only in the infrared spectrum
Sounds like the kind of thing that my father would have said.
I think the radiometer demo only works as Alec describes if you know that it's _heat_ and not _light_ that makes it go nyoom. Maybe a little placard that says "the faster this spins, the warmer it is" would be in order. I'd be tempted to put some kind of visible-light-sensing device in next to the radiometer, too, ideally one that has a similarly interesting and pleasing output, with a similar label. And a screen telling the customer how long each bulb has been lit, their total watts consumed, and how much each has cost the store to run. Just to make it _abundantly_ clear what's going on. Is that going too far?
People often just want an excuse to not have to make changes. I see it so many times now...
LOL!
You know one machine I've never grasped how it works is a van der graaf generator. Sure, I've read numerous explanations of how they work. But for some reason my brain doesn't actually seem to lock onto the mechanism. Your explanation of the radiometer, on the other hand, makes total sense.
paperclip
Up next, the Van-De-Graaf-ometer!
I once went inside a giant van der graaf generator. They still use some of them for small scale particle physics experiment. They look a little bit like small submarines. Instead of the rubber band of a desk top van der graaf they use a large metal chain
For me, The key to those is understanding the belt inside. It's floppy and slips a lot. So in actuality, it's like using duct tape to clean lint off a sweater. Only in this case, the lint is charge (from an ion, proton or electron is still debatable.)
Once the belt touches and pulls away enough ions (from the roller or buff), you have a charge potential.
Maybe you already got that far, but realizing it isn't horizontal sliding, but perpendicular touching and pulling away, made the difference for me.
I was under the impression that no one actually knows why rubbing those materials against each other actually separates charges.
The only youtube channel who can make videos that last for 20+ minutes, keep my attention, and teach me the most, pointless, but yet interesting stuff... Alec, you're a bloody genius.
This channel and electroBOOM teach me stuff that won’t likely help me much in daily life but I’m happy they exist.
As a useless knowledge conisour I love this channel.
A portable AM radio tuned to a blank spot on the dial can be used for all sorts of things, such as testing a remote control, demonstrating the different designs of power supplies used in LED light bulbs, or even getting a computer to play music wirelessly.
Nice
also for listening to meteors. Only with FM though. The plasma trail will reflect the radio waves of distant stations beyond the horizon for a few seconds.
Or famously, as a lightning detector.
@@han_pritcher I think some people use it in home made metal detectors. (A radio tuned to some AM channel).
how do you do the last part
After my grandfather died, I kept one of these from his home office. I've been trying to figure out what it was and how it worked since then. All I knew is that it spun super fast on sunny days and slow on cloudy ones. Thanks for helping me solve the mystery; it means a lot to me. :)
R.I.p.
"I have, there's one right here...", and then a Nixon "I am not a Crook" reference within the first minute. I love it when Alec gets extra whimsical.
Oh, I missed that Nixon reference. Thanks for making me notice!
I have to admit - I caught the Nixon reference but it took me just a minute to catch the meaning. That joke is going to fail to launch with a certain number of viewers who are in the younger demographic.
and I'm reasonably certain that the housing community was not called "Sudden Valley" unless it was built by the Bluth Corporation.
@@cllewis1 Also the non-American audience.
That was it!
Thanks, that Nixon thing has been nagging at me since i first watched the video last night.
I knew there was a pun or joke in there somewhere but couldn't quite tease it out.
“Have you ever seen one of these?..... I sure have, *Theres one right here* “ has the same energy as
“Every 60 seconds in Africa, a minute passes”
And this is why we all love your content. Because it’s legitimately the purest form of awesome.
@@zeta3005 every time 😂
man, i really hate that "same energy" statement. why do people use it. it turned your comment from meaningful discussion to dumpster fire
@@lordjaashin Meaningful discussion? He used a playful expression to refer to a silly joke.
@@RazorbackPT that silly joke turned his comment distasteful
@@lordjaashin As of this moment, 576 people seem to disagree with you. Different strokes for different folks and all that. (Yes, I did consciously resist the urge to use the turn of phrase you dislike so much)
When I was a kid I put mine in the freezer and it spun backwards, I realized that it was thermally reactive then. Also noticed that the heat from my hands on a cold day was sufficient to make it rotate slightly. Great explanation. 😊👍🏻
I was about to ask if your hand could make it spin. Cool!
@@NightFalcon5052 the better ones are even more sensitive, they usually start around 50 dollars (US) though.
heat is quite fascinating for that. In winter I tend to activate the traffic light switches with the heat from my hands. Don't even have to touch it, just be closeby, maybe 1-1.5cm/0.5''
A bit late but you know what's incredible about this story? The fact that you learned something far above your knowledge "tier" through observation and critical thinking. Now imagine just how much knowledge is collected from people worldwide that goes completely unnoticed because we just thought everyone else either knew just didn't find value in knowing.
I had a similar experience at a younger age when I discovered that our nerves and response times that are longer than instantaneous and a very early existential crisis when I realize that we can never experience the world exactly as it is... but has an ultimate speed limit of how fast our body and mind can take in and process.
@@SilverAura I've read that Bruce Lee struggled with reacting to external stimuli without excessively processing the situation presented. Although he was probably 99% more efficient than the average person in his reaction times, relying solely on strength, speed, and good old muscle memory, it just wasn't good enough for the perfectionist. I suppose we all live in the past due to our relatively slow buffered reaction times? 🤷♂️ Through the years I've always entertained my inventive nature, usually confiding in what I would think to be a good friend. All too often I've heard "they already have one of those", or something else to shoot down my ideas. Usually within 10 years or so I find that by coincidence one of the same ideas has come to fruition, makes me wonder where people could be had their ideas been cultivated opposed to being belittled? That unknown knowledge you mentioned should be tapped into by "Think Tanks" sponsored by world governments, a place where critical thinking can be utilized and stored. A recognition and rewards system would be great as an incentive to contribute, and I'm sure many problems could and would be solved. 🙂👍
Great program as always!! So I’m in the glass and window replacement business, mainly residential. Current technology low-e2 and low-e3 glass is, in my area of the Bay Area in California, dual pane glass where the low-e coating is placed on the inside surface of the exterior side of a double pane glass panel. The material used is a sputter-coated metallized deposition and works just how you described. Its designed for allowing in maximum visible spectrum light and it’s quite effective in warmer climates to bounce out IR from the sun and does work well in the winter as well to keep in our artificial heating IR. Sadly you’re correct about the IR reflection heating exterior surfaces. I myself have seen artificial lawns melted from the heat generated reflection. You’re also correct that winter is when we could use the heating sunlight. Oh, one extra benefit however is that it also reduces some of the sunshine derived UV spectrum light so as to reduce the amounts of inside fading and disintegration of carpeting, furniture etc.. Not a perfect technology but it is greatly beneficial over standard clear / clear insulated dual pane glass, though it comes at a fairly high cost. But those costs have been coming down somewhat as the technology has improved.
Keep up the good work!!
That DS9 reference was beautiful.
That caught me off guard. It was so casually dropped :)
I nearly fainted
Back when Trek was fun, insightful, bold, heartfelt and must watch tv. I gave up on Discovery halfway through season 2, and I did watch all of Picard.....but regretted it.
But forgot to add the Bajorins also needed a spatial anomaly in order to make it to Cardassia. Damn thing almost killed Jake and Sisko.
yes, i was expecting this xD
"But let's talk about it anyway!" I see you thoroughly understand us, your audience.
He really does.
I absolutely love this channel, especially so because of the tangents!
"Partial vacuum" made me reel from a pun supported by a prop, dare I say dependent on the prop. I can't remember a previous time you've propped up a pun like this. Kudos.
"propped" up? Nice one
@@adamradford8053 I aim to "please, stop"
Most puns suck, but not that partial vacuum.
I had to pause the video, angrily yell at the screen and then chuckle in appreciation of this quality pun
i think the best one he's done is when he pulled up an extension cord from under the desk saying "another plug? why yes!" it's in his vid on heat pumps, about 6 minutes in
This reminds me of a little used lighting technology: the "HIR" lamp. This was a halogen incandescent lamp with an IR coating on the inside of the bulb.
The coating would reflect IR back toward the filament, helping to keep it warm.
The efficiency improvement was pretty significant, perhaps 40 or 50%. (Unfortunately this was taking a 2% efficient source and making it 3%....)
Jon
A regular incandescent bulb converts roughly 10% of the electricity into light.
So 10% efficiency.
A halogen bulb uses 20-30 percent less energy than an incandescent bulb.
@@lordgarion514 I believe that your efficiency numbers are on the high side, but admit that we might be comparing apples to oranges. When I was looking closely at the tech, it was for bicycle headlights where an output of 10 lumens per watt for an ordinary incandescent lamp was great, and doing things like using halogen IR bulbs with precise voltage regulation might get you to 25 lumen per watt.
Depending upon how you define things, 25 lumen per watt might be 10% efficient or 3.5% efficient. (10% by raw visible light photon power out vs electrical power in, 3.5% if you weight for eye spectral sensitivity and compare to the maximum possible number of lumens if you had that power of photons)
-Jon
I was thinking about this exact concept not that long ago. In theory, with perfect materials science (a *really good* hot mirror coating, 100% transmission of visible light through the envelope, and no conductive loss) you could make an incandescent bulb arbitrarily close to 100% efficient. You would put a fraction of the power in, and the reflected IR would heat the filament until the visible light output equaled the power in. On doing research, I learned two things: 1) that I was far from the first to have the idea, and that it's been done various times since the 60s, if not earlier, but the results were disappointing; 2) More recently, there's been some research into using photonic bandgap materials (basically a metal grid with nanoscale structure that gives it extremely wavelength-dependent properties) to create more efficient hot mirrors, and in 2008 a group at RPI reported an achievable efficiency of 125 lm/W... but that appears to have been based entirely on computer simulation, and I don't think the thing was ever built. Still, there might be potential there.
@@hobbified that, is quite interesting.
@@jonathanedelson6733 Perhaps various K values also exhibit varying efficiency. Blue appears brighter than red for example at any given wattage.
Here are a few precisions about the low-e, which I happen to know a bit about! I am too lazy to give sources but I tried to drop keywords. If you are interested, the manufacturer sites (Guardian, Saint-Gobain etc.) are IMO just the right balance (not too technical but still not pure marketing) for viewers of this channel.
12:35 - 12:52 actually low-e windows do cut quite a bit of visible light, by 15% to 40%. It's just that humans do not perceive absolute light levels well, so as long as the glass is "optically neutral" (not visibly tinted red or blue) we do not really see it. The video actually shows a change in brightness when you compare the opened or closed window (ok, the CCD does not capture the exact same wavelengths as human vision, but still).
14:40 and 17:02 the window is very probably double (or triple) glazing and the various reflections occur inside the gap between glasses.
The best low-e coatings we can make (most transparent in the visible range with near-total rejection of IR range) are based on one or multiple silver layer(s) (stacked with other stuff to achieve color neutrality, resistance to glass process etc etc). Oxygen from the atmosphere tends to attack the silver over a few months, so the double glazing unit is filled with either argon or nitrogen.
The low-e stack goes on the inner face of the outer glazing; the silver does not get to breathe all that nasty oxygen (at least for the first years of use where argon is still here) but the gap still provides some thermal insulation. The gap thickness is designed to minimize convection flow, and radiation exchange is low because of the low-e (Kirchoff's law, or as I call it blackbody magic, requires that if you reflect incoming IR you do not emit much of your own).
If you touch the outer glass of a double-glazing with low-e it will feel hotter that a regular double-glazing (because the IR that bounces off the coating crosses the glass twice and heat it up more).
There are some single-glazing low-e that do not oxyde (for oven or fridge doors, chimney covers etc) but with much poorer IR rejection performances.
Thanks for the info, these are very interesting insights!
Who knew there was so much engineering in a simple window. Compare that with the simple glass in an antique window.
Thank you so much! How it operates doesn't seem all that dissimilar from a mirror with a silver backing, just that the layer is only enough thickness to reflect infrared, If I get this right?
thanks, this is some valuable insight. Also makes me think about recycling and the growing usage of silver.
I've seen some low-E glass advertised as using Krypton or other more expensive noble gases instead of Argon, any thoughts? My guess is that it takes longer for these heavier noble gases to seep out of the inside of the low-E glass assembly, because I know from my interest in space launch rockets that Hydrogen (even liquid hydrogen) will "leak" right thru the atomic metal lattice structure of a metal pressure vessel wall given enough time (causing hydrogen embrittlement along the way), and that other gases (like Oxygen) will not do that, so my operating theory is that the larger the atom or molecule of gas is, the harder it is for it to treat a given barrier as porous. Xenon and Krypton have pretty much full valence orbitals in their ground state, which is what makes them avoid forming molecular bonds with other elements, but according to my theory that would also make them very resistant to being pressed thru a solid material barrier like a pane of glass.
Also, why can't they just put another coating (perhaps a polymer of some sort, or even a layer of plasma-deposited graphene or diamond?) on top of the silver coating to prevent oxidation? Too expensive?
Okay man, you just unlocked next level respect with your Bajoran reference. May the prophets smile on you all your days
His pagh is strong
But…. Tachyons!
RIP the original commenter, who was blown up by a bajorin religious faction for once using the words "wormhole" and "aliens" in the same sentence.
@@TheGrinningViking they probably just worship the Pah-wraiths
If the DS9 reference wasn't enough we then get the partial vacuum almost immediately after...
You bring honor to your house!
My dad had an old one of these, which was originally my grandfather’s. I’ve always loved it and was obsessed with the minutiae of how it worked as a small child.
I am now an astrophysicist, and credit it as why
I got one in the late seventies when I was 8. I was fascinated with them in school and my grandmother managed to buy on in a shop that sold school supplies for my Christmas gift that year. The store clerk said it wouldn't be suitable for young children as a gift, but she believed I would take good care of it. So now it is 2021. My parents and grandparents died years ago. But I still have that radiometer on my shelf. Survived moving 7-8 times.
hmm 8 as well, weird. ok I might have been 10.
Pity you forgot to include the punchline.
"I still have that radiometer but the shop was demolished 5 years ago."
Your wordplay is absolutely on point in this episode!
The Nixon pun was a bit of a stretch. And so, all the better.
It was lit!
the nixon joke, the light weight gag setting up for more that's x y not xy gags, alec's at the top of his game here
The radiometer, the flood light, and the window is my favorite C.S. Lewis fanfic.
😄😄😄😄😄😄
12:07 I *thoroughly* believe that this is TC's primary motivation for building his time machine, and that all other motivations are secondary or tertiary
You're really the only good kind of influencer. Instead of influencing people to buy a makeup brand or something, you influence people to use their dishwashers correctly.
can confirm: I use my dishwasher correctly now
I don't have a dishwasher, but I did educate my parents about theirs.
My dishes come out cleaner now.
The brand of dishwasher tabs I buy fit nicely into to both the pre-wash and wash dispenser compartments.
The only time I have issues is when someone else loads the dishwasher and places a long cooking utensil in the silverware basket in such a way that it blocks the little flappy door from opening. There by sealing the main wash tab inside the compartment.
So true. I gained so many hours of my life since watching. Dishes are now just an inconvenience instead of a daunting chore.
Regarding "old tech that makes things clear", ph indicators fall into this category for me. Especially purple cabbage! Simple, color indications of whether something is acidic or basic communicates far better than numeric ion concentrations.
@vbddfy euuyt What's worse, the architect (Viñoly) had already made the same mistake before in Las Vegas but he thought that London would be cloudy enough that it wouldn't matter.
One of my first jobs was working in a science curiosity shop in the mall and I remember selling these. I'm very glad to know that I wasn't misrepresenting them because the explanation we told to customers was pretty much just what you said here.
Light is absorbed more by the black side of the vanes warming the air next to its surface causing the excited air molecules to exert a higher pressure onto that side of the vanes.
Man that shop was so fun. It was one of those places that also sold plasma spheres, model rockets, chemistry sets, telescopes, mineral collections, fossils, etc. It's also where I learned to juggle and memorize the constellations.
That's actually the explanation I was taught, but I remember reading years ago (in a Usenet FAQ?) that that can't be the full explanation either because if it were purely ballistic, so to speak, the system would quickly reach some kind of steady state in which the rotor doesn't move, and the *real* explanation is the thermal transpiration effect at the edges of the vanes which I don't understand at all. And that's as far as my understanding ever went.
hot thing make air hot which make air move which make rotor spin
A note about low-e coatings shifting magenta on glass: they're designed to be bandpass filters, usually using repeated layers silver to shore up the UV and infrared reflectivity. One interesting side effect is that because the filter works by tuning layers against the light waves, at an angle it tunes differently. This is why you see that weird magenta effect: it's considered a defect, but also somewhat unavoidable. As you walk by commercial storefronts, look up on a cloudy day, and if you see bands of green/magenta, the coating had "shifted a* too hard" (using the CIE Lab color scale), yielding that defective Christmas tree banding effect. Given how complicated color spaces are and how light wave interference effects interact with the layers to enable the bandpass filter, it's probably more surprising there aren't more color artifacts when reflections are stacked.
The way your typical glass coating interacts with glass is shockingly complex and really neat!
"Honey that weird nerdy guy next door is shining lights at us through his window again".
jokes on you
he lives in bum fuck nowhere
but the FBI agent gets a chuckle every time TC records a video
🤣😂
19:36 "I only have one of them after all." HERESY!! Who are you and what have you done with the REAL Alec and his magic of buying two of them!?!
He has one _remaining_ is what we assume. Maybe he wanted to see what would happen if he put one in a microwave oven.
I KNEW this was a different Alec, no wonder he has long hair now!
I was going to say the same thing!
@@JohnDlugosz Okay, now I want to see one in a microwave oven...
"And now, through the magic of buying two and tearing one apart..."
(from the klaxon/not klaxon video)
3:44 ST:DS9 reference for the WIN! You sir just won the internet for me today! Thank you! My heart thanks you. And thousands of DS9 fans everywhere thank you!
*dozens
And then subsequently became subject to the tyranny of Cardassia.
I love your videos so much. They're more entertaining than most of youtube, while at the same time teaching me interesting new things. And by the way, it really shows, that you enjoy yourself making these videos, which makes them even better
The number of "How it's Made" panning shots is increasing each episode.
Omg I totally saw that! Looked just like a how it’s made product intro
Yes, but HiM is limited by law to a maximum of two bad puns per episode. TC could never be held in that box.
I'd rather hear bad puns, than seeing him stare at the camera after finishing a sentence 🤭
@@Zeppflyer I don't think we're watching the same How It's Made, I hear like 20 bad puns per episode.
Side effect of puns
My grandfather, a chemistry teacher, had these on many windowsills in his home. Thank you for stirring up some sweet old memories, and for teaching me new things on top of it all.
*new
@@snakedoktor6020 A slip of the fingers. I fixed it. Thanks!
18:20 I kinda like how we just rediscovered on of the reasons why people used to build porches everywhere.
...AND things like awnings, gables, and shutters for upper floor windows. ;o)
Fun fact: that technology goes as far back as ancient Greece & China!
I love learning about tech, but sometimes that experience can be a little dry, and you do such an amazing job of making learning fun. Thank you for this channel, it's like TH-cam comfort food.
I can hear the neighbors now.
"Why is that boy shining a halogen light out his window?"
"I don't know. Earlier he was shining it in his window."
"Martha! the boy is doing something again come look"
Oh no! That sinister-looking kid is coming to kill me!
I'm teaching your son about the Universe!
I ran into him the other day and he talked for forty-five minutes about his toaster!
@@Salsmachev ...and then he went on talking about his dark orange jacket. That's when I turned and ran for my life.
This unlocks an old memory for me, my teacher had this in our grade 5 classroom, I always thought it was amazing. Now that I know what it's called I can buy my own!
Same. 5th grade, good ol' times. That spinning thing that my teacher had us gaze upon and think about, has been on my mind ever since!
My thoughts exactly. Always wanted one of those, couldn't remember what they were called.
"That is, after all, how the ancient Bajorans got to Cardassia."
That was exactly my thought when I saw this!
I'm not alone!
Let's be honest it was the Tachyons eddies that let them bypass the Denorios belt that really got them to Cardassia
My thoughts were more towards the movie Pitch Black, as they have like everything powered by Crookes radiometers on the planet the movie takes place on. In reality that's probably the least efficient way to make something solar-powered without using fancy materials, and a dish heating up a Stirling or steam engine would be comparatively easy to make.
Points for DS9 nerd cred
Trekkies unite!
this is one of my favorite devices. literally transforming the light we're bathed in and emit into mechanical motion.
The DS9 reference was great 👍
The episode where Sisko builds the solar ship was great!
Scientific crew of DS9, prepared to be beamed in!
I hated that epis9de. So dull and low tech.
@@biggityboggityboo8775 in the Star Trek future people don’t care about email and internet
@@kenjifox4264 By low tech I meant the ship they were on was old tech. I like episodes on the station, defiant and runabouts.
I loved that episode and the father and son bond ❤️
Loved the DS9 reference. That was a great episode. But it's important to note that it wasn't just the solar sail, they also had those eddy currents in the Denorios Belt.
I *really* hope you had to look up that name
Specifically it was tachyon eddies as tachyons are one of the few particles in Star Trek that naturally travel faster than light. The Bajoran solar ship's relatively low mass to surface area is what allowed them to accelerate to warp speed when they entered the eddy, though realistically, without inertial dampeners, Ben and Jake should have become smears of organic goo on the aft bulkheads from that kind of acceleration.
also in episode 2F09, when Itchy plays Scratchy's skeleton like a xylophone, he strikes the same rib in succession, yet he produces two clearly different tones
@@stdesy Had to look up the spelling. But the belt itself is mentioned so much in the show that I remembered what it was called.
Plot twist: he was the person running the demo for his past self so he would eventually make this video and go back in time to do the demo!
Ok I love this idea.
Great script kid! Contact Bruce Willis's agent and see if he's available. We'll call it: 13 Monkey's - Crook's Curse. Now here on page 6, is there anyway we could have past guy be a robot? Also, I'm not seeing enough explosions here. What if when past guy and present guy meet we cut to an exterior shot of the invading alien robot army beaming down from the mothership? What about the sidekick? Present guy should have a sidekick, right? We'll get Rob Schneider! Great kid, just great! One last thing: could past guy be a duck?
My mind is blown.
Its true
He actually briefly covered this in his time machine video but he never elaborated on it
@@tempestfrost - Just not sure how could we make him a duck?
Super easy. Barely an inconvenience.
This is my favorite of his videos - great content, great delivery, and excellent ending (the conclusion, not just the bloopers). This dude is awesome.
"How this is accomplished doesn't really matter for the purposes of this video...but let's talk about it anyway!" Amazing, just as I would have expected.
19:40 Your split screen game is top tier. Your production quality has been on a steady rise since I first found your channel a couple years ago. Amazing work!
"That is in fact how the ancient bajorans got to cardassia" gotta love that star trek deep space 9 reference.
Is it ds9 or tng? Bajorans and cardassians were introduced in Tng as well as a fair bit of the back stories
DS9. Sisko and Jake traveled on a reproduction of an ancient light sail for a vacation. They accidentally found the tachyon eddy that the ancient Bajorans (and misc artifacts) used for interstellar travel. Even though none of that makes sense, and it also makes no sense how ancient travelers would have made the return journey.
@@aelolul thanks for the answer.i remember that now :p
I double-took at this joke. Fantastically well placed.
@@ocdtrekkie
Yeah I took a duble take too, tbh I loved it
Its so nice to hear someone with a good vocabulary and be thoughtful. You refresh me.
I appreciated the Star Trek reference. I’m rewatching DS9 right now and saw that episode a few days ago
I didn't see that reference coming ... just like Dukat didn't see Sisko coming!
Your window demonstration story reminds me of an interesting event that happened to me several years ago; I was snooping through a gift shop near my home, when I noticed a display of color-changing t-shirts. The display included an ultraviolet lamp one could place the shirts on, and this would cause them to change from black and white to full-color images. I found this intriguing, so I selected a fun pirate parrot shirt, thinking that parrots are quite colorful & would look great in full color. So, I purchased the shirt, the clerk placed it in a bag & I eagerly took it out to my car.
Once I entered the car, I hastily put the shirt on, excited to see what colors were to be found in the image. I checked the car mirror, and saw..... nothing - just the original black-and-white image I had seen in the store. I thought, that perhaps it just took a minute to "charge up", rather like fluorescent paint , which needs to absorb a good deal of sunlight, before re-emitting said light in the dark. So, I waited a couple of minutes, but, to my chagrin, once again - nothing.
Thinking I'd been had, I bolted out of the car, intent upon giving that store clerk a decidedly unpleasant piece of my feeble mind, and to my utter surprise, the shirt instantly BURST into vivid colors, the likes of which I'd seldom seen on this planet!
Momentarily bewildered, I pondered what on Earth had just transpired (and, more to the point, WHY it happened!), when it occurred to me that the windshield had shielded me from the Sun's ultra-violet rays, and the moment I emerged from the cab, those same rays activated the pigments in my new shirt, causing the amazing display of colors across my chest!
"That's how the Bajorians got to Cardassia." Annnd, that's a like.
well technicly, it wasn't light that got them there.
Tachyon eddies!
@@havoc1482 They’re not Eddie’s: they’re mine.
The Mote in God's Eye aliens used this too.
@Tiffany Ballard A script oversight? That part, didn't got into the episode at the end..lol
7:40 love the Arrested Development reference lol. Little moments like that and the partial vacuum joke are why I'm gladly subscribed to this channel
Was looking for this comment lol
"It's a partial vacuum." My God, that line and setup was genius.
I'm a simple man. I hear a DS9 reference, I click "thumbs up".
As someone working in the field of glass coatings, I can tell you that your first assumption is actually right: a low-e coating is designed to reflect far IR but let near IR through. In reality though there is a compromise to find between how high we want to far IR reflection to be and how low the near IR reflection can stay. This compromise is linked to the properties of the materials used in the coating. So If you leave in a cold place, far IR reflection is very important and everything is done to make it as high as possible even if it means increasing the near IR reflection a bit as well. The orientation and position of the coating in the window are important but it cannot really create a big assymetry of reflection in the IR. A window designed to limit solar inputs by reflecting the near and far IR is called a solar control (for big glass buildings). There the trade of becomes transparency in the visible range. Finally, if you want a windows with tunable solar inputs, look at Electrochromic ("smart") windows. They are amazing ! One example is called SageGlass.
Finally I know that smart windows are for. I was baffled why a blinds/curtains alternative would help any more with energy consumption, and thought it was surely an aesthetic consideration. But reducing heating in winter and reducing cooling in summer would reduce energy usage of the building and help. So I see now. It’s very much like how some places have a lip above their windows so high summer sun doesn’t come in and heat i as much as the low winter sun.
I have heard that greenhouse glass has coating that allows IR into the building but not out. Is that true? Or is it just totally reflective and it's only the IR generated by the plants that heats it up?
@@rhettorical afaik it’s the hot air kept inside, and the solar heating on the glass (which, heating up the panes themselves, is a separate matter from how much they actually pass through themselves)
The 8 year old in me & me at my age now are both fascinated by this device and demonstration. Very easy to understand. You out you did yourself on this video. Thanks for the knowledge and entertainment value!
There are few things as delightful as “getting” a pun 3 - 5 seconds after it is said, and then shaking your head at the level of cheesiness of said pun.
I feel like he is going insane. His intro is hilarious. "Have you ever seen one of these? I sure have. There's one right here."
And the Nixon crook pun was so elaborate that I loved it.
@@BenderdickCumbersnatch agreed! Truly comedy gold!! The Nixon pun and the vacuum pun were the two that stumped me for a few seconds and then finally dawned on me haha
I had to read your writing of the nixon crook one and then it clicked.
The English word play is even sharper than that needle thing inside the roundy-roundy windowsill toy.
Spinnamathingin'.
"I can picture in my mind a world without war, a world without hate. And I can picture us attacking that world, because they'd never expect it."
-Gul Dukat
Space Prussia got what it deserved.
Wasn't that Zapp Brannigan(sp) on Futurama?
They were the finest space nazis Trek ever had. Better than the Aryans, the most cringy take on space-naziism ever.
The Simpsons portrayed that 30 years ago in the "Monkey's Paw" part of their Tree House of Horror.
"Beige Alert."
22:15 "Well that's neat!"
I've never heard you sum this channel up better.
The number of puns and "double meaning" avoidance was outrageous in this episode and I love it! :D
“Nixon had one of these, but he denied it.”
I have no idea how I’ll ever be able to use that, but I swear I’ll find a way before I die.
I'll just add it to my list of internal random facts that nobody needs to hear but I tell them at random anyways.
"Oh by the way, did you know that Richard Nixon denied owning a radiometer?"
you won’t use it more than teflon... man.
It's one of the sentences Nixon is best known for: 'I do not own a Crooke'
@@OrangeC7 --How so?
"He famously said: I ain't got a Crookes."
I thought people were seeing tricky dickey on potato chips too...?
It is "I" who is one of the two inventors that holds the patent for creating a "motor" to the radiometer. We learned it doesn't give much energy when made big or small. Good introduction you have given to the radiometer. Thanks! Victor Mousaa
oh, a really fun thing to use with these is a camera flash! I have an old powerful one from the 90's, and it really gets it spinning even with a nearly instantaneous light duration.
that's actually amazing u should make a tiktok
@@katiebarber407 If there is anything good about tiktok, science communication is the best use of it, just like youtube.
@laserlord10 When you have the time please put on your channel, that'd be a nice crossover.
I'll add to wanting to see that!
Thanks - I enjoyed this! I first saw these in 1964 in a science museum in Holland (I was 14 years old then). What stuck in my mind was that a second radiometer was working next to it, was using a small twig with four leaves (with light and dark surfaces). An amazing display!
I first saw one in 1958 when I was 8 years old. It was at a souvenir shop at Disneyland. I now have one on one of my bookcases.
I used to have a radiometer until I had the bright idea of seeing what would happen to it in the microwave, fun fact, I don't have a radiometer anymore XD
Funny thing is that, if you had put a glass of water in next to it, you might still have a radiometer.
@@joesterling4299 ill test this
@@joesterling4299 not guaranteed or simply a bad idea disguised as a smart move, usually you don't put metal in a uW AT ALL
@@redoverdrivetheunstoppable4637 Nothing needs to be metal in a radiometer. And it was a joke, which I guess I now have to ruin by explaining.
Putting anything in a microwave without a liquid to absorb the energy will lead to a runaway condition that can destroy the oven and whatever is in it. A glass of water would solve that, if not the issue of excessive metal that resonates with the microwaves.
@@joesterling4299 first of all, i don't see any joke... second, the radiometer has likely metal in it, starting from the needle and probably the vanes... third, putting a decoy material you will ABSORB but not ATTRACT all the microwaves so the problem remains, infact people have bad expereinces with metal !!!AND WET FOOD!!! in a uW
i'm not replying anymore, this is becoming awkward, goodbye.... and stop suggesting dangerous things for spaghetti monster sake
I've always loved these little gadgets. I've never noted the reversal in direction when removed from the source of infrared radiation. Very illustrative of the fact that it is indeed, a thermal phenomenon. I've always enjoyed your videos, but the Arrested Development reference was great!
I'm always down for a reference to Bajoran lightships. It's hammock time!
That was the greatest. Actually LOL'ed.
"Put your back into it!"
How'd they get them into orbit?!
@@flyingskyward2153 Probably rockets. That's how we would do it, and we know from that episode that the Bajorans didn't have gravity manipulating tech at the time. Nothing really rules out them using some kind of chemical propulsion system to break orbit.
They do have habitable moons as well so it's possible that it was launched from one of them and/or heading to one originally. These moons will have lower gravity and every bit helps.
@@flyingskyward2153 the same way Cochrane’s Phoenix did. A big fuck-off rocket.
As a kid who really liked how everything mechanical worked and had multiple books about cars, I never could grasp how a differential worked until I got to mess with a Lego one. Being able to mess with the concept hands-on is definitely the best way to learn about it.
oh yeah, I had a fischertechnik differential that was really fun to figure out
A video from 1930s Chevy helped me understand...
@@justaguy5770 TH-cam recommends me that video once every couple of months and i click it every time. It's just weirdly satisfying to watch.
@@plesleron Glad I'm not the only one, if they had shown that in Shop class it would've been nice!
Back in the day GM wanted to educate people how modern cars worked and created amazing videos in the thirties. Check out "around the corner" in your favorite video service. Absolutely amazing.
Alec: How the ancient Bajorans got to Cardassia
Me: *pointing vigorously at the screen* THAT!!
🔥🔥🔥👌🏻
🖖
I really enjoyed this video! I was so excited about each demo. I have seen radiometers around but did had no idea how they work. I think the intuitive nature of the demos was really great! Thank you!
“Especially if architects start experimenting with curved glass”. Ah yes, I remember the building in London that cosplayed a Martian tripod, complete with car-melting heat-ray.
The architect who built that monstrosity made *another* curved glass death ray in Las Vegas.
The walkie-talkie!
@@danem2215 Somehow I'm not surprised. I have a feeling it was deliberately done so that the casino with the death ray would be set up to burn a competing casino down the Strip.
The Aria
@@danem2215 He made the one in Vegas first, it was a deathray as well ... he thought the Walkie Talkie wouldn't do the same because it was always overcast in the UK ... we have weather and it was also a deathray ... just not often
"It's a heat engine"
"I KNEW IT"
I'm way prouder than I should be.
I expected him to call it a refrigeration cycle. Just to mess with us
no , you should be proud ,
i wanted to shout wtf and hurry up for a while till he finally explained it.
i think this demonstrates oumuamuas stealthy exit amazingly.
The explanation was wonderful, but what I am really amazed by is the flawless split screen edits. Those were beautiful.
That partial vacuum gag truly had me laughing me ass off.
I kinda got excited when you started talking about Low-E glass because it's extremely relevent to my current job. Mind you, I am no expert but in my experience it does matter which side the Low-E film faces out. We characterize glass with different surfaces. I.e. the pane off glass towards outside is surface 1 and on the backside of that same pane is surface 2. From what i can tell you have double pane insulated glass, so there's an inert gas in betweeen and then the interior glass would be surfrace 3 and surface 4. The Low-E coating is usually applied to surface 2 of the glass. Considering you live in a cold climate I'm going to assume that there is Low-E on surface 2 and 3 whith the intentions of keeping the uv from the sun out but surface 3 is doing the same thing to keep UV in. So flipping your windows around wouldn't do anything to change the effect. We us a fancy piece of electronic plastic that gives us a reading of where the Low-E is and how thick the glass is etc. GC3200 | Glass-Chek ELITE. Anyway i feel like i just danced around your question without answering it, but this is the extent of my knowledge. Do with is what you will.
Thank you for sharing
Ideally the coating would be on layer 1 but I suspect the coating is applied to surace 2 because it is subject to less wear there. It does mean that the first pan of glass will be heated more than if it was on surface 1 but the second pane of glass is insulated from this pane by the gap between them anyway.
"that in ofcourse how the ancient bajorans got to cardassia"
this man been reading scripture. one of my favorite episodes of ds9
was literally what I was thinking when he said it and had to double take.
Loved the DS9 reference 😆 "That is after all how the ancient Bajorans got to Cardassia."
An amazing video, fascinating subject and all the usual TechnologyConnections puns and bloopers, this is the best video I've watched this year
The Bajoran reference made me smile, thank you
That was a very creative shot sequence at 14:20! I love the way you nailed the placement of the lamp, so you could almost miss that it's gone from outside the glass to being reflected in the glass, to appear as though outside.
Literally every science teacher I've ever had: "This is because photons have momentum"
TC: "Nah it's just a heat engine"
Me: *Complete, utter disappointment
Makes you truly wonder what else you didn't actually learn in school, doesn't it?
Especially because "photon momentum" sounds so cool, doesn't it?
@@Dargonhuman Well, I already know that "Boil a frog alive if you heat it slowly enough" and "Attract more flies with honey than with vinegar" are wrong.
This goes all the way back to 1st grade... on day 1, the teacher wanted to be able to leave the room without us getting into trouble, so she taught us what it means when someone tells you to "freeze". She explained: "When you put an ice cube in the freezer, it can't move."
Even at the time, I saw two problems with that statement. 1, You don't put ice cubes in the freezer, you put a tray of water in the freezer. You get ice cubes out of the freezer. And 2, Ice cubes are not known for their ability to move on their own, regardless of the environment they're in.
Yeah, teachers are full of BS. Next I'm gonna find out the Earth is flat or something...
My 6th grade science teacher Mr.dixon knew the truth.
"I mean, yes but really no
Much love to this channel. No loud crashing intros or banging beats. Perfect to pop on the crt and melt into the next day. Thanks tc for what you have done and continue to do
In Germany we have a window that is kind of like you described, they let infrared through at a flat angle but not from above, following the sun through the year. I'll try to find the brand.
It's called 'four seasons glass'. This contains a special layer that only transmits light coming from a specific angle. I initially heard about this almost 10 years ago, when working in a house with massive windows, asking the client about heat problems in summer.
I feel like your intros are just documenting some kind of descent into madness. It’s glorious.
Will he be ALANTUTORIALS 2.0?
Descent. But yea. Looks the same when spoken.
"Looks the same when spoken" @@myyou7335 What's it like to experience synesthesia? Must be cool
@@myyou7335 what do you mean, it’s always said “descent” >.>?
“How this is accomplished doesn’t really matter for the purposes of this video..."
"Awww."
"...but let’s talk about it anyway!”
"YAY!"
12:55
This made me so happy. Usually purveyors of educational videos say something like, "but that's a topic for a future video" and then that future never comes to actualization. :(
My 2nd grade teacher showed us one of these, so I was about 6 at the time (44 now). She explained that it worked by reflecting light, but I still remember that day because, like you said, those things are cool.
9:05 Bread expands and then shrinks when you toast it? That's awesome
now i can't unsee it and it feels weird.
Pretty cool! Thanks for pointing it out.
"We were talking about Radiometers at one point"
-A video about Radiometers
Thats what i love at this channel
“Have you ever seen one of these? I have, there’s one right here!”
My grandma’s house is quite old and has storm windows that she puts outside the normal windows over the winter. Someone could develop a similar window system where the normal window is regular glass, and a pane of low e glass goes on each summer