World's Lightest Solid! (It defies physics)
Summary
TLDRThis video explores aerogel, the lightest solid with 99.8% air content, showcasing its remarkable thermal insulation, hydrophobic and hydrophilic properties. The host demonstrates aerogel's ability to withstand extreme temperatures, float on water, and block noise. Innovations like Solar Core's flexible aerogel composite are highlighted, which overcome the material's brittleness. Experiments include protecting objects from fire, freezing with liquid nitrogen, and staying dry underwater using aerogel, revealing its potential for various applications.
Takeaways
- 😲 Aerogel is the lightest and lowest density solid in the world, with 99.8% air content, resembling 'frozen smoke'.
- 🌡 It can withstand extreme temperatures ranging from -275°C to 650°C, providing exceptional heat protection.
- 👆 Despite its light weight, aerogel is brittle and can shatter easily under slight pressure, turning into dust.
- 💧 The dust from aerogel becomes 100% hydrophobic when applied to surfaces, making them waterproof.
- 🔧 Aerogel's hydrophobic properties can be demonstrated through simple experiments, such as floating on water and not getting wet.
- 🔥 It has the lowest thermal conductivity of any solid, making it an excellent insulator, used by NASA for spacecraft insulation.
- 🧪 Aerogel was invented about 100 years ago as a result of a scientific bet to replace liquid in silica gel with gas without losing its structure.
- 🛠 The process of supercritical drying is used to create aerogel, which involves high heat and pressure to remove liquid without collapsing the structure.
- 📏 Aerogel's pores are nanometer-sized, much smaller than the width of a human hair, which contributes to its unique properties.
- 🔊 It can also block noise, as demonstrated by lining a box with aerogel foam and significantly reducing sound levels.
- ❄️ Aerogel's insulation properties are so effective that it can protect objects from extreme cold, such as that of liquid nitrogen.
Q & A
What is the aerogel described in the script?
-Aerogel is a gel composed of 99.8% air, also known as AEL, which is the lightest and lowest density solid in the world. It looks like frozen smoke and is capable of withstanding extreme temperatures from -275°C to 650°C.
How light is the aerogel mentioned in the script?
-The aerogel is so light that it weighs only 1.74 grams, making it feel as if one is holding a piece of the sky.
What is the unique property of aerogel when it comes into contact with water?
-When aerogel dust is applied to a surface, it becomes 100% hydrophobic, making the surface completely waterproof.
What is the significance of the aerogel's hydrophobic property demonstrated in the script?
-The aerogel's hydrophobic property is demonstrated by its ability to float on water and create a barrier that prevents water from wetting it, which is shown through the experiment with the match and the spoon.
How is aerogel used in the context of sound?
-Aerogel can block noise due to its nano-porous structure. In the script, a box lined with aerogel foam is used to demonstrate this by significantly reducing the noise from a speaker.
What is the process called that was used to create aerogel?
-The process used to create aerogel is called supercritical drying, which involves subjecting the material to high heat and pressure to remove all the liquid without collapsing the structure, leaving behind a three-dimensional porous framework of silica filled with air.
What are the challenges with using aerogel in practical applications?
-One of the main challenges with aerogel is its brittleness. It can easily shatter into dust with a small amount of pressure, which limits its use in various applications.
How does the script address the issue of aerogel's brittleness?
-The script introduces a solution developed by Oro Labs, which is a closed-cell foam combined with aerogel. This combination results in a flexible and durable aerogel composite that overcomes the brittleness issue.
What is the temperature range that aerogel can withstand according to the script?
-Aerogel can withstand extreme temperatures from -275°C to 650°C, making it an excellent material for insulation and protection against heat.
How does aerogel appear when exposed to different types of light?
-Aerogel appears blue when exposed to daylight due to Rayleigh scattering of shorter wavelengths like blue and purple. Under ultraviolet light, it appears opaque, and under infrared light, it appears transparent.
What experiment is conducted in the script to demonstrate the aerogel's insulation capabilities?
-An experiment is conducted where a mini gummy burger is exposed to the flames of a Bunsen burner, and another mini gummy burger is protected by aerogel to demonstrate the insulation capabilities of aerogel.
What is the final experiment conducted in the script involving liquid nitrogen?
-The final experiment involves the host getting sprayed with liquid nitrogen while wearing an aerogel-insulated jacket to demonstrate the material's insulation capabilities against extreme cold.
Outlines
🌌 The Wonders of Aerogel: Light as Air
The script introduces the aerogel, the lightest and lowest density solid known, composed of 99.8% air, resembling 'frozen smoke.' Despite its featherweight nature, it can endure extreme temperatures from -275°C to 650°C, offering unmatched heat protection. However, it is also brittle, easily shattering under slight pressure. When pulverized, it becomes 100% hydrophobic, creating a waterproof barrier on surfaces. The aerogel's sound is described as metallic, contrasting common expectations. The video is set at the Solar Core facility in Oregon, where the presenter plans to explore the aerogel's remarkable properties, including its status as the lowest thermal conductor and best insulation material, used by NASA for spacecraft. The material's history dates back 100 years to a scientific bet, with supercritical drying being the key process to create its unique structure filled with air.
🔥 Aerogel's Dual Nature and Flame Test
The script delves into aerogel's dual hydrophilic and hydrophobic properties, showcasing an experiment where aerogel powder floats on water, demonstrating its hydrophobic nature. A gummy burger is used to illustrate the aerogel's insulating capabilities against a Bunsen burner's flame, with the protected burger remaining intact while the exposed one melts. The brittleness of aerogel is a significant drawback, but the script introduces a solution from Oro Labs—a closed cell foam combined with aerogel, providing flexibility and durability. A flamethrower test is conducted on this new material, showing its effectiveness in withstanding high temperatures. The script also explores the aerogel's noise-blocking capabilities, with a demonstration using a speaker inside a box lined with aerogel foam.
❄️ Liquid Nitrogen and Aerogel's Thermal Protection
The script presents a dramatic experiment involving liquid nitrogen, which is extremely cold at -196°C. It shows the immediate freezing effect of the nitrogen on various items, including a piece of parsley and a chicken, emphasizing the potential dangers of direct contact with skin. The presenter then dons an aerogel-insulated jacket to demonstrate its protective capabilities against the cold. The jacket, made from a proprietary product called Solar Core aerogel foam, combines the thermal performance of aerogel with the flexibility and durability of closed cell foam. The presenter safely withstands the direct spray of liquid nitrogen, showcasing the jacket's effectiveness.
💧 Aerogel's Hydrophobic Properties and Visual Appearance
The script concludes with the presenter applying aerogel particles to their body to stay dry underwater, demonstrating the material's hydrophobic properties. It explains the composition of 100% silica aerogel, a prevalent mineral on Earth, and its ability to create a thin gray layer on the skin due to trapped air bubbles. The presenter then moves to a pool to show the visual effect of the aerogel under different lighting conditions, including daylight, ultraviolet, and infrared light, which reveal the aerogel's blue appearance due to Rayleigh scattering and its transparency to infrared light. The video ends with a call to action to subscribe for more documentaries and a thank you to the Solar Core team.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Aerogel
💡Supercritical Drying
💡Hydrophobic
💡Hydrophilic
💡Thermal Conductivity
💡Soundproofing
💡Brittleness
💡Solar Core Facility
💡Amorphous Silica
💡Rayleigh Scattering
💡Infrared Light
Highlights
Aerogel is the lightest and lowest density solid in the world, composed of 99.8% air.
Aerogel can withstand extreme temperatures from -275°C to 650°C.
Despite its lightness, aerogel is brittle and shatters easily under slight pressure.
Aerogel dust applied to surfaces becomes 100% hydrophobic, making it waterproof.
Aerogel can form new non-brittle foam-like composites for extreme applications.
Aerogel's sound when dropped is very metallic, unlike typical expectations.
Aerogel is the lowest thermal conductive solid, making it the best insulation in the universe.
NASA uses aerogel to insulate spacecraft like Mars rovers due to its insulation properties.
Aerogel was created about 100 years ago from a bet to replace liquid in silica gel with gas.
Supercritical drying is used to create aerogel by removing liquid without collapsing the structure.
Aerogel's pores are nanometers thick, preventing heat, sound, and light transmission.
Aerogel exhibits both hydrophilic and hydrophobic characteristics.
Aerogel powder creates a barrier on water, causing objects to float without sinking.
Aerogel can be used to make a person waterproof when applied to the skin.
Aerogel's insulation capability was tested with a flamethrower, showing its effectiveness.
Aerogel's brittleness has been a historical challenge, but it can now be made flexible and durable.
Aerogel blocks significant noise, as demonstrated with a lined box and speaker.
Aerogel's nano pores scatter shorter wavelengths of light, giving it a blue appearance.
Aerogel can be transparent under infrared light and opaque under ultraviolet light.
Aerogel's flexibility and durability have been improved for practical applications.
Aerogel can keep a person dry even when completely submerged in water.
Aerogel's hydrophobic properties were tested in heavy rain, keeping the person dry.
Different types of aerogel can be hydrophilic, absorbing moisture from the air.
Transcripts
this piece right in my hand is the
lightest and lowest density solid in the
world this is an AEL as its name suggest
it's a gel composed of
99.8% air looking like frozen smoke it's
only 1.74 G when I pick it up I feel
like I'm holding a piece of the sky it's
so light that even soap bubbles can lift
it despite its weight it can withstand
extreme temperatures from - 275° c to 6
50° C and provides a protection against
heat unlike anything else on Earth
however even with a small pressure
applied by my finger the aerogel
shatters into thousands of pieces and
turns to dust but what's surprising is
that if I take those aerogel dust and
apply it to any surface like my body it
becomes 100% hydrophobic it makes me
completely waterproof on top of that
this dust also forms new non-brittle
foamlike aerogel Composites which can be
utilized in extreme applications
requiring protection Arrow gels can be
in different shapes given that they are
99% air can you guess the kind of sound
would an arrow gel
[Music]
make it's like an empty can dropping
onto a steel
surface very
metallic quite different from what most
of you might
expect I'm at the solar core facility in
in Oregon and I'll be conducting
experiments to test the Aero gel's most
incredible properties so aerogel is this
really amazing material it's the lowest
thermal conductive solid in existence or
the best insulation in the universe this
is the same stuff Nasa uses to insulate
spacecraft uh like the Mars rovers it's
like nothing it's like nothing it's the
lightest solid in existence as well what
is it made of it's just 9 99% air in
this case that other 1% or so is
amorphous silica most of you may be
seeing this material for the first time
in this video however aerogel was
introduced into our lives about 100
years ago as a result of a bet between
two scientists the BET was to replace
all the liquid in silica gel with gas
without destroying its form after
continuous exploration kler finally
solved this problem by using a process
called super critical drying and super
critical drying you have to get the
material to its critical point which is
really high heat and really high
pressure and you need to pull all that
liquid out without collapsing the
structure uh of the Jell-O at the end of
the drying process what we have is only
a three-dimensional porous framework of
silica filled with air the pores are
only a couple nanometers in thickness to
put that into perspective the average
pore size is around
110,000 the width of a human air so you
can think that I'm holding trapped air
where the molecules are stopped one by
one in the pores and they're almost
unable to transmit heat sound and light
so you're seeing some water and arel you
see how it's
hydrophobic oh yeah ael's insulation
capabilities are not its only remarkable
property it also exhibits both
hydrophilic and hydrophobic
characteristics how is it possible to
show you how hydrophobic AEL is I'm
going to perform a simple yet impressive
experiment let's div it
so this happens because it is
hydrophobic right that's
correct doesn't get wet all right moment
of
truth now we're going to sprinkle some
aerogel powder on the water notice how
the aerogel doesn't sink it's literally
floating on the surface creating a
barrier I'll put it in the
water it's in the water now thanks to
the aerogel super hyd phobic properties
the match is still dry and
lit wow it's amazing even after stirring
the aerogel powder does not mix with
water molecules particles are not
getting wet at all trying to scoop up
the water is completely useless only the
aerogel powder comes out with the
spoon look the spoon is completely
submerged but it's completely dry I'm
going to put some SP p on
I wonder what would happen if I apply it
to my whole body would I be
waterproof wow that's pretty
cool that's awesome these ball-shaped
droplets are not actually touching my
hand there is a layer of aerogel powder
between my skin and the water looks
amazing
wow go with my entire hand wow
feels like magic yeah really is but what
we will see when I cover my whole body
with these particles will blow our minds
since it's on my hand these particles
completely dry my hand out here we go
thank you cuz it just takes all the oil
out of your skin we have these two
setups on one side we have this mini
gummy Burger which we will expose
directly to the Flames of this bunson
burner and on the other side this mini
gummy Burger is protected by and arrow
gel you see the intense hit here let's
start right I I can see the changes over
here this one started melting and the
bottom is already dissolving there's no
difference
here my God this one is half burned
already no action going on here
yeah as you see this setup was much more
effective in terms of protecting this
hamburger and this one is on smoke you
see the difference if this insulation is
really that good if you're using it to
insulate spacecraft why isn't it used to
insulate everything here on Earth right
from buildings to apparel turns out it
has one major problem if you poke it uh
and feel free to go ahead it'll shatter
into a th little pieces with a little
pressure look how easily it turns into
dust I love that that's beautiful the
challenge with aroel uh since the
beginning of time has been that this
stuff is super brittle uh and that's
what we do at oros Labs or solar core
how do you make it not brittle so that
you could use it in whatever application
so this is the solution you came up with
that's correct so this is a closed cell
foam combined with aerogel closed cell
Foams are made from silica substance
with a structure consisting of tiny
sealed air pockets before moving to the
flamethrower test and test it on my
entire body we'll make one small trial
with this foam if that falls I have to
take my hand immediately yeah I'm I'm
quick you
ready you can crank it up as much as you
want
so you're seeing the uh impact on it so
it's very cold here I can touch it as
much as I want but here it's it's also
cold it doesn't keep heat yeah yeah but
this one is hot it melted look look at
the U shape of it my shield is actually
made of exactly same blanket as this one
this is how thick it is is thinner than
my
finger this is the flamethrower yeah how
big is the flame that's coming out of
this Weapon 5 to 6 ft so the thickness
of The Shield is A4 of an inch the
framework looks a lot bigger but if you
see the shield itself it's very very
thin can we push it to its limits we
will test the aerogel Shield by heating
it to the maximum temperature that
propane gas can reach you ready I'm
ready w
w
oh I can feel some heat from the
side but nothing from the
center can you get closer to
me that's as close as I want him to get
I can still touch
it FL is coming around FL is coming
around that's probably good yeah the
average temperature of the Flames was
around 1, 1200° C before moving on to
the most dangerous experiment yet I have
to show how aerogel blocks noise too we
have a box here that we lined with a
solar core aerogel foam let's put the
speaker inside this box and see how
aerogel foam works okay let's start all
[Music]
right so the rating is about
75
[Music]
yeah now it is around
95 yeah it's about
right even without the music they
there's still a lot of noise in this
room you can see that it is about 50
without the music so we can say that it
blocks 50% of the noise for those
unfamiliar liquid nitrogen is extremely
cold at a temperature of about1 196° C
how safe do you think this is what
happens if I touch the liquid nitrogen
without gloves it wouldn't be great if
it came in contact with your skin would
freeze your skin then my hand will be
shattered it's exactly right we're going
to hear a really loud noise at first um
and so don't don't worry if there's loud
noise it's so cold that it can freeze
almost anything on contact before using
liquid nitrogen on myself with my
aerogel insulated jacket let's see what
this liquid nitrogen can do to something
that's not protected by AEL for
comparison so this is the light and
frost effect there's such a great
temperature difference between liquid
nitrogen and the floor that it literally
can't get
absorbed our next item on the list a
bunch of parsley but this time instead
of submerging it we'll directly spray
liquid nitrogen on
[Applause]
it
w so I'm going to dip this in now we're
going to see what liquid nitrogen can do
with a thicker and denser
item all right let's drop this one 2
3 wow before trying it out on me I'm
sending off a piece of chicken in liquid
nitrogen for a few minutes to see what
effect it might have on real meat and
Bone and we're going to
see what happens to this chicken wow
where is the
chicken where is
the even the bones are shattered this
could be so dangerous then that's pretty
dangerous what I have witnessed is both
mind-blowing and also worrying because
now I'll be the next experimental
subject now it's my turn to withstand
the intense cold of liquid nitrogen
behind me Mike is ready to spray the
liquid nitrogen directly at me okay you
guys ready 5 four
three two
1 this is amazing I don't feel it just
on my pants because some droplets came
to my pants but that's all right for my
upper body I don't feel anything amazing
this product uses solar cor foam which
is our proprietary product it's the
world's first flexible and durable
aerogel composite so it is a combination
of the silica aerogel that we spent so
much time playing with today and Clos
cell foam so you get the amazing thermal
performance of aerogel uh that's why it
works so well in the jacket but you get
the flexibility in the durability of
close cell foam because remember that's
why aoel struggled so much in the past
it's been super brittle yeah uh so we
found a way and patented a way to make
aerogel super flexible and super durable
yeah and it's usable applicable on our
daily life that's exactly right we are
near Trum Lake as you see this ice is
covering the entire Lake I'm going to
apply particles of AEL on my body get in
the water and stay dry so no health
problems right no okay feeling okay
today yeah you've obviously been in the
water before cold water y okay perfect
we have everything else set up just in
case
pressure3 I have a bucket of powdered
silica aerogel and I'm evenly covering
my whole body with that let's see if it
can keep me dry even
[Music]
underwater I'm completely submerging my
body
[Music]
now I am dry this is Miracle guys
particles are blocking the uh water
coming onto my skin still nothing
nothing look at my leg in the water for
quite some
time and it's dry there are droplets on
my leg let's get these out of my leg
I I don't even feel I don't even need
that gel that we use today is 100%
silica aerogel which is one of the most
prevalent minerals in the Earth's crust
we're getting out any remaining aerogel
particles just to make sure that there's
nothing disturbing the ecosystem the
water was kind of dark and muddy that's
why we couldn't see how my body looked
underwater I will get inside a pool now
and you'll see how it actually looks
underwater
aerogel particles cause a thin gray
layer because they trapped tiny air
bubbles on my body these air bubbles
reflect Skylight giving my skin a shiny
silvery
[Music]
appearance you can notice some of these
air bubbles coming off my legs and rise
to the water
surface air on my skin makes me feel
lighter in the water completely dry how
is that possible let's try it again
[Music]
it's raining heavily now but I don't get
W yeah I might be the only person caught
in the rain completely covered in
hydrophobic aerogel
particles if you look at it carefully
there are rain droplets on the surface
of the uh pool of water that means rain
water and the pool water never meet
there's a layer of Arrow gel between
pool and rain
water just going to apply this a gel on
it I feel like it's getting wet
no
way inside there is water but outside
it's completely dry what the heck it's
like uh I'm holding a bottle of
water the a gel powder that I applied
onto my body was hydrophobic but this
one is hydrophilic watch what happens
when I drop water on this air
gel it's complete completely
unusable the damage is impossible to be
undone the feeling of the texture is a
lot different think of this like a small
sponge it can absorb 25 times of its
weight as this type of aerogel can
absorb moisture from the air they are
used in museums to protect artifacts or
to safely store medicines without
exposing them to
humidity last but not least ael's Nano
pores are even way smaller than the
visible light the visible light ranges
from 380 nanom to 750 nanom while the
ael's pores are only between 20 to 40
nanom wide shorter wavelength particles
Blues purples UV light get scattered
when they hit aerogel and that's what
causes aerogel to look blue same reason
the sky looks blue it's called ra
scattering when we expose an aerogel to
ultraviolet light which has the shortest
wavelengths it scatters the light better
making the aerogel appear opaque now
when we switch to infrared light which
has the longest wavelengths of all it
passes right through the AOG gel making
it appear completely transparent let's
see what happens when we expose aerogel
directly to Daylight it's yellow when I
hold it up to the sky it looks yellow
because it allows longer wavelengths of
sunlight such as yellow and red to pass
through more easily especially in bright
sunlight this phenomenon is similar to
the way the sky appears blue during the
day and changes color at sunrise and
sunset I would like to thank the solar
core team for allowing us to to film
this documentary subscribe to my YouTube
channel for more documentaries like this
RI chanet was here
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