How does a whip break the sound barrier? (Slow Motion Shockwave formation) - Smarter Every Day 207

This was a great video. Interesting to see the conservation of momentum. Kind of like fly fishing.

Wendell Adams

Love the channel! In this video, I can't help but think that the breaking of the sound barrier (or the shock-wave itself) helps to accelerate the very end of the whip? Maybe I am not asking that correctly, Is it possible that the force from the shock-wave play a part (aid) in the final accelerate of the tip of the whip?

goiycenter#0

#BoycottPatreon

I wonder how this whip effect relates to the Mould effect (<a href="https://youtu.be/wmFi1xhz9OQ)." rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://youtu.be/wmFi1xhz9OQ).</a> Could the explanation for one help explain the other?

David Henderson

Intentional or not, the easter eggs found in ur films are marvelous, from nail polish to 3:27 for example, leading to twinkling tar. Is the double image of the whip due to a extra space between the mirror danger zone or some intentional marginally out of phase method of extracting more data in a single recording?

i wonder if doing schlieren from different directions, focused at the same point, will give you much better data, or just somewhat better data. it would go 3D then, right?

Chris K

Very cool and excited to see what's next. At the end of the video you mentioned the SR-71. I had the opportunity to talk to an engineer that worked on the xb-70 and the sr-71. I spent several hours with him and learned a lot.

Andrew Krob

This also explains the painful lashing from hoodies while jogging! Those little suckers hurt when they whip around and hit your face!

How long would it take for the paper to be published?

Hey Destin, this video reminded me of another video I found remarkable. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oo0zndgT4qU" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oo0zndgT4qU</a> In this there is a giant chain-whip laying an a street. A man makes a whip motion and starts walking away from the rest of the chain, while the wave moves through the long chain... this charges the whip and makes it crack really powerfull. Maybe it's something worth investigating?

You should thoroughly build an whip designed by guy named chuck hilliard. His whip is much simpler in turns of explaining the principles because is a piece of rubber and a string, so the energy of a rubber bands is simpler to calculate and the string is a uniform in size and weight. This whip will also be much more recurrent because you can stretch it to the same length and it will be create same force each time.

Amazing video, seriously one of the best in a while (that said, I subscribed on poop splash, so yeah). Any tips on DIY Schlieren? Is mirror diameter a huge factor? My results have been so-so with an 80mm (3") mirror, though it only cost $20. Can double the diameter for $70, but it's hard to tell what my limiting factor is between my light source, camera, and other factors. Keep it up!

Destin, back in the 80s I started an Internet mailing list called skunk-works. This led to many engineers from Palmdale, Edwards, and Dryden joining the list to discuss the Blackbirds, and led to my visit to Dryden, my 18 hours in the SR sim, and my standing under the SR-71B with JP-7 dripping all over me. I still have the Dash-1 flight manual they gave me. Thanks for showing the A-12! And, of course, the whip was amazing!

Phil Moyer

Please advise if you publish a paper about your whip motion analysis

Michael Bartmess

Everything about this video is perfect =)

Paul Pesheev

This was fantastic. My mind was racing seeing the loose end shockwave in comparison to the knotted end. Amazing something so old and seemingly simple can yield so much mystery and science. Also SKUNK WORKS! Yes! I highly recommend this book to any Smarter Every Day or NDQ fan.

Destin, not sure how much you already know about the mechanics of the SR-71 engines, but when you brought it up at the end of your video it made me think of this: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F3ao5SCedIk" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F3ao5SCedIk</a> Hope your still getting SmarterEveryDay!

3 or 4 years a go, I went to a buddies house with 100+ feet of paracord, and we sat for just shy of 23 hours and braided our own bull whips. I thought, after making one of the things, I had a pretty good understanding of them, I was wrong and my mind is blown. Thanks for your hard work putting this video together, and thank you for the reminder to read Skunkworks, it’s next on my list after I finish the last two Enders Game books (strong recommend)

Tyson King

Destin, I was left amazed by this video in so many ways. I've been watching your vids for years, and you've gotten better &amp; better at presenting complex information in a succinct, scientific way that's digestible by laypeople. I continue to be impressed by you. Also, the network of professionals you collaborate with has grown so much. You are awesome, and just so blessed. Alright, I'll stop gushing now, lol.. keep up the great work, man. :)

Steve

It makes sense that the whip travels faster than the speed of sound before it reaches full extension! If not, the whip would likely be difficult to crack (sometimes it wouldn't be going fast enough when at full extension).

Jeff Dzado

I commented on an earlier video here as well! SlowMo Guys just clocked glass breaking at Mach 4.2! Slow-mo Schlieren opportunity!

Jeff Dzado

It's amazing how phenomena like this are still full of mysteries. All of the individual components of this research have been around for a long time already. Nobody just ever put them all together like this. And suddenly everything becomes clearer and only after your research can humanity start using this information in other engineering projects. Mind. Blown.

Petja Hartikainen