The Leidenfrost Effect: How to Make a Liquid Levitate

In this video Michael Aranda explains what the Leidenfrost Effect is, and how it can cause liquid to 'levitate'.

Hosted by: Michael Aranda
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[IceMetalPunk]

Related note: the Leidenfrost effect also allows you to dip your hand in molten tin without getting burned, provided you get your hand very wet first and that you put your hand in and out quickly enough. (Two "that's what she said" opportunities, none taken.)

[amrmahmoudmostafa]

your voice, tone, phrasing is so correct, they helped me concentrate :)

[brendenpischke]

I found this after preheating an oven, forgetting that my mom likes to store a large metal bowl in it. Found the bowl still in there when the oven was done preheating. Decided to put the bowl in the sink to cool off. The tap happened to be dripping. A drop of water happened to land in the bowl, and I watched in amazement as the drop raced around the bowl as though the bowl's surface was frictionless.

[MalcolmAkner]

There is also a really interesting phenomena if you let the droplet form inside of a slight concave bowl (like the one on your stove). The droplet will be forced by gravity to go to the lowest point, and if it is stable enough, and if the stove is clean, the droplet will start to spin around it's own axis. And it will spin really fast. Above some speeds the droplet even starts to oscillate through certain patterns, and there is a really cool star-shaped pattern that appears if you are patient enough. It can be seen from the side that the droplet is spinning amazingly fast.
Also, if the droplet is big enough a bubble will sporadically form in the center, not quite bursting through the surface-tension, but big enough to lift the drop and increase the rate it is spinning at. When the bubble collapses it will cause the bubble to all kinds of things, ejecting droplets, bounce up and down, reverse the direction of spin, or form the star-shaped I mentioned. Really interesting physics, try it out the next time you're cooking! 

[scottiejobe]

I remember seeing this! When I was in my high school chemistry course, my teacher accidentally spilled liquid nitrogen on the floor. I thought it would just splatter, but instead, it popped into a bunch of liquid balls and rolled across the floor for a long distance! I was stunned, but no one else noticed or cared. My teacher didn't notice or have an explanation.

Now I know what happened!

[rossplendent]

That's so cool. I recently observed this effect myself when I spilled a small amount of liquid nitrogen on my lab bench. Nitrogen is a gas at room temperature, so upon touching the bench, the droplets of liquid were coming in contact with a surface at much higher than its boiling point and started zipping around.

[Farreach]

This is why science is my favorite subject...it is never boring EVER if done right lmao 

[danielray]

I literally JUST saw this when I was cooking, and it surprised me. Then I go to eat what I cooked and watch some youtube videos, and I SEE THIS!

[Yitzhk]

Interestingly a similar effect occurs when someone falls into a pool of lava or molten metal. Rather than sinking, as the liquid is denser than the person, the skin boils and levitates and insulates the body until after tens of seconds the radiative heat catches the body on fire. Not enough to actually kill the person for quite some time, which is even more horrific than I ever thought it would be

[AzriAzhari]

You've became much more relaxed doing these videos. That's great :D

[banndsand]

Nice to have an explanation for what liquid nitrogen was doing when we poured small amounts on a room-temperature surface. :)

[jcdias]

I had always wonder if it had name. Very interesting.

[oildalestar]

This site is the only site where I get interruptions on utube  stop it!

[CollinTownsend]

I want to see someone create a chair or bed using the Leidenfrost Effect, I don't care how much it costs, I WANT IT.

[Scour]

Are there any practical uses for the leidenfrost effect?

[Janokins]

If only you made this a couple of years ago, I could've used it in my presentation. (You have bonus points for pronunciation)

[TheRevolucas]

What is the best language in terms of efficiency and conveyance of information?

[jamesovenden]

Wtf?!? I literally just started doing my physics coursework about this when I saw you uploaded this video! :D

[tpucci]

@scishow does it have to be water. is it something to do with the surface tension of water being able to hold a droplet. or could you use a liquid with a lower boiling point requiring less heat to get the same effect? thank you

[gollem]

I’ve watched this video several times over and I think this could solve the liquid transfer systems onboard the ISS. We just need hoses that are have these grooves cut into them.
That hot water almost looks how it would in microgravity.