World Record Chain Fountain? The Mould Effect Explained

I attempt to to make the tallest Chain Fountain (otherwise known as the Mould Effect). I also explain the science behind why the fountain rises.

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[johnsherby]

This is the first time in my life I’ve ever gotten to see a science discussion unfold in real time. Everything else I’ve ever learned about has some sort of science dude that figured it out in the 1800s

[ElectroBOOM]

Hay Steve! I collected a bunch of clues from your video to keep the argument going! Here they are:

- Your long chain breaks, why? Because the tension between gravity and the opposing forces caused by momentum (ones IMO help the chain rise) get too strong. The chain is still speeding up, so those opposing forces are still getting stronger but chain can't take it any more!
- 2:57: Look closely at the chains, the stationary ones around that time are floating in the air before starting to go up in the loop! They don't press against any surface to start rising.
- 9:18: I still don't understand why you say regular link chain wouldn't rise. They make even better levers, so the reason they don't rise is just friction/tangling IMO. Otherwise they should rise like Cambridge's spaghetti chain test.
- 10:42: Can you say for certain the speed itself is not a factor of curvature radius?? It might not be, don't know. But assuming tension is not a factor of radius sounds like an assumption.
- Somebody has to double check those math and equations!!
- 13:38: in the first experiment the entire energy of the bullet lifts the wood only upwards (almost), and in the second one, it lifts the wood up AND it gives the wood a strong rotational energy, and yet in the second experiment the wood goes even higher?? FREE ENERGY?!! I think the test might be an anomaly and must be repeated multiple times for definite average results. Or maybe he did, I need to see his video.
- 15:59: The chains push against each other due to Mould effect!! You are pulling the chain away from the pile and they pull back (you see them actually curve back 16:16 forward). You should space them like me so they don't bang against each other and they still rise if you try to make the Mould effect like I did, pulling past the pile. But basically, waves traveling through the chain causes them to bang against each other and pushes the bundle around. I'm not convinced that's an indication of lever effect.
- 18:32: Those arbitrary shapes in the chain are "waves" of energy traveling through the chain, that happen to have the same but opposite speed as the chain traveling and so they seem stationary in location. I'm sure their speed being opposite the chain speed is not a coincidence. Those waves IMO are created due to how the chain links are piled on top of each other and how they unwind. So, those waves already have energy that seems to be resonating with the chain somehow and so their energy doesn't die away. So I think if this is done in space station from stationary with arbitrary shapes, you would just pull them flat for the most part and create multiple localized Mould effects.

Send the 10, 000 cents to my paypal. Thanks!

[MartinInBC]

I'd have given good odds that when something called "the Mould Effect" was discovered it would have come from a student's share accommodation.

[MiceAndMinecraft]

I remember in the 1990s helping my parents put up Christmas decorations one year and we had these plastic tubes full of multicoloured chain beads, and we discovered the chain effect by accident. Dad could it especially fascinating and was showing everyone over and over.

[MedlifeCrisis]

I love everything about this. The collab, the disagreement, the lengths you went to, the worldwide legacy. This is YouTube box office for nerds like me. I'll miss being your neighbour Steve! Amazing stuff.

[MIOutdoors]

I absolutely love his reaction when the "Mould Effect" is coined. No false modesty here, just a genuine fantastic response.

[whoDoesSimply]

Finally a video that doesnt cut at the first experiment so that we can actually see it. You're one of the best science channels ive ever seen. The opposite of clickbait - in the best way possible. :)

[HellOnWheel]

I've been doing this demonstration with the STEM edutainment org I work for for several years (we use the Steve Spangler one) and I think I even knew it was called the Mould effect, but never knew it was named for you or that you discovered it! When I first saw the title of this video, I thought, "well that's funny, he has the same name as the effect". 🤔🤦‍♂️

[cogspace]

"It's no big deal. It's just a three-story high sculpture in Guatemala" is the best humblebrag I've seen yet.

[DavidVerch]

When I was in the US Navy we visited Cyprus and when we tied up to the pier they brought an anchor on a barge. We were tied to the pier on one side and the anchor on the other. When they let go of the anchor on the barge the chain made the fountain effect. It was amazing to see.

[budsak]

I remember playing with these chains as a kid and the one thing that would always keep me coming back to them was the way they kind of "lock up" in a way that would stiffen them up. I can't remember exactly what it was I'd do but it, honestly, was the only thing that kept me playing with them. 😃

[aufornvic]

This is fantastic Steve. It can't be any unknown force from the pot. When the momentum begins the chain is being forced to turn 180 degrees, which creates centriugal force, which lifts the chain out of the pot. I think it's pretty simple. Better to be known for the 'Mould effect' than the 'Osbourne effect'. Look it up, it's a marketing thing.

[twojuiceman]

The Mould effect, a Parker square, and Grimes dice all walk into a bar. The bartender says "Am I in a numberphile video?"

[ElectroBOOM]

Yeah... now watching this I'm even more confused... :D I think we DO need someone smarter like Neil deGrasse Tyson or some mechanical genius to review and comment. But then again as an electrical engineer, I am over qualified for this!

[ruebancastro]

Your tenacity is overwhelming and profound Steve Mould.

[bjarneschroder]

What would happen if you drop the glass with the chain in it or lift it up while the chain does the Mould Effect? Would the arc move with the glass or would it stay in place?

[danielmaylett]

All scientific discoveries start with: "huh...thats odd"

[benwelchiv]

Everyone being amazed by the mould effect and I'm laying here thinking, "Holy Sh*t. His microwave is right beside his recliner. This man IS a genius!"

[dorerudoryuu]

This is what I've been waiting for all my life, a video about people discussing about a certain phenomenon that is currently unexplainable at once and people thinking of possible conclusions

[NicholasproclaimerofMessiah]

I'm rather confident that the straight bars between the beads transfer the downward force on the falling side of the bend into upward force on the pot-side of the bend. You've done a good job of drawing out the details which make this rather apparent.