The Royal Institution
Cracking a whip causes a small sonic boom as the end travels faster than the speed of sound. Top science bloke Marty Jopson explains the science behind this phenomenon.
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The key to how a whip works is the conservation of energy. Any moving object, including this whip, has kinetic energy. Kinetic energy relies on two things – the mass of the thing moving and the velocity at which it’s moving at. Due to the uncoiling action of the whip, the mass of the whip decreases through the movement and the velocity increases. The handle of the whip moves at roughly 10m/s but the tip of the whip reaches speeds of over 400 m/s which is faster than the speed of sound at 353 m/s.
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Thanks for making my brain parts feel really nice. Cavitation bubble collapsing, neato!
You lost me at 'Miles' per hour
Imagine you get hit by that super sonic whip!
Similar and also very cool, with bullets! https://youtu.be/BPwdlEgLn5Q
that mustache though
this was such a cool explanation – really liked the conservation of energy stuff. never occurred to me before
All that whip cracking in the lecture space would have made for interesting discussion at front of house at the RI. 🙂
Great video. and the "duck" explanation was great, I wander though, what the heck is a "mph"?
we need the slow mo guys now😏
I got my wife one of these, I regret it!
I need to get one of these for my mistress
Pretty cool, nice video.
(Though the shredding of the
newspaper doesn't prove anything.)
How loud would it be if you create a small vacuum (like in a bulb or something), and then pop it?
How big of a bubble are we talking here? Would it be the same loud? Or is the collapsing vacuum
only part of the final sound here?
This is great, but I think it would be even better if it had included a little animation of the "duck wave" or sounds waves.
Looks like Cody's older brother.
And that’s how duck the Quack explains crack and, Bob's your uncle!
Move em on head em up head em up move em on RAWHIDE
you forgot to mention the effect of the decreasing diameter of the whip from the handle to the end. The decreasing diameter makes the (cumulative) mass distribution along the whip length from start to end to be non-linear, which, combined with the conservation of energy, further contributes to the speed of the tip. I believe even the varying stiffness of the whip from handle to end also contributes to this. But this is just my $0.02 …
Does that whip have an aluminum handle? Great explanation and demonstration!
Wot. I always thought cavitation bubbles only happen underwater
Brilliantly explained.
Marty, I am ok with the fact that you are probably at least ten times smarter than me, but that and the facial hair is too much! Why can't I have facial hair like that?! In all seriousness, thank you for the entertainingly given information.
Is his name quack or bob?!
Timothy Claypole lives on.
Mo-vember?
It’s amazing how FASCINATING scientific explanation of everyday phenomenon can be!
if you had a array of magnetic induction microphones you could generate a bit of electricity with it (maybe) 🤔🤗
That man has style.
Absolutely fascinating explanation! The world becomes even more amazing with with just a little knowledge of science. (And I'm jealous the lecturer can grow this much hair 🙂
Spank it supersonic.
900 mph = 1448 km/h or 402.3 m/s. About 1.2x the speed of sound (340 m/s)
Whip it good.
In what century was this recorded? Miles an hour? Miles???
I taught myself how to crack a whip on my own, It was a painful, but very quick learning experience, but I like how this is the Royal Institute and they used MPH, not complaining, just thought it was funny.
My wife is in the hospital =/
So it is a sonic boom. + that other thing you said about cavitation bubble collapse. Now you're all set to go on some adventures Dr Marty Jopson, uncovering mysterious ancient relics.
awful
imagine one electrified and sharped as hell… yeee hee heee
The exact moustache you’d expect from an expert on whips.
About 1100 km/h
Didn't know Billy Connolly was a scientist!
how would the design of the whip enhance the cracking sound of the whip? great vid by the way.