Up Next
Back to Show
Reactions
The Leidenfrost Effect
Season 4
Episode 13
Have you ever seen a drop of water navigate a maze? It’s possible thanks to a weird phenomenon called the Leidenfrost Effect. Understanding Leidenfrost — first described more than 200 years ago — helped engineers make more efficient steam engines. These little levitating water droplets are a big deal -- this could also help prevent future nuclear disasters.
Support Provided By
8:11
Have you ever popped a balloon with just an orange peel?
2:59
Yellowstone's hot springs are the most dangerous and here's why.
4:23
Air conditioning is the science of heat transfer and the chemistry of refrigerants.
3:12
Do you really need all those kitchen gadgets? It all depends on the chemistry of cooking.
4:57
It’s the chemistry of washed-rind cheeses that makes these foods so awfully stinky.
4:10
We tried to use chemistry to change hydrangea flowers from red to blue. Let's try again.
7:54
Surstromming, Swedish for sour herring, has a powerful stink thanks to food preservation.
5:05
What does the pH of soil have to do with the color of hydrangeas?
5:24
Are you breathing air molecules that were once exhaled by Caesar?
3:43
Chalk and seashells are made of the same stuff. So why is one crumbly and the other tough?
4:32
How does chemistry makes a cake donut and a yeast donut taste so different?
3:48
What do chameleons have to do with nanotechnology?