Ex NASA Engineer Makes Everyone Freak Out When He Turns Sand Into ‘Liquid Soup’, And Here’s How He Did It
Former NASA engineer Mark Rober has found a way to make science just as (if not more) entertaining as Bill Nye did – by making sand behave like water. Not only did he document the entire process, he even filled his hot tub to have fun with it, and explained everything in an easily understandable and humorous manner along the way.
In his entertaining video, Mark explores what is known as fluidized beds, “a physical phenomenon occurring when a quantity of a solid particulate substance is placed under appropriate conditions to cause a solid/fluid mixture to behave as a fluid.” To make sand ripple and bubble like it’s a liquid, Mark used air. Basically, by blowing air into the bottom of a container of sand, he increased the space between individual sand particles, reducing internal friction and allowing the particles to move around more freely, the way they would in a liquid.
“I’ve wanted to build one for a long time,” Mark explains in his video. “But you can find literally NO information online on how to make one like that. So I started combing through a bunch of patent drawings for massive industrial-sized fluid beds, and I noticed that instead of one big inlet, they all had a bunch of small holes to deliver air.”
Starting with that in mind, it still took him 25 failed versions before arriving at his first working design. Watch the video below to see how everything unfolded and let us know in the comments if you’d like to dive in a tub of ‘fluidized sand’ yourself!
Former NASA engineer Mark Rober wanted to create a ‘liquid sand’ hot tub for a long time
But he couldn’t find any information online on how to make one
So he started combing through a bunch of patent drawings for massive industrial-sized fluid beds
Basically, it’s a phenomenon that occurs when a solid/fluid mixture starts behaving as a fluid
It took Mark 25 failed attempts to get it right
But eventually, he fluidized the sand in his hot tub
And even his nephews joined the fun
Watch the video below to see how he did it
!["Karen Complains To HR About My Body, I Uno-Reverse Her Complaint, [And Now] Everyone Hates Her"](https://www.boredpanda.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/coworker-complains-to-hr-about-womans-body-revenge-latest.jpg "\"Karen Complains To HR About My Body, I Uno-Reverse Her Complaint, [And Now] Everyone Hates Her\"")
Science! Learn it, cuz one day you get to make the coolest things.
Wait tho, liquid sand yes, but not to bathe in...I don't want sand in my uh...
I agree. But if you get all the "uhs" properly protected, just think about what an amazingly fun full-body exfoliation experience it would be! :D
John Digiorno, you are f*****g kidding me, right?
NO SEXUAL INNUENDOS ON MY CHRISTIAN WEBSITE
Although this is a plain old non-newtonian fluid, isn't it?
No.
It's not a fluid, it's air particles pushing apart the sand particles.
this is sooooo cool. I like this new science guy.
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Really? So put your head into this liquid sand and take a breath... It is more dangerous than water.
Why in the world would someone do that? You dont go under water and take an actual breath. Thats totally different that having some water go down the wrong pipe.
I sooooo wanna be his nephew :]
I wanna be his girlfriend :)
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too bad
This comment is hidden. Click here to view.
that's not how it works
Then how does it work?
Science! Learn it, cuz one day you get to make the coolest things.
Wait tho, liquid sand yes, but not to bathe in...I don't want sand in my uh...
I agree. But if you get all the "uhs" properly protected, just think about what an amazingly fun full-body exfoliation experience it would be! :D
John Digiorno, you are f*****g kidding me, right?
NO SEXUAL INNUENDOS ON MY CHRISTIAN WEBSITE
Although this is a plain old non-newtonian fluid, isn't it?
No.
It's not a fluid, it's air particles pushing apart the sand particles.
this is sooooo cool. I like this new science guy.
This comment is hidden. Click here to view.
Really? So put your head into this liquid sand and take a breath... It is more dangerous than water.
Why in the world would someone do that? You dont go under water and take an actual breath. Thats totally different that having some water go down the wrong pipe.
I sooooo wanna be his nephew :]
I wanna be his girlfriend :)
This comment is hidden. Click here to view.
too bad
This comment is hidden. Click here to view.
that's not how it works
Then how does it work?