Pouring liquid nitrogen on myself (Leidenfrost effect)

[brothervsiezel]

Rrrrrrrrrreeeeeeeeaaaaaaalllll­lllllllll!

[sjuas690]

Works well with molten aluminium but in an inverted sense - as I found out when attempting to cast up a box of patterns and poured too quickly missing the box as sending molten aluminium all over the workshop floor. Those molten beads sure take on a life of their own when they vaporise any dust/dirt/water on the floor.

[parsonman05]

I did an A/C course and they forgot to tell us about this. Hope to see more of you in the new year!!!

[videorprologic]

Totally got in trouble for doing this in my lab...

FYI for anyone thinking of trying this, don't let the liquid nitrogen pool ANYWHERE on your hand (ie. in a cupped palm).

[reddoni]

this video looks almost exactly like the nurdrage one

[skowron3k]

jeez, how about everyone knows that? -.-

[kyebean]

bad ass

[PastitsiosGR]

That was the stupidest thing I've ever seen a sane person performing! For a number of reasons things could have gone wrong. Sure the science behind it is there but don't tell me that you were (or anyone can be) 100% sure that nothing will go wrong. And there are legitimate reasons to worry.

[leisulin]

@PastitsiosGR

Nah. The Leidenfrost Effect is real. The temperature difference between his hand and the nitrogen is over 400 Fahrenheit degrees. I did this myself as a grad student 30 years ago. I held my hand at a slant so the nitrogen would slide off easily. It feels very cold but doesn't hurt. You'd probably have to pour it for 2-3 seconds or so before your hand would get cold enough to receive a "burn".

[noliesundead]

miles cannot be destroyed

[Gwyain100]

Everything was fucking wonderful because of the Leidenfrost effect.

[Raithial]

that, was soooo coot >W<

[szpakowskipiotr]

clean your cooker

[TheFounderUtopia]

@szpakowskipiotr

Like yours is any better. :P

[captainofiron]

@xneXesx23 320F hotter than the boiling point of N

[funkycoder1]

When doing this at home, you should try to not form a cup with your palm like Miles does (a bit). When the nitrogen can flow of, you don't have to pull away. But when it forms a puddle, you have a problem. (Also, drops tend to stick to hair when pouring it over the back of the hand). For extra danger, pour some into a bottle, close it tightly, throw it somewhere distant and wait 10minutes.

[frostedpornflakes]

I can't wait to try this! Looks super safe.

[supaking20]

How does that shit feel on ur skin??

[Atharkas]

Whoa! That was cool. I didn't know about the Leidenfrost effect. Hooray for new knowledge!

[wstevenschneider]

I figured it would have something to do with the heat of your hand heating the LIN superfast, but I wasn't sure of the mechanics or the name of the phenomenon. That was really cool.

Thanks for sharing that.

[pythor2]

I wonder who the first idiot to try this is

[dangyent]

Might I suggest the experiment where you fill a water balloon and put it over a candle flame or boiling water in a paper cup with the flame underneath (^_^)...I wish I was a cool as you but I am only a lab assistant in training :'(

[XxArTiCzxX]

if you keep these videos up i think you will get partner very soon !

[Rarae192]

Jeez, just as I was about to post a perverted suggestion I notice the last three comments already had sexuality covered.

[leonc08]

Fake and gay!

[mrwebb195]

put it up ur ass its amazing.

[SpawnKilled01]

aha dickfigures intro :D

[NeillyMc]

it is not fake. i have done it myself.

[jordo2007]

Fake it's just dry ice

[leisulin]

@jordo2007

sure, dry ice which is never a liquid but goes straight from solid to gaseous state....pretty hard to POUR dry ice, isn't it? also dry ice wouldn't vanish in an instant...it takes a golf ball sized piece of dry ice quite a while to evaporate...I did the same thing with liquid nitrogen in college, though I was more careful to hold my hand at a slant so the liquid nitrogen wouldn't pool in my palm...not that it would remain there long enough anyway....

[isctony]

that guy at end was the best bit!

[isawgodyesterday]

That water in a pan thing was EPIC!

[Danvideos123]

Subbed!

[becciroxmysox]

I find him attractive!

[McChazmataz]

Hey mum look what I can d- OHHH FUKKIN HE'LL THAT IS FREEZING. WHERE THE FUCK HAS MY HAMD GONE?!?

[jrajput]

How about you use acid next time? And pour it on your face.. That would make great viewing.

[slimshady414]

FAKEEE!!!

[petaboil]

@slimshady414 orly?

[EDxxXMuMXxx]

do you recommend we should try this at home!!

[cpower111]

Jason x u know what I mean

[xXxBLINGO07xXx]

U could actually put ur whole hand under the liquid and let it sit for as long as you(body) stay warm. Then take it out and make sure u don't try to move it at all until the hand has warmed to body temps.

[theverybigdino]

Hmm..this effect will be useful for combating the beer goggle effect...

[Spetsnaz027]

FAKE!

[Mads20061]

I sooo wanted his hand to just freeze solid and fall off .

[FNCHY1]

Wow, thats amazing

[GigaBoost]

That's really interesting! One of your best videos yet Miles... Myles? I loved the small clip at the end, hilarious.

In general there was less stuttering and such in this one, one of the main things that deter me from your videos, this one was straight to the point and all around good, interesting and fun.

[Mrklboy10]

Woah! This channel is sickk, I'm subbing :)

[Guvna07]

Try drinking some

[emzo82]

I was scared for you!

[mushroomshrub]

Yay, star trek shirt!

[JinSupporter]

tried it myself in a lab. nothing happens to your hand. still fucking cold though. XD

[bscutajar]

FAAAAAAAAKE

[obadets3]

Stand back, I'm going to try SCIENCE

[rea1high]

you were still shitting it a little bit though, weren't you?

go on, be honest

[MegaUsaname]

Fake! It was water lol joking

[shoobidoo18]

Cool

[NotRelatedToBob]

Miles made a new video! everything IS fucking wonderful

[jesokingcryst]

Awesome!

[vr00m123]

How would the liquid nitrogen react with a wet hand? Warm wet hand? Cold wet hand?

[Gigano1986]

On a side-note, a question to anybody who knows: is the Leidenfrost effect also (partially) responsible for people being able to walk over burning coals without getting injured?

[tml4873]

@Gigano1986 No, that's a different effect, there's no vapourising liquids involved. It's simply a matter of the coals not being very thermally conductive, and minimising contact time. If you linger, you'll get burned. If you try the same thing on a metal floor of the same temperature, you'll get burned instantly.

[Gigano1986]

@tml4873 I wouldn't be so quick as to rule out vapourising liquids in walking over coals. What about sweat caused by the anxiety from the anticipation of walking over hot coals? I've looked some things up and Jearl Walker from Cleveland State University suggests this might play some partial effect. He does point out that while the coals have a hot surface, it contains little energy, and together with the short exposure it explains why you don't get burned.

[evensgrey]

@Gigano1986 There's little water available to vaporize on the souls of human feet, because we don't sweat much there under normal circumstances (or on the palms of our hands, either, which is why doing it is so disconcerting, quite apart from whatever made you do it in the first place).

This is the reason why a fellow in Mexico was able to get moderately famous splashing molten bronze with his bare (but spit-wetted) hand. He just made sure the bronze was well above melting point.

[shanedk]

Water goes in, water doesn't boil! You can't explain it!

I've actually been told NOT to use gloves with liquid nitrogen for this reason: if you spill it on your hand it'll evaporate away, but if it soaks into the glove then it's Terminator 2 time!

[tml4873]

@shanedk Just curious, how is it going to soak into the glove? I guess if you have cotton or wool gloves, that could be a problem.

[shanedk]

@tml4873 Yes, work gloves, or any glove if it manages to get poured inside it and be between the glove and your hand.

I've heard the same about shoes and socks, in case you accidentally pour it on your feet.

[evensgrey]

@shanedk Any gloves that might give you any significant measure of protection from the cold of an improper vessel for holding LN2 in are good candidates for holding it well enough to freeze you. Of course, you have to work at it to get anything other than a vacuum flask to hold LN2 for long enough to get dangerously cold. (I know this first hand. Used the stuff in university to stop DNA degradation while grinding a tissue sample. The mortar got cold, but the LN2 was replaced more than once.)

[monkeytail2002]

I've had science teachers do this in second year.........roughly 15 years ago now. I knew you'd be fine but I didna know why.

[Applemangh]

Would dipping your hand in hot water before make it any safer?

I would think so, but science can be tricky.

[tml4873]

@Applemangh Probably not. First, the temperature your hand can stand is not really much higher than your body temperature, relative to the nitrogen. -196 to +35, vs -196 to say +45; the difference there will be minimal. Secondly, any water left on your hand will freeze instantly, and probably allow a more rapid heat transfer from your hand to the liquid nitrogen.

[tml4873]

@tml4873 On second thought, perhaps the ice would actually be an insulator. In that case, the effect would be in your favour, but a very small effect due to how thin the layer of ice would be.

[frigginelvis]

Nitrogen has three syllables.

[undertoes]

Fake!

[sosolalavideos]

@undertoes I've done this too, it's no fake.

[kthelal]

It is astonishing that so simple and amazing experiment (with water and a pan) can tell so much about science, and fucking teachers did not show me this! Maybe I would be now studying for example physics not philology... BTW Is there a similiar simple experiment that you can do to explain cavitation? [Sorry for my english.]

[jlowe424]

I get in trouble when I start pouring liquid nitrogen on things at work.

[llieske]

that's right bitches.... it's science time

[ARKAtheist]

I cannot stress enough how much I love your videos man. Keep going!

[patilsaurabhr]

2:26 I always get those stains on my apron too... always.

[Sahuagin]

you should show us what happens to bacon or steak when you submerse it so that we can see why you would not want your hand affected by it

[sapincher]

My chemistry teacher gargled liquid nitrogen and spit it on the floor

[HelloHowCantIHelpYou]

i was scared

[d3st88]

FOR SCIENCE!

It was sexeh.

[n3rdm4n]

Fucking science, how does it work!?

[malaca777]

@n3rdm4n Hahahahahahahahahahahhahahahah­ahahahahhahahahah

[JungleScene]

Is that the music from Fable?!

[hankehenry]

@JungleScene i was thinking that too

[MrPhiilll]

FOR SCIENCE!!

[powerm1985]

@MrPhiilll for SCIENCE! mrphiilll

[thenofxer]

Thanks again... SCIENCE!

[afbillin]

you're hot

[gbthebeast32]

...........sooo...how did you get your hand hot?

[billybush111]

I've seen the same sort of thing done with molten lead. I understand the science behind it, but I still wouldn't do it.

[xPHOENIX269x]

I WANT THAT DAMNED ROCKETSHIP LAVA LAMP!!! But nooooo, Mathmos doesn't ship to the US.

[backbitting1]

the concept and existence of liquid nitrogen is beyond fucked to me.

[FilterExel]

I do this in front of new undergraduate students all the time. I show them how to get liquid nitrogen out of the storage tank and freeze samples, telling them about how its colder than anything naturally found on earth and that it does a great job of freezing things in a short time.  After freezing my samples, I reach in with my nitrile-gloved hand and quickly pull them out. I always get a kick out of their reactions.

[sarahduplessie]

The things I would do to you.

[teaskav]

Even knowing now that it would be perfectly fine to do this, I would never be able to actually do it.

So well do you sir!

[Azyashi]

cool

literally :)

[dbenzhuser]

We did this in school, but only on the backside of our hands, this way it "flows" off immediately and does not freeze your hand ... tickles a bit :)

[seanet1310]

I do like this trick and a similar one involving molten lead or similar metal (Dip hand in water first. This creates the protective gas due to Leidenfrost effect )

[skasaveszero]

Alright sean bean 

[AndrianGA]

One of these days Myles, one of these days

[invisiblebears]

Science and pot go hand in hand.

[jebus6kryst]

He's a witch! GET HIM!

[abjectreality]

That was freaking awesome!

[vytko1618]

science awesome :]

[Williampudoso]

Wish I could be a chemist with mario sounds all around

[Johannesmania]

@Williampudoso Become a chemist. There are way too few of us. ;) Chemistry or not to be!

[Williampudoso]

@Johannesmania hehehe.... im already studying cardiology :P Already have to memorize macromolecules at exponential rates... I dont need to know the Bond energies of them :P

[TheIdealGasLaw]

Where did you get that jacket with the ears on it.

[powerm1985]

@TheIdealGasLaw It was last years Halloween costume and a friend made it for me.

[TheIdealGasLaw]

@powerm1985

That sucks, I really want one. :( oh well.

How long would it take for your hand to cool down enough for the nitrogen to freeze it?

[Albukhshi]

actually this effect is the origin of a seemingly crazy ritual, where my or anyone else out of his mind has a vat of liquid nitrogen just "punches" it MK style, quickly withdrawing it of course.

it's a lot like walking on hat coals really.

[tiaxanderson]

@Albukhshi Yes, except he just explained it's not xD

Firewalking makes use of short contact time and poor conductivity of coal.

Myles trick made use of the Leidenfrost effect (huge difference in boiling point, as he explained).

[tiaxanderson]

@tiaxanderson *(Myles' hand being much hotter than liquid nitrogen's boiling point, but he had explained that so you know that)

[Albukhshi]

@tiaxanderson

oh, I know that. my point is that the two share the psychological aspects in common: both are counter-intuitively possible, both take some level of trust in one's judgement (or lack thereof), and both sound crazy to lay-people.

sorry for not being clearer.

[tiaxanderson]

@Albukhshi Ah, I see. Then I agree.

[mycatisfunny]

At my work experience the person I was with put an orange wedge in liquid nitrogen then smashed it, really cool and nice vid :)

[Minioner1]

How cold does it feel to the touch?

[unamaxify]

great video !

great explanation !

-

but how did it feal ?

really cold? painfull? sharp-pinching ? like water, like steam ?

[powerm1985]

@unamaxify Its cold and you can feel the weight but its like air is pushing down on you. Very strange

[unamaxify]

@powerm1985

thank you very much

that's what i wanted to know

[NewgroundsOwnSBB]

science... awesome

[Rikashk]

You can't just pause it with a mario sound effect and

never unpause it. I totally got lost without the unpause sound.

[FattyMcFox]

Ok drink it next.

( don't worry i am only kidding )

[omegaroyal]

your videos are awesome, d00d. keep them coming.

[rebelde69ateo]

some wannabe copy cats will lose their body parts pretty soon. hopefuly not the most important one.

[NoFaithNoPain]

@rebelde69ateo And you aint talking about their brains :)

[GeauxTiger]

Very cool. Mythbusters did a snippet demonstrating the Leidenfrost Effect by soaking their finger in cold water and then submerging it in molten lead. It ought to be around here somewhere...it's worth a look.

And what kind of a tool gives this type of video a dislike? WTF...were you pulling for the nitrogen?!?

[FHomeBrew]

The mythbusters did something similar with molten lead. They had a pan filled with molten lead and then dipped in a wet finger. Because the water on their finger turned into steam, their fingers were protected from the hot lead.

I'd rather do the liquid nitrogen thing though. It's simpler and relatively safer. Good show :)

[NisseHult101]

Science is really cool! ;-)

[quaternio]

Damn YouTube app! What I was trying to say was, I didn't realize the Leidenfrost effect would protect the hot surface from a cold liquid as well. Of course it is obvious that it would, I just hadn't considered it. Too cool.

[InnocenceExperience]

awesome but you should show the close up in slow motion. that would be cool.

[quaternio]

I didn't realize the

[phlexonance]

"Liquid nitrogen going to waste" LOL, as if ^^

do you ever get tired of playing with it?

I don't

[KayleLang]

Miles, how come all your videos are always so awesome that I have to link every person I know when ever a new video comes out.

Also, how much does liquid nitrogen cost, and where could I get it?

[ryoshi100]

ghihi, we did this at last weeks girlscouts science day :)

i post reply to you :D

[tjv323]

LOl i love the last scene. Your coworker should be used to your antics.

[TheTomtompiper]

Awesome vid, as usual.

[richardcadbury]

Terminator 2 disliked this.

[DaManCallahan]

Very cool.

[FredricF]

You can use it to clean the floor. Just pour some and the sweep up the dirt. I guess that when the dirt freeze it crackles and does no longer stick to the floor.

I used to work at a place that made infrared cameras and there where liquid nitrogen all over the place used as approximation of zero temperature and to keep the detectors cool for the older types of cameras.

[purerizzo]

Brilliant :)

[dookiecheez]

So you're allowed to do that kind of stuff?

[powerm1985]

@dookiecheez Not really

[Jinzuhl]

Liquid nitrogen is so cool to play with :D

[hamiel85]

@Jinzuhl /watch?v=bcYppAs6ZdI

[nashertheatheist]

Where can I get liquid nitrogen? >:D

[viicISrotcib]

I want my own lab

[aldunamesaretaken]

I want your t-shirt!

[ChocoboKillerKanyo]

Bitches love the Leidenfrost effect.

[JustaShavedApe]

Science, AWESOME!

[XodusFTW]

I love freaking my students out when I use liquid nitrogen when teaching them the dangers about using it, by quickly pouring a small amount over my forearm.

Their panic filled faces is priceless hehe

[seanet1310]

@XodusFTW The downside to doing this is they may now see the dangers as nonexistant and in the future consider it completely safe thanks to such demonstrations. Fine balancing act between shock and non overexposure

[XodusFTW]

@seanet1310 very true, and afterwards I explain the Leidenfrost effect and how it offers a temporary protection and that continuous exposure for more than a few seconds could have disastrous consequences.

I use biological products such as freshly cooked chicken wings to show what happens if it is done improperly, although you have to be quick to clean up the shattered remains as it gets messy once they thaw out.

[Gigano1986]

This will surely impress your minions when you've conquered the world, Doctor Power. *evil laughter is played here to the sound of a thunderstorm*

[powerm1985]

@Gigano1986 Muahahahah

[cypeapplejuice]

Good Job, now stick your hand in! :P

[RufousOtter]

@cypeapplejuice Actually, you can:). If you go quickly enough, you don't really come into contact with N2 as you have a buffering vapor layer. The sensation is, well, weird. You feel the liquid, but when you get the hand out it is dry. A cool thing to do is to freeze a few pieces of orange and then shatter them; smells great! Also, it's a better idea to put LN2 on the back side of the hand--there is a smaller chance that you'll form a puddle in the center.

[LukeHandle]

...crazy mofo

[filek1011]

Haha, cool one! :)

[LonesomeDucky]

You are a brave man