What happens if you throw sand into a jet engine?

In this Veritasium episode (brought to you by KiwiCo), Derek Muller and Henry Van Dyck break down how jet engines work—from the basic airflow and gargantuan fan sizes to the ultra-high-temperature realm where nickel superalloy turbine blades live. You’ll get a backstage pass to Rolls-Royce’s precision casting facility, learn about single-crystal blade manufacturing, and discover why these marvels don’t melt even when you lob sand at them.

The video wraps up with a fun sand-ingestion demo, expert insights from Cambridge and beyond, plus bonus perks like a Science Alert sweepstakes for a NASA astronaut-training trip, a tabletop game Kickstarter, and hearty thanks to the production team and Patreon supporters.

Watch on YouTube