What happens if you throw sand into a jet engine?

Veritasium’s Derek Muller takes you on a whirlwind tour of jet engine tech—covering everything from the basics of airflow and thrust to the crystal-level superalloys that keep turbine blades solid at 1,000°C.

Then, at 35:30, he literally throws sand into a spinning turbine to reveal how even tiny particles can chip away at those super-strong blades, with behind-the-scenes Rolls-Royce factory footage and crystal structure animations to boot.

Watch on YouTube