Why Don’t Jet Engines Melt?

Veritasium takes you from the basics of how jet engines work to the high-tech secrets that keep turbine blades from turning into puddles of metal. You’ll see how colossal compressors and turbines cycle air, why engine fans are so huge, and how Rolls-Royce crafts blades atom-by-atom—using nickel-based superalloys, single-crystal growth, and microscopic cooling channels—to handle temperatures that would vaporize ordinary steel.

Along the way you’ll learn about edge dislocations, gamma prime phases, precision casting, and even what happens when you hurl sand into a running jet engine. The result? A thrilling crash course in materials science and mechanical engineering that explains exactly how these heat monsters keep flying without melting.

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