Why don’t jet engines melt?

Ever wondered how you can funnel 1,600 °C hot gases through a jet engine without turning the whole thing into molten metal? Derek Muller peels back the layers—from fan blades to combustors—and shows how engineers lean on nickel-based superalloys, single-crystal casting, internal cooling channels and ceramic thermal barrier coatings to keep turbine blades just cool enough to survive.

Along the way you get an insider’s tour of Rolls-Royce’s precision casting facility, a dash of history on the first jet engines, and a quick dive into edge dislocations and crystal structures. It’s a whirlwind, science-packed look at the heat-defying tricks that make modern high-bypass engines possible.

Watch on YouTube