World’s Most Explosive Liquid TL;DR

Veritasium unpacks Alfred Nobel’s quest to tame the insanely unstable nitroglycerin—comparing it to gunpowder, showing why it detonates on impact and how Nobel’s “eureka” moment with kieselguhr led to the invention of dynamite (and later gelignite and TNT). You’ll see the behind-the-scenes demos of blast caps, smokeless guns and the whole nitroglycerin safety saga.

Beyond the boom, the video tracks how Nobel’s munitions empire earned him the “Merchant of Death” nickname, spurred a public backlash, and ultimately inspired the Nobel Prize. Along the way you get corrections, timestamps and shout-outs to the experts, animators and Patreon supporters who helped make it all possible.

Watch on YouTube