People said this experiment was impossible, so I tried it

The world’s first look inside a thermite reaction. Use code veritasium at https://incogni.com/veritasium to get an exclusive 60% off an annual Incogni plan.

A massive thank you to everyone at Goldschmidt for making this possible. With special thanks to Dr. Axel Hoeschen, Christof Gassmann and Claudia Koch.

00:00 What is thermite?
00:51 Hans Goldschmidt and the first thermite reaction
05:55 The reaction as it’s never been seen before
14:57 How thermite welding works
17:43 I destroyed a laptop!
26:44 How thermite is made
31:11 Blow-torching thermite to show how reactive it is

If you’re looking for a molecular modeling kit, try Snatoms, a kit I invented where the atoms snap together magnetically. https://snatoms.com/

▀▀▀

References:

Archives from Goldschmidt
Thermite via Wikipedia - https://ve42.co/WikiThermite
From the past to the present. via goldschmidt.com - https://ve42.co/Past2Present
Hans Goldschmidt via Wikipedia - https://ve42.co/HansGWiki
Goldschmidt, H. (1914). Gesammelte Veröffentlichungen (1st Ed.). Springer-Verlag - https://ve42.co/HGoldschmit1914
Menzies, J. (2015, January 8). Mechanic's Toolbox: Thermite Welding. SFMTA. - https://ve42.co/ThermiteWelding
Kirshenbaum, A. D., & Cahill, J. A. (1960). The density of liquid aluminium oxide. Journal of Inorganic and Nuclear Chemistry - https://ve42.co/CahillA1960
Reichstag fire via Wikipedia - https://ve42.co/ReichstagFireWiki

Images & Video:

Karl Goldschmidt - https://ve42.co/KGoldschmidt
Goldschmidt Chemical Factory - https://ve42.co/GSFabrik
Henry Treffry Dunn Rossetti and Dunton at 16 Cheyne Walk - https://ve42.co/Treffry
The Green Gown - https://ve42.co/GreenGown
Arsenic Green Dress - https://ve42.co/ArsenicGreenDress
Kersting, Die Stickerin - https://ve42.co/Fassung
Too Early Tissot Detail - https://ve42.co/Tissot
Death Skull - https://ve42.co/Skull
British uniforms - https://ve42.co/BritishUniforms
Thermit in Practice - https://ve42.co/SKallee
Thermite Ship Shaft Welding 1 - https://ve42.co/ShipShaft1
Thermite Ship Shaft Welding 2 - https://ve42.co/ShipShaft2
Using Incendiary Grenade to Destroy German Antitank Gun by OkraJoe - https://youtu.be/RTSiq5QYHGo?si=Va_6dPimFuaQfFp5
Reichstagsbrand - https://ve42.co/RTBrand
Ruins of the Reichstagsbrand - https://ve42.co/RTBrand2
The Thermite Kettle by colinfurze - https://youtu.be/mg3bFxdAZsY?si=BmBIYPUlP1Wfpuoj

▀▀▀
Special thanks to our Patreon supporters:

Albert Wenger, Anton Ragin, Ayush Agrawal, Balkrishna Heroor, Bertrand Serlet, Bill Linder, Blake Byers, Bruce, Dave Kircher, David Johnston, Evgeny Skvortsov, Garrett Mueller, Gnare, I. H., Jack Cuprill, John H. Austin, Jr., Juan Benet, KeyWestr, Kirill Shore, Kyi, Lee Redden, Marinus Kuivenhoven, Matthias Wrobel, Meekay, Michael Krugman, Orlando Bassotto, Paul Peijzel, Reed Spilmann, Richard Sundvall, Sam Lutfi, TTST, Tj Steyn, Ubiquity Ventures, gpoly, john kiehl, meg noah, wolfee

▀▀▀
Directed by Derek Muller
Written by Derek Muller
Edited by Trenton Oliver
Animated by Fabio Albertelli, Rokas Vikšraitis and Mike Radjabov
Illustrations by Jakub Misiek
Filmed by Derek Muller, David Bochmann, Casper Mebius, Luise Dietert, Henning Fischer and Harald Schweiger
Additional Research by Gregor Čavlović and Gabriel Bean
Produced by Gregor Čavlović, Derek Muller, Casper Mebius, Rob Beasley Spence, Emily Lazard and Tori Brittain

Thumbnail contributions by Peter Sheppard, Ren Hurley and Casper Mebius
Additional video/photos supplied by Getty Images and Story Blocks
Music from Epidemic Sound