The bizarre patterns that emerge when you heat ANY fluid

I didn’t really talk about the effect the sides of the container has. There must be a boundary layer effect there and that’s likely going to increase turbulent flow. The Sponsor is Henson Shaving: Click this link hensonshaving.com/stevemould and use the code stevemould to receive 100 free blades with the purchase of your AL13 razor

"Ink is expensive" *Prints a checkerboard

What do you call a river made entirely from chocolate and sweets? A confection current

My dissertation focused on Rayleigh-Bénard convection, I observed by placing a thin layer of oil between two glass layers—one heated and the other cooled. (need large(ish) constant temperature gradient) This setup, resembling a manifold, was heated from below and cooled from above. The entire assembly was then positioned on an adapted overhead projector to magnify the convection cells onto a screen. This allowed for a clear visualisation of the hexagonal patterns that formed. The topic has broad applications, even in the potential role of these convection cells in concentrating the chemicals necessary for life, suggesting a mechanism by which life's building blocks could be held in place long enough for life to emerge. the cells were quite stable and how matter was contained within them.

5:10 Those fluorescent particles were so worth it. Also those Rayleigh-Benard convections look so satisfying! Nice video!

5:00 The Printer ink reference is pure gold

Taking a very long exposure shot with the green particles might result in an interesting photo

do not watch this on shrooms

I'm always so Stoked for Fluid Dynamics!

I absolutely know what you mean by "2D-Version", but in this case it's very important to mention that this process would actually look and work differently in true 2D. This is, from a fluid dynamics standpoint, still 3D. Actual 2D fluid dynamics (which does not exist but is and has been studied mathematically and numerically) works surprisingly different than real-world 3D fluid dynamics. I'm a PhD student working on turbulence and turbulence modelling, and the difference there between 2D and 3D is astronomically, much of the physics basically flips around. Fascinating stuff! Great video as always!

Steve lives in a 2D world ❤

It took me almost 30 seconds to realize that you just shifted to the sponsorship part. Bravo.

obsessed with how the 2d single source convection current moves like a top-down view of a rip current while the Rayleigh–Bénard convection moves like mini tectonic plates lol these examples really highlight just how often we see patterns like this everywhere

Miso soup! You can see the convection cells in hot miso soup!

Honestly, that HP ink joke at 5:00 is the pinnacle of humour CHANGE MY MIND

Its so facinating how you can see the same patterns all over the world and universe. Like this effect looking exactly like the skin of a croc. Or a walnut looking like a brain. Or the shell of a sea creature looking like a spiraling galaxy. The whole universe is a repeating fractal.

Your convection cell demo is incredible. Never thought id be excited about convection cells in a petrie dish. Thanks

This takes me back. 2:00 The flakes align with each other locally because they align with the shear flow of the fluid. 7:16 You'll get more regular convection patterns with uniform heating, near the onset of convection, and if you can keep those conditions stable for long enough to reach a steady state. The temperature difference for the onset of convection will depend on the layer depth, viscosity, and thermal properties of your fluids, which is why you got more uniform behavior with the thinner layers and more viscous fluids.

Fun with Large-Scale Convection: Those of us who fly gliders/sailplanes use convective plumes ("thermals") to climb thousands of feet and fly hundreds of miles/KMs without any engine! A typical "thermal" (a single plume of convection) is maybe 50-150 meters across and often exhibits the behavior shown in your very first demonstration at 2:20 : we see wide-spread gently-sinking air on the outskirts of thermals, and lots of turbulence / shear at the interface between the rising and sinking air that descends around the "core" of the thermal. Its quite a thrill to be rising up at several meters per second (i.e. several hundred feet per minute) with no visible energy source. Imagine rising up the height of the Empire State Building in 3 minutes, or the Shard (in London) in 2 minutes - with just the feeling of the air around you, bubbling/pushing up underneath your seat!

Thank you for sharing about convection cells! I got those patterns when I heated my agar plates. Left them in place when they solidified.