I am here at the University of Sydney where the mechanical engineering shop has built this incredible piece of apparatus for me. It is a 40 pound, that is 19 kilogram flywheel on the end of a meter-long shaft. Can you imagine trying to hold this out horizontally with just one hand at this end? It is virtually, it is impossible, okay? Now I'm going to let go. You're going to be able to hold this at all? I hope so. Can you lift it out? Make it horizontal. Hold it, hold it, hold it. Come on, just try to, I want you to hold it out horizontal. See if you can. Hold it, hold it. Ah, come on. What I'm going to do is I'm going to spin this up to a few thousand RPM and then I'm going to attempt just that, to hold it from one end and have it out horizontally. Five, four, three, two, one. Boom. I'm going to let go of my left hand. What you'll see is that the shaft remains horizontal. You can see it going around there. It almost looks as though the wheel is weightless. How does this work? Well, instead of pulling the wheel down to the ground as you'd expect, the weight of the wheel creates a torque which pushes it around in a circle. You may recognize this as gyroscopic precession. For a more detailed explanation, click the annotation or the link in the description to see my video on the topic. Here, I want to try something more extreme. I'm going to try to lift it over my head with one hand while it's spinning. Wish me luck. But before I make the attempt, Rod wisely suggests that I first check if I can lift the wheel above my head without it spinning. Let's prove that I can lift it just this end without it spinning. Here we go. How I mean, it's just kind of awkward with the hand. Careful. Just barely. Oh, goodness. Do you even lift? Uh, clearly I do not. Undaunted by my lack of strength, I'm going for it. But I want to make sure that the wheel is spinning as fast as possible to give me the best chance of success. Give it 10 more seconds. 10, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one, go! That was perfect. Now I am going to release my left hand and holding only with my right hand at the end of the shaft, I'll try to lift it up over my head. This is a 40 pound, 19 kilogram flywheel. Ready? Here we go. Three, two, one. Beautiful. Let's go again. In three, two, one. Nice. Three, two, one. It feels incredibly, incredibly light as I do that. When you said it felt incredibly light. Yeah. When you're lifting it feels light? Yeah. Shouldn't. I know. Honestly, I have lifted it up with one hand when it's not spinning. Yeah. And it feels really hard to lift it up. Like it's a big effort. Yeah. But with this, when it's spinning, it honestly felt like it was just wanting to go up by itself. Yes. It felt like I was not struggling, like I was not putting in the amount of force that you'd think to lift that kind of weight. I bet if you let it go, it'd crash down to the ground. It's not weightless. We can't do that, though. We can't do that part of the experiment. What we could maybe do is I could stand on a scale and we could see what the weight of me plus that apparatus does while I'm lifting it up over my head. See if I get lighter in essence. You can see that just my weight is about 72 kilograms. Now when I pick up the flywheel, it goes up to about 91 kilograms, which makes sense because the flywheel itself is about 19 kilos, that's 42 pounds. Now we're going to spin it up and I want you to make a prediction. As I'm lifting it over my head, do you think the scale reading will be more, less than, or equal to 91 kilograms? What do you think? You can make your prediction by clicking on one of the on-screen annotations, or if you're on mobile, you can click a link in the description. Five, four, three, two, one.
A man stands in a large grassy field and speaks directly to the camera.
"I am here at the University of Sydney where the mechanical engineering shop has built this incredible piece of apparatus for me."
Setting: A sports field at the University of Sydney — Bright, direct sunlight from overhead.
People (1):
• standing, facing the camera, wearing dark blue polo shirt with a small white 'Ve' logo and dark blue jeans, dark brown, slightly messy hair — smiling, speaking with energy, has a beard
The man kneels down on the grass to show a heavy metal flywheel attached to a long metal rod, which is resting on a wooden block.
"It is a 40 pound, that is 19 kilogram flywheel on the end of a meter-long shaft."
Setting: A sports field at the University of Sydney — Bright, sunny day.
People (1):
• kneeling on one knee, wearing dark blue polo shirt and dark blue jeans, dark brown hair — looking down at the apparatus, speaking
The man stands up, grips the end of the shaft with both hands, and struggles to lift the heavy flywheel end off the ground to a horizontal position.
"Can you imagine trying to hold this out horizontally with just one hand at this end?"
Setting: A sports field at the University of Sydney — Bright daylight.
People (1):
• standing, bent over, lifting the heavy object, wearing dark blue polo shirt and dark blue jeans, dark brown hair — straining, grimacing with effort
A second, muscular man in a tank top attempts to hold the flywheel shaft horizontally with one hand, but immediately fails as the weight pulls it down.
"Now I'm going to let go. You're going to be able to hold this at all? I hope so."
Setting: A sports field at the University of Sydney — Bright daylight.
People (2):
• standing, wearing dark blue polo shirt and dark blue jeans, dark brown hair — smiling, watching the other man
• standing, attempting to lift, wearing dark blue tank top with paint splatters and dark shorts with paint splatters, dark, curly hair — straining, then surprised
The main speaker kneels and explains his plan to spin the flywheel, pointing at it. An older man is visible standing in the background.
"What I'm going to do is I'm going to spin this up to a few thousand RPM and then I'm going to attempt just that, to hold it from one end and have it out horizontally."
Setting: A sports field at the University of Sydney — Bright, sunny.
People (2):
• kneeling, wearing dark blue polo shirt and dark blue jeans, dark brown hair — animated, explaining
• standing, wearing light blue button-down shirt and khaki pants, white hair — smiling, watching
An older man uses a lime green power drill to spin the flywheel at high speed while the main speaker holds the shaft steady.
Setting: A sports field at the University of Sydney — Bright daylight.
People (2):
• kneeling, wearing dark blue polo shirt and dark blue jeans, dark brown hair — concentrating, looking at the flywheel
• kneeling, wearing light blue button-down shirt and khaki pants, white hair — smiling, focused on operating the drill
The older man removes the drill and the main speaker stands up, holding the now-spinning flywheel apparatus with both hands.
"Boom."
Setting: A sports field at the University of Sydney — Bright daylight.
People (2):
• standing up from a kneel, wearing dark blue polo shirt and dark blue jeans, dark brown hair — concentrated expression
• kneeling, wearing light blue shirt and khaki pants, white hair — smiling
The man holds the spinning flywheel out horizontally with just one hand. The apparatus precesses, rotating around him while staying level.
"I'm going to let go of my left hand. What you'll see is that the shaft remains horizontal."
Setting: A sports field at the University of Sydney — Bright sunlight.
People (1):
• standing, holding the apparatus out, wearing dark blue polo shirt and dark blue jeans, dark brown hair — focused, slightly smiling
A red arrow graphic appears on the flywheel, pointing downwards to represent the force of gravity creating torque.
"Well, instead of pulling the wheel down to the ground as you'd expect, the weight of the wheel creates a torque which pushes it around in a circle."
Setting: A sports field at the University of Sydney — Bright sunlight.
People (1):
• standing, wearing dark blue polo shirt and dark blue jeans, dark brown hair — partially visible, looking at the wheel
Text: "Red arrow pointing down from the flywheel"
The man walks in a circle as the flywheel precesses around him. Text appears on screen identifying the phenomenon.
"You may recognize this as gyroscopic precession."
Setting: A sports field at the University of Sydney — Bright sunlight.
People (1):
• walking in a circle, wearing dark blue polo shirt and dark blue jeans, dark brown hair — looking at the camera
Text: "Gyroscopic Precession"
A cut to a different scene shows the man in a classroom setting, demonstrating the same principle with a bicycle wheel hanging from a rope.
"to see my video on the topic."
Setting: Classroom or lecture hall — Indoor, fluorescent lighting.
People (1):
• standing, wearing bright blue polo shirt, dark brown hair — smiling, pointing at the wheel
Text: "Gyroscopic Precession"
The scene returns to the grassy field. The man kneels and speaks to the camera, explaining his next, more difficult challenge.
"I'm going to try to lift it over my head with one hand while it's spinning."
Setting: A sports field at the University of Sydney — Bright sunlight.
People (1):
• kneeling, wearing dark blue polo shirt and dark blue jeans, dark brown hair — serious, looking directly at the camera
The man stands up to attempt lifting the non-spinning flywheel over his head as a baseline test of strength.
"Let's prove that I can lift it just this end without it spinning."
Setting: A sports field at the University of Sydney — Bright daylight.
People (1):
• standing, wearing dark blue polo shirt and dark blue jeans, dark brown hair — determined
The man strains immensely, using one hand to lift the non-spinning flywheel apparatus from his shoulder up over his head.
"Careful."
Setting: A sports field at the University of Sydney — Bright sunlight.
People (1):
• leaning back, straining to lift, wearing dark blue polo shirt and dark blue jeans, dark brown hair — grimacing, teeth clenched with extreme effort
After successfully but with great difficulty lifting the flywheel, he lowers it and makes a self-deprecating joke about his strength.
"Just barely. Oh, goodness. Do you even lift? Uh, clearly I do not."
Setting: A sports field at the University of Sydney — Bright sunlight.
People (1):
• standing, wearing dark blue polo shirt and dark blue jeans, dark brown hair — laughing, smiling
The older man again uses the power drill to spin the flywheel up to maximum speed, while the main speaker holds it and counts down.
"Give it 10 more seconds. 10, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one, go!"
Setting: A sports field at the University of Sydney — Bright daylight.
People (2):
• kneeling, wearing dark blue polo shirt and dark blue jeans, dark brown hair — smiling, excited, counting down
• kneeling, wearing light blue shirt and khaki pants, white hair — smiling
The man stands with the spinning flywheel held horizontally in front of him, preparing for the lift.
"Now I am going to release my left hand and holding only with my right hand at the end of the shaft, I'll try to lift it up over my head."
Setting: A sports field at the University of Sydney — Bright sunlight.
People (1):
• standing, wearing dark blue polo shirt and dark blue jeans, dark brown hair — serious, concentrating
The man smoothly and easily lifts the spinning flywheel over his head with one hand, a stark contrast to his earlier struggle.
"Here we go. Three, two, one."
Setting: A sports field at the University of Sydney — Bright sunlight.
People (1):
• standing, arm extended upwards, wearing dark blue polo shirt and dark blue jeans, dark brown hair — smiling, looking up at the flywheel in amazement
He lowers the flywheel and then effortlessly lifts it over his head again, turning his body to show the ease of the motion.
"Beautiful. Let's go again."
Setting: A sports field at the University of Sydney — Bright sunlight.
People (1):
• turning, lifting and lowering the weight, wearing dark blue polo shirt and dark blue jeans, dark brown hair — smiling broadly
The man performs the lift again, this time near a metal pole and a green trash can, then walks while holding it and commenting on how light it feels.
"It feels incredibly, incredibly light as I do that."
Setting: A sports field at the University of Sydney — Bright sunlight.
People (1):
• walking and lifting, wearing dark blue polo shirt and dark blue jeans, dark brown hair — smiling, speaking with wonder
A slow-motion replay shows the effortless lift of the spinning flywheel over his head.
Setting: A sports field at the University of Sydney — Bright sunlight.
People (1):
• lifting motion in slow motion, wearing dark blue polo shirt and dark blue jeans, dark brown hair — concentrated then smiling
A slow-motion replay from a low angle shows the man lifting the flywheel, emphasizing the upward motion against the sky.
Setting: A sports field at the University of Sydney — Backlit by the sun.
People (1):
• lifting motion, wearing dark blue polo shirt and dark blue jeans, dark brown hair — in silhouette against the sun
The flywheel has stopped spinning. The main speaker is kneeling on the ground, talking with the older man who is now standing beside him.
"When you said it felt incredibly light. Yeah. When you're lifting it feels light? Yeah. Shouldn't. I know."
Setting: A sports field at the University of Sydney — Bright daylight.
People (2):
• kneeling, wearing dark blue polo shirt and dark blue jeans, dark brown hair — looking up, talking
• standing, wearing light blue shirt and khaki pants, white hair — smiling, talking
The main speaker is talking to the older man, explaining the sensation of lifting the spinning flywheel.
"it honestly felt like it was just wanting to go up by itself. Yes."
Setting: A sports field at the University of Sydney — Bright daylight.
People (2):
• standing, wearing dark blue polo shirt, dark brown hair — animated, explaining
• standing, wearing light blue shirt, white hair — listening intently, nodding
The man proposes a new experiment involving a scale to measure the perceived change in weight.
"What we could maybe do is I could stand on a scale and we could see what the weight of me plus that apparatus does while I'm lifting it up over my head."
Setting: A sports field at the University of Sydney — Bright daylight.
People (2):
• standing, wearing dark blue polo shirt, dark brown hair — proposing an idea
• standing, wearing light blue shirt, white hair — listening, looking thoughtful
The scene changes to a paved area next to a building. The man steps onto a white analog bathroom scale.
Setting: Outside a workshop building — Daylight, partially shaded.
People (1):
• stepping onto a scale, wearing dark blue polo shirt and dark blue jeans, dark brown hair — looking down at the scale
A close-up shot of the scale's dial shows the needle pointing to 72 kilograms.
"You can see that just my weight is about 72 kilograms."
Setting: Outside a workshop building — Daylight.
People (1):
• standing on the scale and dark blue jeans
The man is holding the non-spinning flywheel while standing on the scale. The camera zooms in on the dial, which now reads 91 kilograms.
"it goes up to about 91 kilograms,"
Setting: Outside a workshop building — Daylight.
People (1):
• standing on the scale holding the flywheel and dark blue jeans
The man stands on the scale holding the flywheel and poses a question to the audience. Three colored buttons appear on screen as poll options.
"As I'm lifting it over my head, do you think the scale reading will be more, less than, or equal to 91 kilograms?"
Setting: Outside a workshop building — Daylight.
People (1):
• standing on a scale, wearing dark blue polo shirt and dark blue jeans, dark brown hair — looking at the camera, posing a question
Text: "More", "Less than", "Equal to"
The older man kneels down to spin the flywheel with the drill for the final experiment, while the main speaker explains how to vote in the poll.
"You can make your prediction by clicking on one of the on-screen annotations,"
Setting: Outside a workshop building — Daylight.
People (2):
• kneeling, wearing dark blue polo shirt and dark blue jeans, dark brown hair — looking at the camera, speaking
• kneeling, wearing light blue shirt and khaki pants, white hair — focused on the drill
Text: "More", "Less than", "Equal to"
The older man counts down as the flywheel reaches maximum speed. The camera is focused on the spinning wheel and the drill.
"five, four, three, two, one."
Setting: Outside a workshop building — Daylight.
People (1):
• kneeling, wearing light blue shirt, white hair — partially visible, speaking
Text: "More", "Less than", "Equal to"
The video ends on a screen with four video thumbnails for other Veritasium videos and a subscription call to action.
Setting: End screen — Graphic
Text: "Click here to subscribe", "Veritasium", "an element of truth"