Everyone who thought he was actually going to swim in syrup: My disappointment is immeasurable and my day is ruined

I remember when Mythbusters tested this. Still interesting. Imagine going for a swim and having to shower afterwards not to wash off the chlorine, but the stickiness.

Omg I can just imagine how uncomfortable it is to be covered in syrup.

I think increasing the viscosity would feel like switching to a bigger gear on a bike - it gets harder to move, but you can move faster by moving your feet (or arms) less, so it has about the same speed either way

I can’t believe this, I was joking not long ago about making Olympic swimmers swim through syrup to make it more interesting 🤣

Who else clicked on this thinkin he actually swam in syrup

As a swimmer, I can say that these results are true under the assumption that swimmers apply a constant force on the water, and in some ways this is true. But for strokes that rely more on a gliding lotion the added resistance from the water will make a huge difference, not to mention the added stress on ligaments and joints from the higher impact forces. I mean it’s a rotator cuff injury waiting to happen. But for plastic turtles who apply an almost constant force it’ll probably work just fine.

I also have the I’m thinking shirt lol. I actually got it as a gift

“Blood is thicker that water” Syrup is thicker than blood Pancakes are more important than family

I only clicked on this video to see people swimming in a pool full of syrup. Disappointed.

I think with the more viscous liquids you can swim the same speed but it takes more exertion. The amount of force that you’re able to apply on the syrup is greater than the amount you can apply on the water, but that still means you have to push harder. So with the really viscous syrup, you reached the limit of the amount of force that the turtle could apply so it couldn’t swim as fast. If you had significantly stronger motors it might still be able to swim as fast or only a little slower. It makes no sense that an effect would just disappear outside of a specific range of viscosities. It would have to slowly fade (meaning that the speed slowly decreases) as the viscosity increased.

Great thought experiment! I would try an experiment where more of the toy is more submerged. Right now it seems the turtle is staying mostly out of the viscous liquid, so the increase in drag is only experienced by the belly surface. As a swimmer, you aim to go as high as possible, but majority of your body is still underwater. Try a toy submarine!

Being covered in syrup is the worst part about this.

If you win in swimming like this, you'll have a sweet victory

I love your channel! Not only do you do cool experiments. But you explain why the you come to a certain conclusion. 🤔

Will be useful some day when I'm on a hike and must choose between swimming across a lake of water or a lake of syrup. Nice video as always.

He asks questions that a child would ask, but since he is an adult he can actually answer them and I love it

Once again, I love how you have taken a physics problem, demonstrated the principle, shown the math and peaked my curiosity. Nice work.

A lot of this depends on how the speed of the "motor" varies with the drag. In your last example the paddle-arms were barely moving at all so of course it went slow. What would the results be if the turtle were designed so the arms moved at the same speed regardless of load? One difference between the experiment in the paper and your tests is that the guar gum has little effect on the density of the water, whereas the syrup you used would substantially increase the density, and so the swimmer/turtle would float higher in the fluid, which would in turn have an (undetermined) effect on the speed. The reduced cross-sectional area and the higher viscosity would have opposite effects on the form drag and it is not clear which effect would be stronger. Floating higher could also affect how well the driving surfaces (turtle's paddles, swimmer's arms and legs) engage with the water. In any case, swimming at the same speed in a more viscous fluid would definitely require more work and be more tiring.

Thank you! You are gold 🎖

As a swimmer, what I can tell you is that if you were to put me in syrup, I might be able to swim just as fast, but I wouldn't be able to swim for nearly as long. I believe this is what we were seeing with the turtle in the extra-thick syrup. The first thing you need is enough power to propel yourself forward in whatever liquid you're in, and if you don't have enough power to push against the fluid, you're doomed. Indeed, swimmers often make things harder AND easier on themselves by wearing drag suits (or even just all their clothes) and wide paddles. Swimming with hand paddles makes you much faster, but your arms tire out a lot sooner. You can push harder because the surface area of your hand becomes bigger, but if you lack enough musculature to push yourself forward, it doesn't really matter. You could pair your paddles with a drag suit to maintain the same speed as unencumbered, but you would fatigue sooner. (This would be a valuable exercise for a swimmer-basically, it's just building muscle and fatigue resistance over a shorter time. It may cause joint problems, though, because you're really loading the shoulders and elbows. I doubt anyone would do this for long.) I'm not a physicist, but even on its face, this seems like it would require more energy. You can swim just as fast because you can *push harder* to overcome more drag. Pushing harder by definition means more force. What you should test is how long can a battery powered device continue to propel the craft in the more viscous fluid versus in water. I suspect it would last fractionally as long in the syrup. Probably half as long for a liquid that's twice as viscous, but it probably also relates to what the average output of the motor is.

I love that you switched the turtle toys between the first and second swim tests. That eliminates any possibility of power differences changing the results.

Ehrenloses Thumbnail

I've wondered about this actually. Because for very small scale insects and bacteria water and even air are thick and viscous by comparison. But they still manage to swim/fly around just fine. But they do it with different means. The smallest insect is called a fairy fly and it has wings that look more like long arms that it uses to literally crawl thru the air. So this answered why it still works.

Can we just appreciate that he put his hand in syrup for us

*Am I the only one that thought he is crazy enough to actually fill a pool with syrup?*

"The turtle could barely get through that syrup" is a great sentence

omg i love your shirt! i had a similar idea for one but it was the win95 loading bar

A plastic straw in a turtle, how ironic...

The turtle in the regular water is just a paid actor.

This is so random. I absolutely love it.

Related to this is the thixotropic properties of some viscous liquid. The stress or agitation applied to a viscous liquid may increase fluidity.

Me at 3am: sees *title* Also me: I don't need sleep, I need answers

Everybody: "who thought that he will actually swim in syrup" Me: that turtle is cute

I thought my laptop was loading until i realized that its just the design on his shirt

A splendid presentation.

I was one of the "professional" swimmers that participated in this study. It was pretty wild. The guar gum liquid wasn't sticky, more slimy. There was a big layer of it at the bottom because it was hard to keep it in suspension, as the pumps created turbulence that would have altered the results.

"Let's do a small scale test" * Adds 4 jugs of syrup. Yep very small scale😂

listening to Action LAB is better than sleeping ASMR

Your shirt cracks me up! 😂

Imagine opening your eyes undersyrup... At least it would be balanced with accidentally swallowing the pool syrup

Me a Canadian: hey that’s a normal Friday

Damn the myth busters nostalgia.. so awesome to see that science and myth busting has found a new home on KZfaq for the new generation

Those lil guys don’t have to worry about the core strength that keeps them up though

Me- *Swims in syrup* "You see, I'm something of a scientist myself."

"The turtle could barely get through that syrup" is my new favorite quote that I'm sure no one has ever said before

The last few test in the syrup box were unfair since it would have got into the joints

It makes sense, in really thick syrup, you won't be strong enough to push off the syrup. It's like pedalling your bike on the highest gear. If it's slightly more viscose then it's like upping your gear by 1 where you would pedal slightly slower compared to the lower gear

But does syrup increase the energy per stroke? It's almost like a gear reduction. The lower the ratio, the more torque you have. Thus less energy needed per turn. Syrup is like this case but the opposite. Need explanation. Halp

Why is no one talking about the mythbusters episode where they actually swam through syrup

Loved it!!

I imagine the more viscous the liquid is the more power necessary to achieve the same speed. Maybe a higher viscus fluid could support even faster motion if the power of the propeller is high enough.

Oh, my internet isn't slow.. It's his shirt lol! xD

"I'm not sure how well a human would do in that." Well if the Great Molasses Flood of 1919 that killed 21 people is any indication, not well.

I for sure though I was going to get to see a human being doing laps in syrup. First time I've ever been disappointed by this channel 🤣

I gotta assume to some degree what we're seeing in the extra thick syrup is more about the energy output to push through the syrup and even break the surface tension is much higher, where the energy required for lower viscosity is more negligible at smaller distances. So, for the same energy output you could very much go the same speeds in thicker liquids, but water you could go furthest, same amount of energy expenditure would get you less far at the same speed in syrup, and even less distance the thicker the liquid is.

-“This books isn’t very aerodynamic”

He said syrup so many times it doesn’t even sound like a word any more

I believe Reynolds number is the key to this riddle. If the Re is high, then viscosity doesn't affect the drag of the flow. On the other hand, in molasses, an Olympic swimmer would be experiencing very low Re flow and would be fighting viscous drag primarily, slowing them down.

for those hoping to break swimming world record speed runs: the speed vs viscosity graph is likely an inverted u shape. Less viscosity than water is slower, more viscous than syrup is slower, somewhere in between is likely faster, for the sake of a second in a 200m, adjusting the viscosity of the olympic pool water will make a big difference.

2020: Swimming In Syrup Is As Easy As Swimming In Water 2030: Swimming In Blood Is As Easy As Swimming In Water

Me: “let’s read some comments” Comments: “did anyone else think he was gonna swim in syrup?” “I clicked on this thinking he was gonna swim in syrup” “I wish he had have actually swum in syrup”

On the long run would it make the swimmer more tired to swim in a more viscous liquid or not

My intuitive understanding is that it depends on the amount of force a human can swing his arms with. The motor of the turtle wasn't strong enough to keep its rotation rate because of the added drag. If it had a stronger motor the comparison would have been more fair since then (with fixed rotation rate) it really is a comparison of drag vs the pulling force. My guess is that a human is strong enough to complete the same pulling motion in a fluid with significant more viscosity (this should tire him out more in a longer distance though).

You should retry the experiment with ether or acetone, or some other very low viscosity liquid, to see if something four times less viscous than water has an inverse effect or not.

I can imagine How To Basic doing way more.

Do a full-scale test!

The turtle also took longer in the thick syrup because its movement range is just rotating and the shape of the wing is a spoon, so it had a hardtime rotating under the syrup

I thought he was actually going to swim in syrup but then i got Jebaited so damn hard

I thought he would swim in syrup , as I saw the thumbnail😂

I appreciate that you actually tried an experiment with really thick syrup. It always bugged me when they did this on Mythbusters that the syrup they used looked so thin, because I was sure that making the syrup seriously thick would have a noticeably different result, which is exactly what we see here. That said, I am extremely disappointed that there was no full-scale experiment.

I feel like I got rick rolled by a couple of toy turtles! In all seriousness though, great experiment, though would have loved to see you do time trials in syrup!

5:27 When people say syrup, this is what I think of.

Guys, we need mr beast to actualy do this with a real pool

I’d be interested to see, what if you filled the middle of the container with water, and the outer edges with syrup, how fast would the turtle be then, having the syrup to propel itself and the low viscosity of the water to swim in. If that makes sense 🤔

In this video no turtle is harmed

No one: Spec: "Super-weighted butterfly"

A straw....in a turtle... Well isn’t that ironic

Your shirt is making me constantly think my screen is loading lol

The syrup provides more buoyancy, which means you float higher up, which means you would also experience less drag. Wouldn't this also affect the outcome?

I'm curious about the university experiment - did the swimmers tire out more quickly in the syrup than water?

These turtles combined with that paddling sound is just so adorable

Shoutout to those sticky lil turtles in the first test. Love those lil guys.

As far as I understand we can achieve the same swimming speed, as long as we keep moving our arms/legs with the same speed and form. The turtle didn´t have enough strength to keep its arms moving at regular speed in the super thick syrup, so it slowed down. We also can´t forget the liquids density at all. A higher density gives you a diffrent position lying in Water, that will alter the results again.

I'm surprised there aren't ants everywhere

With syrup you have almost a grip, it puts more resistance on your body allowing you to almost grab onto something and physically push off of it while swimming. Granted the viscosity of syrup is way higher than water, but they both have liquid properties. Both are swimmable and both can be traveled in.

There is a sweet spot where all times are the same. If too viscous though it would be slow and unable to move, and if too thin, it also would be slow. Like if you were trying to swim in some material that was too thin you would hardly have anything to push off of.

love this

2:05 When you hit shift to start a word, but have caps lock on

imagine having to wash off not from chorine but smelling like a pancake house resteraunt

The Mythbusters already tested this in 2009. Episode 118. It was PLAUSIBLE Adam and Jamie began by digging two long trenches and lining them with plastic sheeting to serve as swimming pools. They filled one with water and the other with high-viscosity syrup made from 750 pounds (340 kg) of guar gum and 10,000 US gallons (38,000 L) of water. Adam and Jamie each swam three lengths in the water to establish their average times, then did the same in the syrup. Adam’s time in syrup was 28% slower than in water; Jamie tired quickly and withdrew from further testing. They also performed tests with other syrup formulas with lower viscosity. Adam again swam three lengths in each pool and found that his syrup time was now only 2.8% to 5.4% slower than in water. Next, they invited Olympic gold medalist swimmer Nathan Adrian swim through each substance. Nathan’s times were erratic because his technique was so highly honed for pure water, and his results were thrown out. Based on the results for light and medium syrup, which they considered to be within the margin of error for their testing method, Adam and Jamie declared the myth plausible.

They need to do this for the Olympics if they are done in Canada

Everybody: he had us in the whole video ngl

2:37 he knew what he was doing with this ms in the corner

itd be interesting to hear what the swimmers commented on the tests, even though they swam at roughly the same speed did they feel a higher difficulty trying to move through the syrup or did they feel their kicks would push them forward for farther? how much energy did they need to move the same amount within the same speed, was it harder or easier? did their efficiency increase ? decrease?

@TheActionLab (a beleated) Thanks for another interesting video. Though it made me curious as to how much energy You would expend in the different media. After all it might be possible to "offset" the somewhat higher "form drag" by being able to "push Harder"... But would't that also require more energy to reach the equivalent speed, and if so couldn't the ""person/toy..." really have swum(?) faster if they had expended that same higher rate of energy ? Well well I guess that's just another "vital piece of information" that I will never know ;) Best regards

I don’t know if you going to read this or not, but I wanted to say that I really love your work and keep going ☺️

Titles video "Swimming In Syrup Is As Easy As Swimming In Water." Proceeds to prove why it's harder to swim in liquids as viscosity increases.

Grits ain’t groceries, Eggs ain’t poultry, And Mona Lisa was a man.

Me having sky zone flashbacks in the pit with all the foam cubes: