I love the video. What I would add is what all that extra 95% of water is doing. It keeps the tree cool by evaporating out like sweat, especially on hot days. And this means the trees regulate temperature around them by absorbing heat energy that would have baked the ground, and putting it into evaporating water molecules. And this extra water vapor that trees gradually put into the atmosphere helps make for more stable cloud formation, rainfall, and climate around them. So the magic of the trees is that a forest actually generates its own rainfall over and over. And cutting down forests removes this stable predictable rainfall. Could you do a video on the water cycle and cutting many trees leads to local climate instability.
I'm surprised noone is mentioning how the transport of water into the tree roots takes with it some dissolved minerals. Sure the tree has active ion pumps for that, but the automatic flow of dissolved salts together with the evaporation is not insignificant!
4:29 Why do trees transport so much water if they only use 5% of what they transport? The leaves have to have openings to let CO2 in, which also allows water to escape by evaporation, and leaves have to remain moist to transport nutrients and sugars, so the price they pay for survival is to transpire huge amounts of water they never use. "To make sugars, plants must absorb CO2 from the atmosphere through small pores in their leaves called stomata. However, when stomata open, water is lost to the atmosphere at a prolific rate relative to the small amount of CO2 absorbed; across plant species an average of 400 water molecules are lost for each CO2 molecule gained. The balance between transpiration and photosynthesis forms an essential compromise in the existence of plants; stomata must remain open to build sugars but risk dehydration in the process...The amount of water lost via transpiration can be incredibly high; a single irrigated corn plant growing in Kansas can use 200 L of water during a typical summer, while some large rainforest trees can use nearly 1200 L of water in a single day!" www.nature.com/scitable/knowledge/library/water-uptake-and-transport-in-vascular-plants-103016037
Would you say there is a beneficial solvent effect from water doing this? As water is run from roots to leaves it will carry vital nutrients and other molecules the roots have collected and the leaves need. When the water leaves via transpiration it won't take the cargo. So it's a great solvent elevator of sorts.
I would think that nature tends to be efficient, and there would have to be very good reason to waste 95% of the water taken in by the roots. Yes, this water would transport solutes, but probably an excess of them that would accumulates in cells and cell walls, using up valuable energy dealing with the excess. ("Excess calcium ions can be accumulated as calcium oxalate crystals in the obliterated phloem or in vacuoles, e.g., in leaf cells - academic.oup.com/treephys/article/30/9/1140/1637967) And yes, evaporation would cool the plant, but plants are homeothermic and I don't know if they would be any healthier if cooler. So, I'm no expert, but I think that the main reason plants transpire such an excess of water relative to their needs is to maintain hydration despite the large holes needed to access carbon dioxide which is in very low concentrations in the atmosphere, not to transport adequate solutes or to cool the plant.
I’m a refrigeration technician, and I realized a while back that the water evaporates out of the bottoms of the leaves to refrigerate them, when water evaporates, the vapor pulls heat from the remaining source water, cooling it. This is necessary because sunlight has the potential to heat the leaves beyond the temperature they can still function for photosynthesis.
Its really amazing to think that this video is almost 10 years old. I didnt even notice until after watching it Compared to most other youtubers in 2012 this is god tier quality
@@warrickburt7459 Yes, obviously! Hence why urban greening is so important. Just look up the 'urban heat island effect', a large part is caused by concrete and other materials that fail to get rid of heat easily, but another by the lack of open space and green. Trees cool just about anything in their close vicinity (both through evaporative cooling and shade creation). They're nature's free air conditioning..
I really wish these people were the celebrities of our time. They are really smart! Derek, John and Hank Green, Vsauce guys....the whole bunch of people who share knowledge with the world on RUclips. You guys are the true heroes of our day.
In the late 90's the research pointed to only osmotic pressure as the mechanism that allows plants to move water up a long column. I love that new understanding has developed. As more and more physicists cross over to various biology sciences, I suspect a lot of our understandings will get modified. Great video! Thanks!
I love how this channel takes a simple concept most science students/academics feel they know an the answer to and then goes in detail to find the actual explanation
@@KieranLeCam "the universe is vaslty more complex than humans" depends on how you look at it. The human brain can be considered the most complex object currently known in the universe.
@@oldm9228 True. But is the universe not the brain + the rest of the universe? What I meant was despite how we consider things to be complex, the fact we know so little about what's out there goes to show our idea of what is complex may simply be utterly wrong.
@@edencastillo4417 NO.. YOU HAVE FOUND MY SECRET. DON'T BAN ME FROM YOUR CHRISTIAN MINECRAFT SERVER. I WON'T SAY F-R-E-A-K OR H-E-C-K AGAIN. AND I WON'T USE MODE I PROMISE
@@MASTERSAIS And that's what made the "...right?" so perfect :D There's so much "ridiculous nonsense" that ends up being true! His reaction was perfect. He pointed out the ridiculousness followed by a humble acknowledgement that he is human and nature does what it will regardless of whether we can make sense of it :)
@@MASTERSAIS I can't answer that, but I assure you, this guy does his research. If you want to try to disprove it, go ahead, but if you have no evidence, I believe him :D
Imotep: Nice but kids this days are just playing expand more on the explanation, site a scientific journal and show hi-tech stuff to back real equations if possible, without mathematics the beauty of your claims is hallow. Why back in my days we had a vacuum not just for measuring columns in Egyptian temples but transporting huge blocks of stones up the pyramid. Check out how the pyramid where build theories. Science needs to be taken seriously otherwise when people just play we have a health care industry out of control because people are just going to use drugs and even stimpacks to assassinate NPC instead of doing the real quest and have fun in the process. Oh where is the humanity. Merry Christmas Syria thankfully Santa is no longer dropping Yuletide bombs over there.
@@jarblewarble preformance is a real concern... though - height limit is no longer capped at 256 - It can be changed now. not sure if there is a limit at how high that customizable range can be though
@@TekExplorer well cubic chunks makes the Hight limit form -infinity to infinity, and makes chunks 16x16x16 instead of 16x256x16, it also allows chunks to on top of each other, also, just for some context of how it would load, lets say you have a render distance of 16, horizontally it would load 16 chunks in every direction, loading the full 65536 blocks in that chunk, but with cubic chunks it also loads 16 chunks vertically, loading only 4096 blocks per chunk, so with cubic chunks you load 131072 blocks on spawn, and in vanilla minecraft you load 2097152 blocks on spawn, and because of this cubic chunks makes the game run better AND makes the build height infinite.
All that evaporated water is also what makes trees such an important part of the water cycle. The fact that trees do this means that they make a huge contribution to moving water inland from the ocean. When we have major deforestation on large continents, the result is a break in that conveyor belt and the interior of the continent suffers drought and eventually desertification.
yes but…… Without the trees the water that falls just runs off back to the sea. With trees it gets pushed back into the atmosphere to continue its journey
@@maxbrinker9333 Not really. It's many arrows pointing out many small things that come together in a big way. You start with a small plant that works with the same basic mechanisms but operates within reasonable margins for error. Then you let the small plants compete for sunlight, and over millions of year, one of the plants will find one change that allows it to grow just a bit higher than the other ones. This plant will get more light, reproduce, and pass on the change. At the end you have a finely tuned mechanical masterpiece that reliably uses capillary action to bring water straight up for 100 m. A creator would have used compartments.
@@eljanrimsa5843 // Who initiated the *arrows* existence, then dictated its ability and function? Where did the *first small plant* even come from? Who designed the *basic mechanisms* you speak of? Who set the boundaries, of *reasonable margins for error* to function? Who created the sun Eljan; Who *allows* its placement to literally be set the perfect distance away so that "all" that has life can be sustained as they *reliably* use *sunlight* and *reproduce to pass on the change* which is seen in the *"finely tuned mechanical masterpieces"* all around us; Who, chance? *Not really.* Oh, lets not forget the *"theory"* of evolution: "...and over millions of year, one of the plants will find one change that allows it to..." If you're not afraid to watch here are some college profs, and their students defending evolution [please don't move the goal post acknowledging what the actual definition of evolution is/was: one species evolving into a completely different species]; all else is adaptation. *Evolution vs. God:* ruclips.net/video/U0u3-2CGOMQ/видео.html *The Truth About Darwin/The Eyewitness Account of Creation:* www.gty.org/library/sermons-library/80-431 *Battle For The beginning:* www.gty.org/library/topical-series-library/255/the-battle-for-the-beginning [series] *The Theology of Creation:* www.gty.org/library/sermons-library/90-359 Over the years people have discovered literally millions of everyday fossils, but why doesn't anyone ever find the *"intermediate fossils"* that would prove evolution; why is that? If evolution is true, then there should've literally been millions of intermediate fossils already found by now b/c of the 14 known specie groups identified. When speaking on the "Imperfections in Geological Records" even Darwin complained in his own book, "Origin of Species" where he said quote: there is a "COMPLETE LACK of fossil intermediates in ALL geological records." This is what I'm speaking to, so it begs the question; why are there SO MANY *other* fossils found *everywhere* of all the oldest "known" extinct species, yet there are "ZERO" showing the transition between any of the 14 know species? It takes more faith to believe in mans "theory" of evolution than this: In the beginning GOD. Genesis 1 v1 *Truth is a stubborn thing.* *The Gospel of Jesus Christ:* www.gty.org/library/sermons-library/81-96 - www.gty.org/library/sermons-library/47-39/
"The example of those who take allies other than Allah is like that of the spider who takes a home. And indeed, the weakest of homes is the home of the spider, if they only knew." (Quran 29:41) This is the tafsir point of view. Scientific research showed lately that it is the female spider who builds the home not the male, and in the Verse of the Quran the female conjugation of the verb to take/to make (a dwelling/a home) in Arabic ( اتَّخَذَتْ). After that the female spider search for a male to fertilse her then she kills and eats the male. Therefore some scholars say this is the reason why this home is weak. Its weakness isn't a material weakness because the material of the web is one of the strongest in nature. A synthetic copy of it is known as Kevlar. But the weakness mentioned here is the lack of peace, mercy and love which makes a good and strong home according to the Verse 21 in Surat Ar-Rum (Surah 30).
IVE BEEN ASKING MYSELF THIS QUESTION FOR SEVERAL YEAR, AND WAS NEVER ABLE TO FIND AN ANSWER THAT MADE SENSE. AND YOURE TELLING ME THIS VIDEO HAS EXISTED FOR 12 YEARS WITHOUT ME FINDING IT????????
Awesome. Every tree is a piece of art! Knowing this and how good trees are for cooling down cities it's insane that we put concrete and asphalt everywhere and think we can substitute the genius that is a tree with AC.
@@deathbeast2439 "The most amazing thing about trees" and the thumbnail was a picture looking straight up through a circle of ~8 trees on a sunny day, no text or anything, just the photo
@@AndyChamberlainMusic When I see "amazing" in a title, I think it's bad click bait, because it's an overused word on youtube. "Amazing" videos never are. But this video was very well done, and to be honest it was amazing. I like the new title better though. I especially enjoyed the on camera hypotheses'.
Jonathan Lange Fair point. However, bonsai trees are meant to look as if they are full-sized trees. Again, if you plant a bonsai in open soil and stop trimming it, it will grow into its natural shape
Imotep: Nice but kids this days are just playing expand more on the explanation, site a scientific journal and show hi-tech stuff to back real equations if possible, without mathematics the beauty of your claims is hallow. Why back in my days we had a vacuum not just for measuring columns in Egyptian temples but transporting huge blocks of stones up the pyramid. Check out how the pyramid where build theories. Science needs to be taken seriously otherwise when people just play we have a health care industry out of control because people are just going to use drugs and even stimpacks to assassinate NPC instead of doing the real quest and have fun in the process. Oh where is the humanity. Merry Christmas Syria thankfully Santa is no longer dropping Yuletide bombs over there.
Wow. Just wow. You are an inspiration. "I will never look at trees the same way." You read my mind! It's amazing to think that something millions of years ago decided to go up, instead of outward. By stacking water on itself. We're pretty much the same thing!
Amazing video. I always thought it was capillary action. Never knew it was this complex. Nature never ceases to amaze us. Keep up the flow of quality videos. Thanks.
Excellent video. I loved watching people try to come up with an explanation and wish more teachers taught this way at every level. However, the video left me with a BIG QUESTION... With all that "negative pressure", enough to lift huge amounts of water many meters, why don't trees pop? What I mean is, when you chop a tree down, why doesn't it release all that energy in an unpleasant way when the xylum is pierced and air gets in? Or, equivalently I think, why don't you get sprayed with a ton of water when you chop a tree down? You'll have the answer in a week I'm sure... :)
Well trees that are usually chopped down are already dead and don't have water in them. Cutting a living tree will cause it to bleed sap. Why doesn't it boil I have no clue.
@@danielchoi4490 wait why do u think trees that are getting cut down are usually dead i would think almost all trees still live before they are cut down
Maby its because its so thin that the water wouldnt flow out of it because there is no air coming through the pores so the water cant run down the canals because that would create a vaccum on the top end of the pores.
top quality - I am a tree ecophysiologist scotland, Prof Sperry is one of my academic heroes - well done in explaining these difficult concepts in an open and clear way
Dude I love you videos I watch every single one of them on every occasion because I learn so much out of them. Now that that is said , I noticed a left/right ear balance default in a lot of em , making watching it troublesome when doing so with headphones . Not here to bitch around you're great and I love your channel keep up the good work and thank you for the amazing content!
I remember being taught about the water cycle, and how things as complicated and energy intensive as desalination and cold storage were being done virtually free of cost in nature. The convention was that the major source of water vapour is evapourated sea water (desalination) and other water bodies. Thinking back, it blows my mind that millions and millions of trees are also contributing to rain and snow (nature's cold storage system). It really puts things into perspective.
Yes, but where does the water that trees release come from? It all comes originally from the ocean. The trees move it around after it has fallen as rain (or snow) on the land.
Evaporation provides the force, it doesn't explain why the 10m limit could be overcome (which is due to the tree managing to keep the water in the xylem tubes in a metastable liquid state at negative pressure, i.e. under tension).
1:00 - transpiration (evaporation on the leaves surface) does not help 3:00 - evaporation inside the tree helps you cannot create a negative pressure with transpiration, but you can create a negative pressure inside a capillary.
Thank you for a fantastic explanation of Tugor Pressure. Ive known about this for years but have never taken the time to understand the mechanics of how it works. The best visual depiction is droopy leaves of thirsty plants.
Did you know there are trees higher then 100 meters ;p they can't get water bey the way its said in this vidio. They get water from the mouist in the air. They live close to the sea where there is often fog evry morning and drink it. #facts!
Brilliant. As a hobby woodworker I’m fascinated by trees and how they grow and how each one has unique grain patterns. This is another amazing aspect of trees. Thank you for making this!
+Connor Norng Hover over your comment and to the right there will be a circle with a triangle in it, then click on that and it shows an edit option! :)
I'm an arborist / tree climber , and this is inspiring me to spread information on this . Taking into account the season when trees are pulling more water ( summer v. Winter ) and spread more safety in my Industry. Crazy this ten years old and I haven't heard this theory tbh
If the trees contain this huge negative pressure, and the only thing keeping the water from boiling is the absence of an air pocket, would cutting into the upper reaches of an extremely tall tree cause a spontaneous explosion of steam as air breaches the xylem tubes?
@@jeffborders5526 I feel like theres always a constant amount of water vapor in the atmosphere. If it's too humid then water can't evaporate. Without trees this would happen anyway. In actuallity they probablu store some of the water for a while so there is less in the atmosphere. Also I don't think it is a "stronger" greenhouse gas. I think theres just a lot more of it
One of the most eye opening videos from Derek. The philosophical consequences are immense - trees are out there just to protect us from our own carbon emissions. They have such a critical symbiotic function, and we are hardly even aware of it! I've watched this so many times and it still amazes me every single time.
One of the greatest videos I have seen or your channel. I must say most of the people consider plants or trees as "jungle" to be cut off in order to build a villa or another Hotel facility or they don't consider them at all when passing by. I could add that is not only the water to be something to admire. Think about the tons of material that the trees manage to raise above the earth level and in such a beauty. Urbanization is a sleeping drug.
One additional point of question: the business about the xylem always having water in it ceases when (deciduous) trees dessicate before winter. So when it "turns on" in spring, why doesn't the water boil?
water freezes, tree cuts the cycle. like cryogenically and resumes when the temperature is high enough to melt the water inside the tree's system and resume the cycle i guess. what I'm curious about are how are pine trees able to survive winter
I love trees for a weird reason. I have many Bonsai and have kept them alive for about 5 years now (i know im still an amateur) this video is amazing. I think we all take trees for granted
He explained it? The tubes don't contain air bubbles preventing the water from boiling and so the water can continue going up while staying in liquid form.
This is just great at pointing out the high level of proccessing specialization plants have with our atmospehere. It's the 3rd time i'm watching it and its still pretty great.
What about the cohesion-theory, where the polarity of the water molecules creates a "ladder" or "staircase" with the H2O molecules sticking to each other and also sticking to the walls of the tube?
This ended up being way more interesting than I expected.
I suggest you watch his video on how do trees grow so tall.
There are errors here. Later I'll tell what they are.
@@ittaiklein8541 when?
This video was so good I didn’t even realize it was 8 years old
9*
@@irfanbhuiyan620 says 8 years bro
@@irfanbhuiyan620 You're a month and a half early
so you are bad because you are more than 8 years old? good thing we dont erase all knowledge every 8 years, because bacteria would have higher IQ's
@@infected4kill he is ahead of his time
I love the video. What I would add is what all that extra 95% of water is doing. It keeps the tree cool by evaporating out like sweat, especially on hot days. And this means the trees regulate temperature around them by absorbing heat energy that would have baked the ground, and putting it into evaporating water molecules. And this extra water vapor that trees gradually put into the atmosphere helps make for more stable cloud formation, rainfall, and climate around them. So the magic of the trees is that a forest actually generates its own rainfall over and over. And cutting down forests removes this stable predictable rainfall. Could you do a video on the water cycle and cutting many trees leads to local climate instability.
I'm surprised noone is mentioning how the transport of water into the tree roots takes with it some dissolved minerals. Sure the tree has active ion pumps for that, but the automatic flow of dissolved salts together with the evaporation is not insignificant!
4:29 Why do trees transport so much water if they only use 5% of what they transport?
The leaves have to have openings to let CO2 in, which also allows water to escape by evaporation, and leaves have to remain moist to transport nutrients and sugars, so the price they pay for survival is to transpire huge amounts of water they never use.
"To make sugars, plants must absorb CO2 from the atmosphere through small pores in their leaves called stomata. However, when stomata open, water is lost to the atmosphere at a prolific rate relative to the small amount of CO2 absorbed; across plant species an average of 400 water molecules are lost for each CO2 molecule gained. The balance between transpiration and photosynthesis forms an essential compromise in the existence of plants; stomata must remain open to build sugars but risk dehydration in the process...The amount of water lost via transpiration can be incredibly high; a single irrigated corn plant growing in Kansas can use 200 L of water during a typical summer, while some large rainforest trees can use nearly 1200 L of water in a single day!"
www.nature.com/scitable/knowledge/library/water-uptake-and-transport-in-vascular-plants-103016037
Would you say there is a beneficial solvent effect from water doing this? As water is run from roots to leaves it will carry vital nutrients and other molecules the roots have collected and the leaves need. When the water leaves via transpiration it won't take the cargo. So it's a great solvent elevator of sorts.
I would think that nature tends to be efficient, and there would have to be very good reason to waste 95% of the water taken in by the roots. Yes, this water would transport solutes, but probably an excess of them that would accumulates in cells and cell walls, using up valuable energy dealing with the excess. ("Excess calcium ions can be accumulated as calcium oxalate crystals in the obliterated phloem or in vacuoles, e.g., in leaf cells - academic.oup.com/treephys/article/30/9/1140/1637967)
And yes, evaporation would cool the plant, but plants are homeothermic and I don't know if they would be any healthier if cooler. So, I'm no expert, but I think that the main reason plants transpire such an excess of water relative to their needs is to maintain hydration despite the large holes needed to access carbon dioxide which is in very low concentrations in the atmosphere, not to transport adequate solutes or to cool the plant.
I don't even care if this theory is false and get debunked, somehow. I'd never see trees the same again.
I’m a refrigeration technician, and I realized a while back that the water evaporates out of the bottoms of the leaves to refrigerate them, when water evaporates, the vapor pulls heat from the remaining source water, cooling it. This is necessary because sunlight has the potential to heat the leaves beyond the temperature they can still function for photosynthesis.
... so trees sweat?
@@robspiessthey transpire
damn right they actually do@@robspiess
@@robspiess Yes! There is a tree near my house where you can feel the sweat on really hot days.
And when multiple trees do the sweating thing, reverse rain can be seen and causes a cloud to form
Newton should have asked himself how an apple even got up there
He might have got that wrong too.
Newton feared apples were related to a wave.
Peace.
Exactly. How can the tree trunk get an apple worth of mass up there in the first place
Looool
He knew not to question those above him. But if they fall below him, he can ask whatever he likes and control their salary.
I think we've just found the most intense hype man for trees
The lorax
mr beast???
I love trees. They give us reasons for writing poetry, and they give us oxygen when we don't destroy all of them.
The perfect quamphf.
Yeah he has 5 vid on it
Its really amazing to think that this video is almost 10 years old. I didnt even notice until after watching it
Compared to most other youtubers in 2012 this is god tier quality
Does this mean trees can cool a city
@@warrickburt7459 Yes, obviously! Hence why urban greening is so important. Just look up the 'urban heat island effect', a large part is caused by concrete and other materials that fail to get rid of heat easily, but another by the lack of open space and green. Trees cool just about anything in their close vicinity (both through evaporative cooling and shade creation). They're nature's free air conditioning..
I didn't even notice it was 10 years old, wow!
I only noticed its age when I saw the double person effect.
Thanks! I would love to see a video that takes a deeper dive into negative pressure and metaphysical states. Absolutely mind blowing!!
I really wish these people were the celebrities of our time. They are really smart! Derek, John and Hank Green, Vsauce guys....the whole bunch of people who share knowledge with the world on RUclips. You guys are the true heroes of our day.
Grace Owino is Hank Green related to Laci Green?
Your wish came true my friend hank is a celebrity now
@Hubert Jasieniecki Not being Christopher Columbus is one of the traits I most admire in people
We idolize actors and pop stars, people who take us out of our reality rather than leading us deeper into it
how to bend the youtube algorithm into recommending old videos will be the next video
yeah maybe october 31 2012
Torb 1 Trick nice date
I’m glad because somehow I’d missed this video and it’s fascinating!
I actually seached for the videos myself, lol. RUclips definitely doesn't recommend old videos anymore
@@aurelia8028it did recommend to me
i love how they all know eachother
There is a word for that, business ;)
@@cypress1337 how about networking
@@marcuschiu8615 Yeah, that.
Na robba incredibbile
Yeah, trees are very social
In the late 90's the research pointed to only osmotic pressure as the mechanism that allows plants to move water up a long column. I love that new understanding has developed. As more and more physicists cross over to various biology sciences, I suspect a lot of our understandings will get modified.
Great video! Thanks!
I love how this channel takes a simple concept most science students/academics feel they know an the answer to and then goes in detail to find the actual explanation
Maybe we find the conclusion to these video so amazing because we vastly underestimate the complexity of all the things arounds us.
And the universe is vaslty more complex than humans. Goes to show how much we think we know.
+Kieran Le Cam a video like this but about dark matter. Maybe in hundred years so we won't see it. That fact kills me.
Dotoctovo We have to learn to let go of what we can't know. Besides, it may take less than 100 years to figure it out. :)
@@KieranLeCam "the universe is vaslty more complex than humans" depends on how you look at it. The human brain can be considered the most complex object currently known in the universe.
@@oldm9228 True. But is the universe not the brain + the rest of the universe? What I meant was despite how we consider things to be complex, the fact we know so little about what's out there goes to show our idea of what is complex may simply be utterly wrong.
2012: super sucked
2019: S U P E R S U C C
i immediately flew in to the comment section when that came up. was not disappointed.
My wife is going to hear about this!
Supper such??? That doesnt sound right
Can Somebody explain this meme?
I came here just to comment this lmao
Rewatching 10 years later. Thank you for all the science lessons! And hopeful outlooks!
One of my favourites. I'm glad youtube threw it back at me again.
The algorithm in effect. I've ended up here again, along with those giving you a thumbs up.
0:15 height limit is 256 blocks,duh.
Do your research before making such baseless accusations.
Minecraft jokes 😂
But 1 meter is 1 mc block. So he's not doing no wrong. But them trees that go over 256meters.... them bastards
@@edencastillo4417 NO.. YOU HAVE FOUND MY SECRET. DON'T BAN ME FROM YOUR CHRISTIAN MINECRAFT SERVER. I WON'T SAY F-R-E-A-K OR H-E-C-K AGAIN. AND I WON'T USE MODE I PROMISE
@@edencastillo4417 IQ 256
@@jasonk. Oh really?
Watching this after 6 years and still a damn fine video
All these years, and this is still one of your best videos.
Hank saying "right?" was just praying to the gods of physics that there wasn't a pure vacuum in tree leaves.
Seeing Hank on Veritassium video made my day
Right, Hank.
If there is a vacuum inside of leafs you would hear a big giant pop every time you snapped one in half this is just ridiculous nonsense
@@MASTERSAIS And that's what made the "...right?" so perfect :D There's so much "ridiculous nonsense" that ends up being true! His reaction was perfect. He pointed out the ridiculousness followed by a humble acknowledgement that he is human and nature does what it will regardless of whether we can make sense of it :)
@@MASTERSAIS I can't answer that, but I assure you, this guy does his research. If you want to try to disprove it, go ahead, but if you have no evidence, I believe him :D
what an amazing world we live in...
thank you for explaining!
Imotep: Nice but kids this days are just playing expand more on the explanation, site a scientific journal and show hi-tech stuff to back real equations if possible, without mathematics the beauty of your claims is hallow. Why back in my days we had a vacuum not just for measuring columns in Egyptian temples but transporting huge blocks of stones up the pyramid. Check out how the pyramid where build theories. Science needs to be taken seriously otherwise when people just play we have a health care industry out of control because people are just going to use drugs and even stimpacks to assassinate NPC instead of doing the real quest and have fun in the process. Oh where is the humanity. Merry Christmas Syria thankfully Santa is no longer dropping Yuletide bombs over there.
So in short, trees do not bend the laws of physics, trees use the laws of physics cleverly...
Sounds like an engineering problem lol
Yes
They have BRAAAAIIINNNNZZZZ
Still technically bending the laws of physics, just not braking them xD But yes Cleverly using physics.
What about deciduous trees that lose all their leaves??
Trees succc
This was published 11 YEARS AGO, and he still makes good content
So, here's a follow up question. Can you make a tree explode by injecting air into the xylem tube?
maybe, it would be fun to watch...
They explode sometimes when lightning hits them because all that water expands into water vapor and steam.
ask the Etruscans Euclayptus Trees explode when it has contact with fire,that’s how it spreads it’s seeds
@@haroldinho9930 Thanks for the kick a$$ fact...amazing!
@@asktheetruscans9857 i reckon most things explode if you hit them with a lighning bolt
I try to learn something new everyday. This was today's lesson. Even after 7years it still blew my mind!
"Why should there be a height limit?"
_Minecrafters liked that_
Then crashed
I wish the Cubic Chunks mod were included in vanilla Minecraft.
@@jarblewarble preformance is a real concern... though - height limit is no longer capped at 256 - It can be changed now. not sure if there is a limit at how high that customizable range can be though
@@TekExplorer well cubic chunks makes the Hight limit form -infinity to infinity, and makes chunks 16x16x16 instead of 16x256x16, it also allows chunks to on top of each other, also, just for some context of how it would load, lets say you have a render distance of 16, horizontally it would load 16 chunks in every direction, loading the full 65536 blocks in that chunk, but with cubic chunks it also loads 16 chunks vertically, loading only 4096 blocks per chunk, so with cubic chunks you load 131072 blocks on spawn, and in vanilla minecraft you load 2097152 blocks on spawn, and because of this cubic chunks makes the game run better AND makes the build height infinite.
@@TekExplorer coooolllllll :DDDDDDDD
All that evaporated water is also what makes trees such an important part of the water cycle. The fact that trees do this means that they make a huge contribution to moving water inland from the ocean. When we have major deforestation on large continents, the result is a break in that conveyor belt and the interior of the continent suffers drought and eventually desertification.
So clearly trees were designed by an intelligent creator. To marvel at the design and not acknowledge the designer is folly.
Eh?? Evaporation plus wind moves water from the oceans across land, in the form of clouds typically. Trees need that water to survive.
yes but……
Without the trees the water that falls just runs off back to the sea.
With trees it gets pushed back into the atmosphere to continue its journey
S U P E R S U C C
"I will never look at trees the same way again."
S U P E R Z U C C
Mackenzie Coombe It sure is amazing how it was designed, what are the chances?-Impossible it’s literally an arrow in the ground pointing to a creator
@@maxbrinker9333 Not really. It's many arrows pointing out many small things that come together in a big way. You start with a small plant that works with the same basic mechanisms but operates within reasonable margins for error. Then you let the small plants compete for sunlight, and over millions of year, one of the plants will find one change that allows it to grow just a bit higher than the other ones. This plant will get more light, reproduce, and pass on the change. At the end you have a finely tuned mechanical masterpiece that reliably uses capillary action to bring water straight up for 100 m.
A creator would have used compartments.
@@maxbrinker9333 // Amen; to God be the Glory [Romans 1 v20]
@@eljanrimsa5843 // Who initiated the *arrows* existence, then dictated its ability and function? Where did the *first small plant* even come from? Who designed the *basic mechanisms* you speak of? Who set the boundaries, of *reasonable margins for error* to function? Who created the sun Eljan; Who *allows* its placement to literally be set the perfect distance away so that "all" that has life can be sustained as they *reliably* use *sunlight* and *reproduce to pass on the change* which is seen in the *"finely tuned mechanical masterpieces"* all around us; Who, chance? *Not really.*
Oh, lets not forget the *"theory"* of evolution: "...and over millions of year, one of the plants will find one change that allows it to..."
If you're not afraid to watch here are some college profs, and their students defending evolution [please don't move the goal post acknowledging what the actual definition of evolution is/was: one species evolving into a completely different species]; all else is adaptation.
*Evolution vs. God:* ruclips.net/video/U0u3-2CGOMQ/видео.html
*The Truth About Darwin/The Eyewitness Account of Creation:* www.gty.org/library/sermons-library/80-431
*Battle For The beginning:* www.gty.org/library/topical-series-library/255/the-battle-for-the-beginning [series]
*The Theology of Creation:* www.gty.org/library/sermons-library/90-359
Over the years people have discovered literally millions of everyday fossils, but why doesn't anyone ever find the *"intermediate fossils"* that would prove evolution; why is that? If evolution is true, then there should've literally been millions of intermediate fossils already found by now b/c of the 14 known specie groups identified. When speaking on the "Imperfections in Geological Records" even Darwin complained in his own book, "Origin of Species" where he said quote: there is a "COMPLETE LACK of fossil intermediates in ALL geological records." This is what I'm speaking to, so it begs the question; why are there SO MANY *other* fossils found *everywhere* of all the oldest "known" extinct species, yet there are "ZERO" showing the transition between any of the 14 know species?
It takes more faith to believe in mans "theory" of evolution than this: In the beginning GOD. Genesis 1 v1 *Truth is a stubborn thing.*
*The Gospel of Jesus Christ:* www.gty.org/library/sermons-library/81-96 - www.gty.org/library/sermons-library/47-39/
The second amazing thing is : how do the roots pump moisture out of what can be half dry soil ?
What human pump could duplicate that?
...and all that mechanism, know-how, capability, resilience and miracle is in the 1 inch seed dropped on the forest floor.
@@koborkutya7338 makes ya wonder, doesn't it?
"The example of those who take allies other than Allah is like that of the spider who takes a home. And indeed, the weakest of homes is the home of the spider, if they only knew." (Quran 29:41)
This is the tafsir point of view.
Scientific research showed lately that it is the female spider who builds the home not the male, and in the Verse of the Quran the female conjugation of the verb to take/to make (a dwelling/a home) in Arabic ( اتَّخَذَتْ).
After that the female spider search for a male to fertilse her then she kills and eats the male.
Therefore some scholars say this is the reason why this home is weak. Its weakness isn't a material weakness because the material of the web is one of the strongest in nature. A synthetic copy of it is known as Kevlar. But the weakness mentioned here is the lack of peace, mercy and love which makes a good and strong home according to the Verse 21 in Surat Ar-Rum (Surah 30).
@@astgfrallah771
Get that trash out of here. Muhammad was an illiterate pedophile.
@@astgfrallah771 big leap on tbe spider thing also no one converted from a youtube comment
So, in short...trees are the most powerful straws on Earth.
タメル that sounded weird...
@@w花b "sup bb. you can't believe how hard I can suck." - Ents meetings the hobbits, probably.
I will make trees blow me now
IVE BEEN ASKING MYSELF THIS QUESTION FOR SEVERAL YEAR, AND WAS NEVER ABLE TO FIND AN ANSWER THAT MADE SENSE. AND YOURE TELLING ME THIS VIDEO HAS EXISTED FOR 12 YEARS WITHOUT ME FINDING IT????????
RUclips 2012: Nobody cares about trees
RUclips 2019: BRO CHECK OUT THIS VID, ITS LIT AF
I think this is my favorite video of yours. Still come back to it.
Me at 2AM: Time to go to sleep
RUclips: Before you do, learn about why trees are tall
Me: But why?
RUclips: You gotta
Can confirm, currently 2:30 and just learned it's not capilary action.
@@Marksman123771 reading this at 2:30.
Awesome. Every tree is a piece of art! Knowing this and how good trees are for cooling down cities it's insane that we put concrete and asphalt everywhere and think we can substitute the genius that is a tree with AC.
While I miss the old title and thumbnail, getting more people to see this is a win
What did it use to be
@@deathbeast2439 "The most amazing thing about trees" and the thumbnail was a picture looking straight up through a circle of ~8 trees on a sunny day, no text or anything, just the photo
@@AndyChamberlainMusic Ok, I can see why you miss it then
@@AndyChamberlainMusic When I see "amazing" in a title, I think it's bad click bait, because it's an overused word on youtube. "Amazing" videos never are. But this video was very well done, and to be honest it was amazing. I like the new title better though. I especially enjoyed the on camera hypotheses'.
I was wondering why this had a clickbaity title. He didn't use to have clickbaity titles.
Negative pressure?... Mind blown? naaah
*mind sucked*
Ｓ Ｕ Ｃ Ｃ
This joke *sucks*
"I will never look at trees the same way again". Indeed.
“Trees need to transport water from roots into their top most branches to survive”
*California Redwoods (and some other species):* hold my -beer- fog.
how can this be produced in 2012? quality is crazy
Ikr
Exam Question - *'Why are trees so tall?'*
Me - 0:11
Trees are tall by definition. If it ain't tall, it ain't a tree.
3:10
Me : 4:46
@@soberhippie
By wich definition? Wikipedia?
What is with bonsai trees?
Jonathan Lange Fair point. However, bonsai trees are meant to look as if they are full-sized trees. Again, if you plant a bonsai in open soil and stop trimming it, it will grow into its natural shape
trees are amazing
k
My rhyme of the day:
Trees are amazing.
We littered breathe the air they are creating.
I think trees suck.
I'll see myself out, thanks.
Imotep: Nice but kids this days are just playing expand more on the explanation, site a scientific journal and show hi-tech stuff to back real equations if possible, without mathematics the beauty of your claims is hallow. Why back in my days we had a vacuum not just for measuring columns in Egyptian temples but transporting huge blocks of stones up the pyramid. Check out how the pyramid where build theories. Science needs to be taken seriously otherwise when people just play we have a health care industry out of control because people are just going to use drugs and even stimpacks to assassinate NPC instead of doing the real quest and have fun in the process. Oh where is the humanity. Merry Christmas Syria thankfully Santa is no longer dropping Yuletide bombs over there.
Wow. Just wow. You are an inspiration. "I will never look at trees the same way." You read my mind! It's amazing to think that something millions of years ago decided to go up, instead of outward. By stacking water on itself. We're pretty much the same thing!
Out here in 2024 and trees sucking up water still goes hard
Rt hahahaha
See, even trees work so hard to purify the air
And I'll work even harder so trees wouldn't ran out of carbon dioxide
Amazing video. I always thought it was capillary action. Never knew it was this complex. Nature never ceases to amaze us. Keep up the flow of quality videos. Thanks.
Excellent video. I loved watching people try to come up with an explanation and wish more teachers taught this way at every level. However, the video left me with a BIG QUESTION... With all that "negative pressure", enough to lift huge amounts of water many meters, why don't trees pop? What I mean is, when you chop a tree down, why doesn't it release all that energy in an unpleasant way when the xylum is pierced and air gets in? Or, equivalently I think, why don't you get sprayed with a ton of water when you chop a tree down? You'll have the answer in a week I'm sure... :)
Well trees that are usually chopped down are already dead and don't have water in them. Cutting a living tree will cause it to bleed sap. Why doesn't it boil I have no clue.
@@danielchoi4490 wait why do u think trees that are getting cut down are usually dead i would think almost all trees still live before they are cut down
Maby its because its so thin that the water wouldnt flow out of it because there is no air coming through the pores so the water cant run down the canals because that would create a vaccum on the top end of the pores.
I was wondering the same thing
xkcd needs to do a comic where a satellite is placed on top of a tree. they cut the top of the tree and the satellite is launched into orbit
top quality - I am a tree ecophysiologist scotland, Prof Sperry is one of my academic heroes - well done in explaining these difficult concepts in an open and clear way
how exactly did I end up here at 2 AM?
I know right? Me too
I can tell you don't like trees
Because you couldn't sleep?
I'm here at 2:37 am
You had the combination of tiredness and curiosity. I find that curiosity tends to take over in those situations.
Dude I love you videos I watch every single one of them on every occasion because I learn so much out of them. Now that that is said , I noticed a left/right ear balance default in a lot of em , making watching it troublesome when doing so with headphones . Not here to bitch around you're great and I love your channel keep up the good work and thank you for the amazing content!
i learn more in the internet than at school
lmfao same. 😂😂😂😂
At least you want to learn.
Michael Dougfir lol yep! I want to learn from the internet because its much easier to understand, but school is confusing
i know right?
***** lol
I remember being taught about the water cycle, and how things as complicated and energy intensive as desalination and cold storage were being done virtually free of cost in nature. The convention was that the major source of water vapour is evapourated sea water (desalination) and other water bodies. Thinking back, it blows my mind that millions and millions of trees are also contributing to rain and snow (nature's cold storage system). It really puts things into perspective.
I already knew trees had to release moisture, that's how we get clouds on hot days.
Yes, but where does the water that trees release come from? It all comes originally from the ocean. The trees move it around after it has fallen as rain (or snow) on the land.
I saw this video a long time ago. It just came up again and watched it. Really amazing video. Is it possible to re-subscribe? Haha
Same here. I watched it, wrote a comment, then RUclips reminded me I had commented 7 years ago!
I really appreciate what you made us learn here. Thank you very much for these efforts.
Thanks a lot Derek. I was searching for this answer only for a month.
The height limit of the trees is 256 blocks
Wait this is actually kinda true though, there’s no tree taller than this
Edit: Oops didn’t realize this comment is 2 years old, sorry my bad
It's okay
We already got an update. This information is outdated.
Is this a Minecraft reference?
@@Walter_Hartwell_White_Senior yes
I have been asking this question for years, thank you.
Kevin in Paradise ඩ්
Ya me too
1:00 "evaporation doesn't help us overcome the 10m limit"
3:00 "using evaporation, we can create negative pressure and overcome the 10m limit!"
Fools look again. He's still saying evaporation doesn't help.
Evaporation provides the force, it doesn't explain why the 10m limit could be overcome (which is due to the tree managing to keep the water in the xylem tubes in a metastable liquid state at negative pressure, i.e. under tension).
@Matthijs van Duin Look at u acting like a fool smart. Irony!
Correct. He is contradicting himself
1:00 - transpiration (evaporation on the leaves surface) does not help
3:00 - evaporation inside the tree helps
you cannot create a negative pressure with transpiration, but you can create a negative pressure inside a capillary.
Seeing this video I would have never thought that it’s older than 2 years. Amazing
Thank you for a fantastic explanation of Tugor Pressure. Ive known about this for years but have never taken the time to understand the mechanics of how it works. The best visual depiction is droopy leaves of thirsty plants.
Tree: Grows 100 meters tall
Gravity: Am I a joke to you?
Andrew Siegel: shitty overused joke
Originality: Am I a joke to you?
Did you know there are trees higher then 100 meters ;p they can't get water bey the way its said in this vidio. They get water from the mouist in the air. They live close to the sea where there is often fog evry morning and drink it. #facts!
@@johnperic6860 awesome facts. I will do my best to rember them :D
@@Bjarhur good point. Dew!
@@johnperic6860 do the crevices in the bark allow moisture to travel evenly down the trunk, maybe?
This channel i soooo nerdy! I absolutely love it! Who gets excited about trees sucking water? At negative 15 atmospheres? Mind blowing! Great stuff!
Brilliant. As a hobby woodworker I’m fascinated by trees and how they grow and how each one has unique grain patterns. This is another amazing aspect of trees. Thank you for making this!
Found this channel about a year ago 2020. So cool to find these and see the growth. Love this vid!🥰🤓
Hank can tell that his answer is wrong before he even says it. He knows Derek is going to give some wild explanation haha
I'm 100% convinced that if I would have watched this video when it came out my life would be much different.
hmm if i puncture the xylem tube at -15atm will the tree boil up?
+Leo The Pirate only the one xylem tube out of presumably thousands
Cut the whole trunk?
All these old videos started popping up on my feed, I’m pleased
taught me more than highschool ever did
*"It just, evaporates."*
David S. *Is it really?*
David S. I guess I'll use the ellipses then. ;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;
David S. I don't know how to edit a comment so I'll just leave it.
+Connor Norng Hover over your comment and to the right there will be a circle with a triangle in it, then click on that and it shows an edit option! :)
+Connor Norng It's as if trees are nature's water purifiers
I'm an arborist / tree climber
, and this is inspiring me to spread information on this . Taking into account the season when trees are pulling more water ( summer v. Winter ) and spread more safety in my Industry. Crazy this ten years old and I haven't heard this theory tbh
If the trees contain this huge negative pressure, and the only thing keeping the water from boiling is the absence of an air pocket, would cutting into the upper reaches of an extremely tall tree cause a spontaneous explosion of steam as air breaches the xylem tubes?
I was just wondering this myself as well... :p
I was hoping CGP Grey's face would be revealed in this episode.
He has revealed his face before
i.imgur.com/qg5bmEN.jpg
the evaporation of water is quite important, this helps make clouds!
Water vapor is the most potent greenhouse gas. Replacing a few co2 for orders of magnitude more greenhouse effect. Trees cause global warming
@@jeffborders5526 I feel like theres always a constant amount of water vapor in the atmosphere. If it's too humid then water can't evaporate. Without trees this would happen anyway. In actuallity they probablu store some of the water for a while so there is less in the atmosphere.
Also I don't think it is a "stronger" greenhouse gas. I think theres just a lot more of it
Dude all along uv been on utube. .what have I been missing ? ?...big respect.
Always love learning about something I didn't know I was curious about!
I took 11 years for RUclips to be advanced enough to recommend me this vid.
One of the most eye opening videos from Derek. The philosophical consequences are immense - trees are out there just to protect us from our own carbon emissions. They have such a critical symbiotic function, and we are hardly even aware of it! I've watched this so many times and it still amazes me every single time.
Dude, you misunderstood whole point of it. You exist just to protect trees from sun radiation by polluting the atmosphere and to produce CO2 for them.
@@birdofprey108 😀. I think we're doing too good a job. Snuffing them out with our tough love.
That's just silly, I'm sorry. The trees are not there for any purpose, least of all for our benefit.
they do all that and then communicate and share resources through fungi too. life is genuinely incredible
One of the greatest videos I have seen or your channel. I must say most of the people consider plants or trees as "jungle" to be cut off in order to build a villa or another Hotel facility or they don't consider them at all when passing by.
I could add that is not only the water to be something to admire. Think about the tons of material that the trees manage to raise above the earth level and in such a beauty.
Urbanization is a sleeping drug.
Only one question remains: Why the audio of this video is louder in the left channel?
Yes, it was annoying. Headphone user.
some cheap point shoot camera didn't probably have program to separate them or just a stupid codec
Yup.... made me check my earbuds..
I still remember watching this video a couple of years ago with a different thumbnail.
This guy is the definition of smart and sexy
No matter how old a Veritasium video is, it's always consistent with its quality and alwasy relevant
One additional point of question: the business about the xylem always having water in it ceases when (deciduous) trees dessicate before winter. So when it "turns on" in spring, why doesn't the water boil?
water freezes, tree cuts the cycle. like cryogenically and resumes when the temperature is high enough to melt the water inside the tree's system and resume the cycle i guess. what I'm curious about are how are pine trees able to survive winter
@@bryanmendoza4520 they have incredibly sticky sap which acts like antifreeze
that was amazing! I respect nature more than ever before!
Trees are so amazing. They are result of millions of years of evolution. 4:44
Only millions?
This is one of my favourite videos on youtube
I love trees for a weird reason. I have many Bonsai and have kept them alive for about 5 years now (i know im still an amateur) this video is amazing. I think we all take trees for granted
Bonsai are wuss trees with no desire to suck
I love your channel so much I watch the advert.
Amazing.
"You learn something every day!"
To say this is AMAZING is an understatement. I've never even thought about this. Thanks for bringing this to my attention. Nature is truly incredible!
2012: Super Sucked
2019: SUPER SUCCED
i love how he dont just explain why it happens , he also explains how other dont work or aint the true reason
He explained it? The tubes don't contain air bubbles preventing the water from boiling and so the water can continue going up while staying in liquid form.
Thank you algorithm for showing me this 7 year old video even though I’ve been a Veritaseum fan for years.
What a good video made over a decade ago. Great content!
So, if you managed to inject xylem of trees with air, it would all boil?
very interesting, I was thinking it is capillary effect. Thanks.
Best one ever! Thank you so much!
This is just great at pointing out the high level of proccessing specialization plants have with our atmospehere. It's the 3rd time i'm watching it and its still pretty great.
What about the cohesion-theory, where the polarity of the water molecules creates a "ladder" or "staircase" with the H2O molecules sticking to each other and also sticking to the walls of the tube?
That’s my question too