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I bought 1000 meters of wire to settle a physics debate

AlphaPhoenix · demo · Watch on YouTube

Electronics & circuit designFundamental physics

What it is

AlphaPhoenix builds a scaled-down version of the Veritasium electricity thought experiment using about a kilometer of wire and an oscilloscope. He measures how the signal actually propagates and explains the result.

Why Hacker News recommends it

HN considers it the best experimental rebuttal and clarification of the Veritasium wire debate, with real measurements.

  • 8 people recommended it
  • 8 different months
  • 3 strong recommendations
  • first 2021, last 2026

What HN commenters said

  1. “the best "bunking" video, if I may call it that, is probably AlphaPheonix's”

    Best rebuttal to the Veritasium wire video, with a real experiment

    jerf, 2023-09 · Strong recommendation · in “How the Most Useless Branch of Math Could Save Your Life”

  2. “Yeah I really liked the AlphaPheonix video[0] where he actually built the thing in a field and explained the entire effect properly.”

    Built the experiment in a field and explained the effect properly

    moffkalast, 2023-12 · Strong recommendation · in “Veritasium: The SAT Question Everyone Got Wrong [video]”

  3. “AlphaPhoenix did an amazing experiment to measure the speed of electricity FWIW.”

    Experiment measuring the speed of electricity

    reaperman, 2024-07 · Strong recommendation · in “Mechanical computer relies on kirigami cubes, not electronics”

  4. “Take a look at the video made by YouTuber AlphaPhoenix where he constructs the entire thing on a smaller scale”

    Small-scale demonstration of the effect with an oscilloscope

    pja, 2022-01 · Recommendation · in “5.5 mm in 1.25 nanoseconds”

  5. “The author has a fascinating video”

    Clarifies how electricity moves in circuits as part of creator series

    bertil, 2023-04 · Recommendation · in “How do electrons find the “Path of Least Resistance”? [video]”

  6. “Someone actually went out and tested this”

    Actual test showing energy mostly takes the wire path

    Manuel_D, 2023-07 · Recommendation · in “U.S. Marine Corps Antenna Handbook (1999) [pdf]”

  7. “you can see one of the best people do a demonstration of it”

    Demonstration of electrical signal propagation speed

    Spivak, 2025-02 · Recommendation · in “But good sir, what is electricity?”

  8. “Good discussion in the comments there as well.”

    Experiment on electricity propagation with good comment discussion

    sbuttgereit, 2026-04 · Recommendation · in “Any Color You Like: NIST Scientists Create 'Any Wavelength' Lasers”

Excerpts from Hacker News comments, linked to the originals. Summaries and labels were written by a language model from those comments.

Topics: oscilloscope, transmission lines, veritasium, circuits, physics experiment

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