Shadowing Practice: 5 Fun Physics Phenomena - Learn English Speaking with Video
Creating lesson...
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Five fun physics phenomena.
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Number one: Have a friend hold a cane out horizontally for you or another similar object,
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and putting your two index fingers together try to place them underneath the center of mass.
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When they let go, you will find it doesn't normally work.
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But, Now try putting each index finger at opposite ends of the cane, and then moving your index fingers in towards the middle.
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what you will find is that they always end up right under the center of mass of the cane.
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You can try starting off asymmetrically.
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and they will still end up under the center of mass.
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You can try going at different speeds really slowly.
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you Or really fast?
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but you still end up perfectly under the center of mass.
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How does this work?
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Number two: The Phone Flip.
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Have you ever tried to spin your phone?
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If you do it in this direction, it's pretty easy.
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It stays nicely aligned.
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If you spin it along its short axis, you'll also find it spins very well.
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But, if you try to flip your phone end over end like this, you can't do it cleanly.
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The phone will never flip simply end over end without also rotating in one of the other directions.
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Even when I make an almost perfect flip, instabilities grow until the phone rotates around another axis.
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Why can't...
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No, I still can't do it.
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Why is it so?
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Number three.
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You've probably seen that if you rub a cup on your hair, you can make it electrically charged, and if you bring it close to a stream of water,
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you can actually cause that stream to deflect.
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Now usually this is used in chemistry textbooks as a demonstration of the polar nature of water.
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Water is a molecule with a more positive side and a more negative side.
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And so what happens, so you're told, is that the water molecule flips around
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so the positive side of the water faces the negative side of the cup
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and that is what attracts the water to the cup.
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But this is not the real explanation.
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If you have a uniform electric field, there's an equal force pulling the positive side towards it as there is pushing the negative side away from it.
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And so you can't actually do more than just turn the molecules.
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you would need a really, really strong gradient in your electric field to make this work at all
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and it basically is just not going to happen from a cup.
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So why is the stream actually attracted to a charged cup?
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That is the question.
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Number 4 Take a piece of your favorite cereal and drop it into a bowl of water.
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Then, using a very strong magnet, try to pull the cereal around.
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Bye.
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Isn't that cool?
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So why is cereal magnetic?
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And finally, five: the teabag rocket.
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Take a tea bag and cut off the sealed end very carefully.
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Now dump out the tea.
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Form the tea bag into a square column.
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and balance it on the plate.
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Now, light the top of the teabag on fire.
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Try to light it evenly on all sides.
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Get ready for takeoff in three, two, one.
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Ha, yeah!
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That is the beauty of the T -Bag Rocket.
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So why did that happen?
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So how do all of these phenomena work?
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Let me know in the comments, or make a video explaining any or all of them, or subscribe to the channel, and I'll post the answers next week.
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I hope you enjoyed those fun physics phenomena.
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I know a guy who would, the former commander of the International Space Station, Commander Chris Hatfield.
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I'm actually hosting live events with him in late August in Sydney and Canberra.
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I am so looking forward to that.
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Now the Sydney shows are all sold out, but there are still, as of now, tickets to the Canberra show.
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So if you want to come to that, check out the link in the description.
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Now Chris Hatfield actually wrote a book called "An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth."
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people who want to become astronauts but also for everyone who wants to lead a meaningful life here on Earth.
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And you can download this book for free
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if you like by going to audible .com /veritasium
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or you can pick any other book of your choosing for a one -month free trial.
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Audible is a great service with over a hundred and fifty thousand titles in all areas of literature including fiction, nonfiction, and periodicals and so you can find virtually anything you want there
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and by going to audible .com /veritasium they know that I sent you videos for you for free.
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So I really want to thank Audible for supporting me and I want to thank you for watching.
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This video has 70 sentences and 811 words to shadow. The speech runs for 5:23. The speaker talks at a natural 151 words per minute, close to everyday conversation. 84% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English; the rest is worth studying before you start.
Key vocabulary in this video
15 words from the video worth learning, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| flip verb | /flɪp/ | To throw so as to turn over. |
| finger noun | /ˈfɪŋɡɚ/ | A slender jointed extremity of the human hand, (often) exclusive of the thumb, and the corresponding part, irrespective of including a thumb, in many other… |
| spin verb | /spɪn/ | To rotate, revolve, gyrate (usually quickly); to partially or completely rotate to face another direction. |
| phenomenon noun | /fəˈnɒm.ɪ.nən/ | A thing or being, event or process, perceptible through senses; or a fact or occurrence thereof. |
| cane noun | /keɪn/ | The slender, flexible main stem of a plant such as bamboo, including many species in the grass family Gramineae. |
| cereal noun | /ˈsɪə.ɹɪ.əl/ | A type of grass (such as wheat, rice or oats) cultivated for its edible grains. |
| molecule noun | /ˈmɑ.lɪ.kjul/ | The smallest particle of a specific element or compound that retains the chemical properties of that element or compound; two or more atoms held together by… |
| physics noun | /ˈfɪz.ɪks/ | The branch of science concerned with the study of the properties and interactions of space, time, matter and energy. |
| rocket noun | /ˈɹɑk.ɪt/ | A cylindrical projectile that can be fired to a great height through combustion, (specifically) a type of firework of this form, typically exploding with light… |
| attract verb | /əˈtɹækt/ | To pull toward without touching. |
| axis noun | /ˈæksɪs/ | An imaginary line around which an object spins (an axis of rotation) or is symmetrically arranged (an axis of symmetry). |
| rotate verb | /ˈɹoʊ.teɪt/ | To spin, turn, or revolve. |
| carefully adverb | /ˈkɛɹf(ə)li/ | With care; attentively, circumspectly. |
| explanation noun | /ˌɛkspləˈneɪʃən/ | The act or process of explaining. |
| fiction noun | /ˈfɪkʃən/ | Literary type using invented or imaginative writing, instead of real facts, usually written as prose. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| end up verb | To bring to a conclusion. | |
| check out verb | To record the departure or withdrawal of someone or something (such as guests, employees, books, etc.). | |
| cut off verb | /ˌkʌt ˈɔf/ [ˌkɐɾ ˈɔf] | To remove by cutting. |
| look forward to verb | To anticipate, expect, or wait for, especially with a feeling of approval or pleasure; to be excited or eager to. | |
| sold out adjective | Completely sold; of which no more is in stock. | |
| start off verb | To begin. |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 11 contractions and reduced forms, such as can't, doesn't, I'll. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: explanation /ˌɛkspləˈneɪʃən/, fiction /ˈfɪkʃən/, demonstration /dɛmənˈstɹeɪʃən/
- Long words — get the stress right: phenomenon /fəˈnɒm.ɪ.nən/, explanation /ˌɛkspləˈneɪʃən/, virtually /ˈvɚ.t͡ʃə.wə.li/, demonstration /dɛmənˈstɹeɪʃən/, instability /ɪnstəˈbɪlɪti/
How to practise with this video
- Listen to the whole video once without speaking and note the words you do not know.
- Start at 0.75× speed, shadow it sentence by sentence, then go back to normal speed once it feels easy.
- Record yourself and compare with the original, paying attention to words like flip, finger, spin.
What is the Shadowing Technique?
Shadowing is a science-backed language learning technique originally developed for professional interpreter training and popularized by polyglot Dr. Alexander Arguelles. The method is simple but powerful: you listen to native English audio and immediately repeat it out loud — like a shadow following the speaker with just a 1–2 second delay. Unlike passive listening or grammar drills, shadowing forces your brain and mouth muscles to simultaneously process and reproduce real speech patterns. Research shows it significantly improves pronunciation accuracy, intonation, rhythm, connected speech, listening comprehension, and speaking fluency — making it one of the most effective methods for IELTS Speaking preparation and real-world English communication.