The Best Materials & Chemistry Documentaries

How Things Work - 42 free documentaries about materials & chemistry.

Start with I got buried in concrete to explain how it works (24 min, Veritasium), then Can you actually smell metal? (31 min, NileRed). All 42 documentaries here are free to watch from their makers' official uploads. To read deeper, the top-rated book on materials & chemistry is Stuff Matters by Mark Miodownik.

• I got buried in concrete to explain how it works (24 min, Veritasium)
• Can you actually smell metal? (31 min, NileRed)
• The Mind-Blowing Machines that Stamp Millions of Metal Parts - Smarter Every Day 288 (59 min, Smarter Every Day)
• This chemical really doesn't want to exist (13 min, NileRed)
• Heat Treatment -The Science of Forging (feat. Alec Steele) (11 min, Real Engineering)
• Piezoelectricity - why hitting crystals makes electricity (9 min, Steve Mould)
• Making metal crystals from Pepto-Bismol (38 min, NileRed)
• MOLTEN GLASS VS Prince Rupert's Drop - Smarter Every Day 285 (30 min, Smarter Every Day)
• Why Concrete Needs Reinforcement (8 min, Practical Engineering)
• This weird metal is insanely bouncy (18 min, Steve Mould)
• The World's Most Recycled Material (11 min, Practical Engineering)
• Was Roman Concrete Better? (10 min, Practical Engineering)
• Making a chemical that changes color in different liquids (23 min, NileRed)
• Concrete's Greatest Weakness is Time (17 min, Practical Engineering)
• Self-Healing Material (10 min, Steve Mould)
• World's Largest Horn Shatters Glass (9 min, Mark Rober)
• What is Concrete? (9 min, Practical Engineering)
• The Dark Side of the World’s Lightest Structural Metal (15 min, Real Engineering)
• Watch gravity pull two metal balls together (13 min, Steve Mould)
• Making lead crystals that taste sweet (17 min, NileRed)
• Distilling Mercury Metal (20 min, NileRed)
• What is Prestressed Concrete? (9 min, Practical Engineering)
• Welding 101 for Hobbyists (and Nerds) (10 min, Practical Engineering)
• The History of Iron and Steel (14 min, Real Engineering)
• Extracting the spicy chemical in black pepper (15 min, NileRed)
• Titanium - The Metal That Made The SR-71 Possible (18 min, Real Engineering)
• The Material Science of Metal 3D Printing (15 min, Real Engineering)
• Carbon Fiber - The Material Of The Future? (12 min, Real Engineering)
• Self organising steel balls explain metal heat treatment (9 min, Steve Mould)
• Aluminum and Mercury (9 min, NileRed)
• Making a Nylon Precursor using Green Chemistry (18 min, NileRed)
• Aluminum and Mercury - Trying out your suggestions! (10 min, NileRed)
• 3000 ball bearings show crystal defects with Matt Parker (15 min, Steve Mould)
• Growing lead crystals (9 min, NileRed)
• Cleaning old sodium metal (8 min, NileRed)
• Making denatonium benzoate - the world's most bitter chemical (13 min, NileRed)
• Cleaning old potassium metal (15 min, NileRed)
• Self-assembling material pops into 3D (12 min, Steve Mould)
• Steel wool in a microwave (14 min, Steve Mould)
• Cleaning liquid mercury metal (11 min, NileRed)
• Making liquid ammonia to dissolve sodium and lithium metal (15 min, NileRed)
• Making aluminum isopropoxide (14 min, NileRed)

Top-Rated Books About Materials & Chemistry

1. Stuff Matters by Mark Miodownik (4.2/5) - View on Amazon
2. Liquid Rules by Mark Miodownik - View on Amazon
3. The Disappearing Spoon by Sam Kean (4.2/5) - View on Amazon
4. The Elements by Theodore Gray - View on Amazon