Uploaded March 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
For 200 years, spectacular science demonstrations have lit up the famous theatre at the Royal Institution.
This year we’re celebrating the 200th anniversary of the CHRISTMAS LECTURES. And 200 years means there have been a lot of science demonstrations performed in our iconic theatre, bringing the most fascinating science to life.
This session was recorded on the 17th July 2025
So we’ve teamed up with the British Science Association to bring you the very best of them, the cream of the crop, hosted by our expert Ri Demo Team. Our theatre has seen snot-filled fake noses and lightbulbs dipped in liquid nitrogen, animal magnetism and exploding balloons; but what will we see this time?
Join us for a flagship event of British Science Week, help us kick start our special year of Discover200 celebrations with a bang (quite literally), and let’s choose the greatest science demos. Of. All. Time!
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This was originally an ad-free preview for our Science Supporters. Join now to watch all our lectures early, and get exclusive access to the Q&As: / @theroyalinstitution
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Join this channel as a member to get access to perks:
youtube.com/channel/UCYeF244yNGuFefuFKqxIAXw/join
Subscribe for regular science videos: bit.ly/RiSubscRibe
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Chapters:
0:00 Introduction – 200 Years of the Royal Institution
1:16 Faraday's Candle & The Birth of Science Communication
5:02 Can You Relight a Candle with Smoke? (Faraday Demo)
9:47 The First Ever Christmas Lectures (1825)
11:34 Thomas Young's Double Slit Experiment – Proving Light is a Wave
13:54 Ripple Tank: Making Wave Interference Visible
15:23 The World's First Hack — at the Royal Institution in 1903
18:11 Giant Bubbles & Thin Film Interference
24:01 John Tyndall's Fire Piston — Lighting Fire with Compressed Air
28:41 Red Hot Cannonball & Parabolic Mirrors
34:33 Maths Saves the Day — The Gunge Drop
37:23 The Pendulum of Doom
42:36 Spinning Chair — Conservation of Angular Momentum
47:11 Joseph Swan & The Incandescent Light Bulb in Liquid Nitrogen
54:34 Camera Obscura — The World's Earliest Camera
1:00:50 James Dewar, Cryogenics & Noble Gas Tubes
1:04:06 Tesla Coil Demonstration — Electricity Through the Air
1:16:25 Plasma — The Fourth State of Matter
1:22:33 The Plasma Toroid: A Ring of Lightning
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The Ri is on Twitter: twitter.com/ri_science
and Facebook: facebook.com/royalinstitution
and TikTok: tiktok.com/@ri_science
Listen to the Ri podcast: podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ri-science-podcast
Donate to the RI and help us bring you more lectures: rigb.org/support-us/donate-ri
Our editorial policy: rigb.org/editing-ri-talks-and-moderating-comments
Subscribe for the latest science videos: bit.ly/RiNewsletter
Product links on this page may be affiliate links which means it won't cost you any extra but we may earn a small commission if you decide to purchase through the link.
#scienceexperiments #sciencedemonstrations #physicsexperiments #chemistryexperiments #royalinstitution #famousscienceexperiments #funscienceexperiments #classicphysicsdemos #michaelfaradaycandleexperiment #teslacoildemo #liquidnitrogenexperiment #doubleslitexperiment #plasmaphysicsdemo #britishscienceweek #schoolsciencedemo
For 200 years, spectacular science demonstrations have lit up the famous theatre at the Royal Institution.
This year we’re celebrating the 200th anniversary of the CHRISTMAS LECTURES. And 200 years means there have been a lot of science demonstrations performed in our iconic theatre, bringing the most fascinating science to life.
This session was recorded on the 17th July 2025
So we’ve teamed up with the British Science Association to bring you the very best of them, the cream of the crop, hosted by our expert Ri Demo Team. Our theatre has seen snot-filled fake noses and lightbulbs dipped in liquid nitrogen, animal magnetism and exploding balloons; but what will we see this time?
Join us for a flagship event of British Science Week, help us kick start our special year of Discover200 celebrations with a bang (quite literally), and let’s choose the greatest science demos. Of. All. Time!
---
This was originally an ad-free preview for our Science Supporters. Join now to watch all our lectures early, and get exclusive access to the Q&As: / @theroyalinstitution
---
Join this channel as a member to get access to perks:
youtube.com/channel/UCYeF244yNGuFefuFKqxIAXw/join
Subscribe for regular science videos: bit.ly/RiSubscRibe
---
Chapters:
0:00 Introduction – 200 Years of the Royal Institution
1:16 Faraday's Candle & The Birth of Science Communication
5:02 Can You Relight a Candle with Smoke? (Faraday Demo)
9:47 The First Ever Christmas Lectures (1825)
11:34 Thomas Young's Double Slit Experiment – Proving Light is a Wave
13:54 Ripple Tank: Making Wave Interference Visible
15:23 The World's First Hack — at the Royal Institution in 1903
18:11 Giant Bubbles & Thin Film Interference
24:01 John Tyndall's Fire Piston — Lighting Fire with Compressed Air
28:41 Red Hot Cannonball & Parabolic Mirrors
34:33 Maths Saves the Day — The Gunge Drop
37:23 The Pendulum of Doom
42:36 Spinning Chair — Conservation of Angular Momentum
47:11 Joseph Swan & The Incandescent Light Bulb in Liquid Nitrogen
54:34 Camera Obscura — The World's Earliest Camera
1:00:50 James Dewar, Cryogenics & Noble Gas Tubes
1:04:06 Tesla Coil Demonstration — Electricity Through the Air
1:16:25 Plasma — The Fourth State of Matter
1:22:33 The Plasma Toroid: A Ring of Lightning
---
The Ri is on Twitter: twitter.com/ri_science
and Facebook: facebook.com/royalinstitution
and TikTok: tiktok.com/@ri_science
Listen to the Ri podcast: podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ri-science-podcast
Donate to the RI and help us bring you more lectures: rigb.org/support-us/donate-ri
Our editorial policy: rigb.org/editing-ri-talks-and-moderating-comments
Subscribe for the latest science videos: bit.ly/RiNewsletter
Product links on this page may be affiliate links which means it won't cost you any extra but we may earn a small commission if you decide to purchase through the link.
#scienceexperiments #sciencedemonstrations #physicsexperiments #chemistryexperiments #royalinstitution #famousscienceexperiments #funscienceexperiments #classicphysicsdemos #michaelfaradaycandleexperiment #teslacoildemo #liquidnitrogenexperiment #doubleslitexperiment #plasmaphysicsdemo #britishscienceweek #schoolsciencedemo
