Uploaded September 2025 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
The surprising science of escalators. Sponsored by Brilliant - check out brilliant.org/veritasium to start learning for free.
Plus, our viewers get 20% off an annual Premium subscription for unlimited daily access to all Brilliant courses.
In 2025, we launched the Elements of Truth game on Kickstarter and were thrilled by the response. We’re now in the final stages of production, with Kickstarter rewards shipping soon. If you missed the campaign, you can now pre-order the retail edition through our new website here -ve42.co/EscalatorsDesc
If you’re looking for a molecular modelling kit, try Snatoms, a kit I invented where the atoms snap together magnetically - ve42.co/SnatomsV
▀▀▀
A massive thank you to Emily Zhang for suggesting this idea and helping shape it.
A huge thanks to the team at OTIS, especially Ed Jacovino, Gregory Sefcik and Dirk Winkelhake, for their time and expertise.
Thank you also to Professor Gero Gschwendtner, Professor Michael Fu, and Dr. Peter Kauffmann for all their help on the project.
▀▀▀
0:00 When escalators go wrong
2:43 The first escalator
5:01 How does an escalator work?
8:35 Why do escalators have grooves?
10:05 Why do escalators have brushes?
10:21 The hand rail moves faster than the steps
12:05 You generate electricity on escalators
14:09 How does an escalator break?
18:47 How safe are escalators really?
▀▀▀
References: ve42.co/EscalatorRefs
Images & Video: ve42.co/EscalatorImgRefs
▀▀▀
Special thanks to our Patreon supporters:
Alex Porter, Alexander Tamas, Anton Ragin, Anupam Banerjee, Gnare, Ibby Hadeed, Jon Jamison, Juan Benet, Lee Redden, Meekay, Orlando Bassotto, Paul Peijzel, Richard Sundvall, Sam Lutfi, Ubiquity Ventures, Adam Foreman, Albert Wenger, armedtoe, Balkrishna Heroor, Bertrand Serlet, Blake Byers, Bruce, Dave Kircher, David Johnston, David Tseng, Evgeny Skvortsov, Garrett Mueller, gpoly, Jeromy Johnson, JT, Justin Waters, KeyWestr, Kyi, Marinus Kuivenhoven, Matthias Wrobel, meg noah, Michael Bush, Michael Krugman, Robert Oliveira, Tj Steyn, wolfee.
▀▀▀
Writers - Darius Garewal, Casper Mebius, Emily Zhang & Derek Muller
Presenters - Derek Muller & Latif Nasser
Producer & Director - Darius Garewal
Editor - Spencer Wright
Camera Operators - Derek Muller, Darius Garewal & Gregory Sefcik
Animators - Mike Radjabov, Fabio Albertelli, Saif Javed, Andrew Neet & Rokas Viksraitis
Illustrators - Jakub Misiek & Nataly Zhuk
Additional Editors - James Stuart, James Horsley, Peter Nelson & Kyle Rossiter
Researchers - HyoJeong Choi, Callum Cuttle & Gabe Strong
Thumbnail Designers - Ren Hurley, Ben Powell & Abdallah Rabah
Production Team - Nicola Griffiths, Josh Pitt, Rob Beasley Spence & Casper Mebius
Executive Producers - Casper Mebius & Derek Muller
Additional video/photos supplied by Getty Images, Pond5 & StoryBlocks
Music from Epidemic Sound
The surprising science of escalators. Sponsored by Brilliant - check out brilliant.org/veritasium to start learning for free.
Plus, our viewers get 20% off an annual Premium subscription for unlimited daily access to all Brilliant courses.
In 2025, we launched the Elements of Truth game on Kickstarter and were thrilled by the response. We’re now in the final stages of production, with Kickstarter rewards shipping soon. If you missed the campaign, you can now pre-order the retail edition through our new website here -ve42.co/EscalatorsDesc
If you’re looking for a molecular modelling kit, try Snatoms, a kit I invented where the atoms snap together magnetically - ve42.co/SnatomsV
▀▀▀
A massive thank you to Emily Zhang for suggesting this idea and helping shape it.
A huge thanks to the team at OTIS, especially Ed Jacovino, Gregory Sefcik and Dirk Winkelhake, for their time and expertise.
Thank you also to Professor Gero Gschwendtner, Professor Michael Fu, and Dr. Peter Kauffmann for all their help on the project.
▀▀▀
0:00 When escalators go wrong
2:43 The first escalator
5:01 How does an escalator work?
8:35 Why do escalators have grooves?
10:05 Why do escalators have brushes?
10:21 The hand rail moves faster than the steps
12:05 You generate electricity on escalators
14:09 How does an escalator break?
18:47 How safe are escalators really?
▀▀▀
References: ve42.co/EscalatorRefs
Images & Video: ve42.co/EscalatorImgRefs
▀▀▀
Special thanks to our Patreon supporters:
Alex Porter, Alexander Tamas, Anton Ragin, Anupam Banerjee, Gnare, Ibby Hadeed, Jon Jamison, Juan Benet, Lee Redden, Meekay, Orlando Bassotto, Paul Peijzel, Richard Sundvall, Sam Lutfi, Ubiquity Ventures, Adam Foreman, Albert Wenger, armedtoe, Balkrishna Heroor, Bertrand Serlet, Blake Byers, Bruce, Dave Kircher, David Johnston, David Tseng, Evgeny Skvortsov, Garrett Mueller, gpoly, Jeromy Johnson, JT, Justin Waters, KeyWestr, Kyi, Marinus Kuivenhoven, Matthias Wrobel, meg noah, Michael Bush, Michael Krugman, Robert Oliveira, Tj Steyn, wolfee.
▀▀▀
Writers - Darius Garewal, Casper Mebius, Emily Zhang & Derek Muller
Presenters - Derek Muller & Latif Nasser
Producer & Director - Darius Garewal
Editor - Spencer Wright
Camera Operators - Derek Muller, Darius Garewal & Gregory Sefcik
Animators - Mike Radjabov, Fabio Albertelli, Saif Javed, Andrew Neet & Rokas Viksraitis
Illustrators - Jakub Misiek & Nataly Zhuk
Additional Editors - James Stuart, James Horsley, Peter Nelson & Kyle Rossiter
Researchers - HyoJeong Choi, Callum Cuttle & Gabe Strong
Thumbnail Designers - Ren Hurley, Ben Powell & Abdallah Rabah
Production Team - Nicola Griffiths, Josh Pitt, Rob Beasley Spence & Casper Mebius
Executive Producers - Casper Mebius & Derek Muller
Additional video/photos supplied by Getty Images, Pond5 & StoryBlocks
Music from Epidemic Sound
