This video is controversial but I’d like to explore its physics in this thread As I see it the potential energy of the nails convert to kinetic energy so it transfers energy all through the box the entropy of the system is increased 1/🧵

These nails aligned as objects always seek a minimum energy state, (a stable state) because of the first and second laws of thermodynamics: energy conservation and entropy increase. Regarding controversy about it being reversed i have seen it replicated and also ….2/🧵

3/🧵when it’s reversed, it’s very much different There is always a doubt with unsourced visuals, but I find it interesting and wanted to explore the reasoning behind why it may work

I dunno, but it looks like he nailed it.

My take . It’s a reversed video 🙃

My take: When the nails are lined up, that’s the position that makes them all closer to the bottom. This means a minimum potential energy state for all nails as a group. They can’t get there on their own though, so the shaking offers an element of chaos that, given enough time, will result in the state with the least amount of potential energy. Sure entropy is increased, but this is not a closed system.

Or the video is just in reverse...

Reverse. Adding energy to instability never leads to stability.

In nail factories they use a vibrating table to fit the nails in cardboard boxes.

For those thinking the video is reversed, here's a replication:

I kinda view it as brownian motion that biases in a vertical direction. Once a nail falls into the valley between two nails below it, it takes a lot of energy to move it out of place. So the walls help aline in horizontal plane, gravity in vertical plane