This isn't a replacement for the Nova episode "Secrets of the Samurai Sword".
...but the Nova episode tends to appear and disappear from YouTube and DailyMotion with fair frequency, so you might need another video that goes through the ancient art of creating samurai swords from the initial collecting and smelting of iron-rich sand through to the slicing of tatami mats to demonstrate the sword's quality and the sword wielder's technique.
This video's contents...
- 2:00 - why bronze was used for sword and was eventually replaced
- 3:00 - cyanobacteria creating oxygen that precipitated iron from ancient oceans
- 6:30 - carbon + iron = steel, initial interstitial positions shown...why alloys are harder than pure metals
- 10:30 - slag formation and removal from the 'ancient' forge
- 13:30 - forging the steel by master swordsmiths
- 14:30 - folding the steel - how and why
- 16:15 - how carbon atoms migrate to different positions and form ferrite, cementite, perlite, and martensite
- 18:30 - differential cooling rates via clay thickness creating different steel types and the distinct blade shape
Another great video from Veritasium and one that shows that he's got a team of folks making videos with/for him at this point...and it's short enough at about half an hour - to get through in a single class period, unlike the Nova episode.
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