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Protons and Neutrons: A Song

2009-06-03 · song · Hank · 2:57 · watch on YouTube

Topic: Science & nature · mode: Comedy & performance · tags: song or performance

Hank sings that everything, down to his guitar string and the finger that plucks it, is built from atoms, and that we see only a fraction of a fraction of the world, so there may be much more beauty out there.

What is said

The parts of the video and what is said in each (★ — how much it matters to the video).

00:00:00 — Intro and verse 1: protons, neutrons and electron clouds in atoms stacked into a guitar string

  • ★★ Hank sings that his guitar string is made of atoms (protons, neutrons, electron clouds) packed into lattices among billions and trillions of others. — 00:00:12

00:00:56 — Chorus: we see a fraction of a fraction of the world

  • ★★★ Hank sings that we see only a fraction of a fraction of the world, and even what we see is just photonic reactions. — 00:00:56
  • ★★★ Hank sings that we think the world is gorgeous and incomparable, but ask how we could ever know when there's so much more out there. — 00:00:56

00:01:32 — Verse 2: carbon, oxygen, nitrogen and hydrogen forming proteins in beta pleated sheets, growing from his finger

  • ★★ Hank sings that carbon, oxygen, nitrogen and hydrogen form proteins stacked into beta pleated sheets, making the thing that grows out from his finger and strikes the guitar string. — 00:01:32

00:02:12 — Final chorus: so much more out there

Mentioned

Central: atom · Protons and Neutrons

Also: Concepts: beta sheet · carbon · electron · hydrogen · neutron · nitrogen · oxygen · photon · protein · proton · wonder (emotion)

Also centred on atom: Introduction to Chemistry with Hank

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