Justin Trudeau gave a sarcastic reporter a quick lesson in quantum computing

AP/Cliff Owen

Justin Trudeau.

Justin Trudeau, Canada's heartthrob prime minister, answered an apparently sarcastic question from a reporter who had suggested Trudeau couldn't possibly explain how quantum computing works.

"I was going to ask you to explain quantum computing, but - when do you expect Canada's ISIL mission to begin again, and are we not doing anything in the interim?" the reporter asked at an event at the University of Waterloo's Perimeter Institute in Ontario. 

Trudeau launched into a surprisingly smart and succinct explanation of how quantum computers work.

"Very simply," he said to laughter and applause. "... Normal computers work, either there's power going through a wire, or not. It's 1, or a 0, they're binary systems. What quantum states allow for is much more complex information to be encoded into a single bit."

"Don't get me going on this, or we'll be here all day, trust me," he added.

Watch the full video below: