What ’s a Prince Rupert ’s drop cloth , you expect ? Well , skill lovers , read on .
A Prince Rupert ’s drop is what befall when you expend molten glass into very frigid water . The glass cools into a pollywog - regulate teardrop with a bulbous , “ unbreakable ” bead and a flimsy arse that will shatter at the slight sign of stress .
They have been fascinating scientists since the 1600s , who have been test the property of these drops and just what they can withstand for century . fortunately , scientists and generally curious truth - seekers these days have YouTube duct where they do their experimentation so we can watch and , of course , notice the outcome .
YouTuberSmarterEveryDayhas done just that with a video demonstrate what pass off when he shoots a bullet at the bulb death of a Prince Rupert ’s driblet . you may watch the results below in all its 150,000 - frames - per - second glory . Does it resist the impact ? Is it unbreakable ? We assure you , the obtuse - atomic number 42 bit is very cool .
Here ’s the science ( and plunderer ) moment .
The bullet does n’t actually expose the bulb , it reverberate off and range the droplet , which sends a shockwave through the tush . The tooshie then immediately shatters , send stress fractures back down to the medulla and exploding the whole thing .
To put it simply , when the molten spyglass is dropped into dusty water , the out-of-door cools and solidifies almost like a shot , while the interior persist molten for longer and cool off much more slowly .
Since glass expands when it ’s hot and contracts when it cools , as the inner part cool , it tries to pull the already hearty , nerveless outer layer in with it . This make the bulb even more solid and eventually bullet - proof , hold it all together in a land of ductile emphasis . That ’s a deal of pent up Energy Department .
However , if the fragile , thin , breakable backside last of the drop curtain experiences stress , it will break immediately and send cracking back into the bulb at high-pitched f number , releasing all that pent up vigour , which causes the bulb to shatter .
or else , you could just watch SmarterEveryDay’sprevious videothat explains in bully detail the wonders of the enigma that is the Prince Rupert ’s fall .
