The series Smarter Every Day explores Prince Rupert’s drop—glass shapes formed by dropping hot molten glass in hot water—which are like hardened glass but exhibit some incredibly brittle properties.
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A beloved classroom demonstration in materials science. The residual stress within the drop gives rise to unique properties that every demonstrator likes to demonstrate: The drop can be hammered on the fat end without breaking, but disintegrates explosively if the tail end is even slightly damaged.
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