What is Prince Rupert's drop?

The drop of Prince Rupert is a very interesting glass curiosity that shows a number of unusual properties. These glass peculiarities are also known as Dutch tears, Batavia tears, Tzar tears or Prince Rupert balls and are often exhibited in glass museums. The exact nature of Prince Rupert's drop has been a mystery for some time; Only after the development of a high -speed video did people really understand what was happening when Prince Rupert was broken. The glass forms a characteristic shape of tears, with a thick head and a long curved tail. Cold water causes the outer side of the glass to cool very quickly, while the hot glass inside the head takes longer to cool. As it cools, it closes and creates a state of tension in the drop of Prince Rupert.

No matter how hard you try, you can't break the head of the drop of Prince Rupert. Glass can be hammered, clamped with pliers and passes through various mechanical experiments, but the glass will still hold, because the state of the tension is so high. However, if the tail is a drop of prinCE Rupert in any way damaged, the whole object explodes because the voltage was interrupted. And "explode" is really the right word to be used, because a drop of Prince Rupert breaks explosive when the tail is damaged.

The

drop of Prince Rupert is named for Prince Rupert of the Rhine, the German Prince, who was credited to the development of this glass curiosity. According to legend, Prince Rupert enjoyed the use of a drop of Prince Rupert as a practical joke, handed them over to members of the court, and then pulled them to the tail to explode undesirable victims. It could be assumed that people have been customary to receive gifts Zpotom The fun prince.

The mechanics of Prince Rupert's drop is quite interesting and this piece of new glass is an early version of the tempered glass, which is now used to produce a wide range of things, from laboratory glass to the car window. If you are interested, you can see the demonstrations of Prince Rupert's drops in many scientific museums and glass museums; If you have no experience with glass work,It is a trick that you should not try at home, because the shards of glass can be very dangerous, especially if they are inhaled.