Today I Learned: Glass Can Become Stronger Than Steel!

Don’t believe me? I almost still don’t believe me. See for yourself:

The “Prince Rupert’s Drop” [insert “drop” = “sperm” joke here] is the result of some kickass physics wizardry. The science of its incredible strength is still not fully understood, even though we’re pretty sure we know what’s mostly going on. Mostly.

To recap: When molten glass is dipped in water, the temperature drop freezes the glass from the outside in. Because the glass hardens in that direction, the outer hardened layer of the glass holds in the still hot and active inner core of the glass. The energetic middle is fighting to escape, but is then itself frozen – trapping the molecules in a super tense structure. [Watch the video above. He explains it a thousand times better.]

The more you know! Go share this fun phenomena with someone you love – or someone you hate! This will be sure to bring even the most antagonistic of relationships back to an ambivalent state*.

*JK. No guarantees. Don’t do anything stupid. 

[Header image source: Imgur]