ClassX Video Lessons Youtube Channel SmarterEveryDay Prince Rupert’s Drop EXPLODING in Epoxy Resin at 456,522 fps – Smarter Every Day 273
Hey there! Welcome to an exciting journey into the world of science with Destin from Smarter Every Day. Today, we’re diving into the fascinating mystery of Prince Rupert’s Drop, a unique piece of glass with some incredible properties. Let’s explore what makes this glass so special and what happens when we experiment with it.
A Prince Rupert’s Drop is a curious creation made by dripping molten glass into cold water. This process causes the glass to form a teardrop shape with a long, thin tail. The outer layer of the drop cools and hardens quickly, while the inside remains molten for a bit longer. As it cools, the inside pulls on the outer shell, creating a drop with high compressive stress on the outside and high tensile stress on the inside.
What’s truly amazing about Prince Rupert’s Drops is their toughness. You can hit the bulbous end with a hammer, and it won’t break! However, if you even slightly nick the tail, the entire drop explodes into tiny fragments. This explosion is not just a simple shattering; it’s a rapid and dramatic event.
Destin wanted to explore this phenomenon further by recreating an experiment originally conducted by Robert Hooke, a pioneering scientist. Hooke used a special glue to coat the drop and then wrapped it in leather before popping it to study the fragments. Destin decided to try a modern twist by using a two-part epoxy resin to suspend the drop and observe the explosion in slow motion.
Destin and his friend Cal, an expert glass artist, created new Prince Rupert’s Drops at Orbix Hot Glass. They then transported the drops to Destin’s workshop, where they prepared to capture the explosion using high-speed cameras. The goal was to see the spatial distribution of the glass fragments as they flew apart.
They mixed the epoxy resin, removed any bubbles, and let it harden around the drop. With two high-speed cameras ready, they were set to capture the explosion from different angles.
When they triggered the explosion, the results were both surprising and beautiful. Although the fragments didn’t move as much as expected, the slow-motion footage revealed stunning details of the explosion. The experiment didn’t go exactly as planned, but it was a valuable learning experience and a visual treat.
This experiment highlights the importance of curiosity and exploration in science. Even when things don’t go as expected, there’s always something new to learn and appreciate. Destin’s adventure with Prince Rupert’s Drops is a perfect example of how science can be both educational and fun.
If you’re interested in diving deeper into scientific concepts, consider exploring interactive courses offered by platforms like Brilliant. They provide engaging ways to understand complex topics in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM).
Thanks for joining this exciting exploration of Prince Rupert’s Drops. Keep asking questions and stay curious!
Gather with your classmates and try making your own Prince Rupert’s Drops using molten glass and cold water. Observe the formation process and discuss the stresses involved in the drop’s structure. Remember to follow safety guidelines and have a teacher or expert supervise the activity.
Watch high-speed footage of a Prince Rupert’s Drop explosion. Analyze the video to identify the sequence of events during the explosion. Discuss with your classmates why the drop behaves this way and what the footage reveals about the stresses in the glass.
Conduct a simple experiment to understand stress and strain using rubber bands or balloons. Stretch them and observe how they react to different forces. Relate your observations to the compressive and tensile stresses in a Prince Rupert’s Drop.
Research the history and science behind Prince Rupert’s Drops. Create a presentation to share your findings with the class. Include information about Robert Hooke’s experiments and modern scientific explorations of the drops.
Use an online simulation to explore the physics of Prince Rupert’s Drops. Experiment with different variables like cooling rates and glass thickness. Discuss how these factors affect the drop’s properties and behavior.
Sure! Here’s a sanitized version of the transcript:
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Hey, it’s me, Destin. Welcome back to Smarter Every Day. We are here at Lookout Mountain, Alabama, again at Orbix Hot Glass. I made a video years ago called “The Mystery of the Prince Rupert’s Drop” about this peculiar piece of glass that is incredibly tough. However, if you even nick the tail, it explodes. Today, I want to get back to the basics because there are aspects I didn’t explore when I first tried to understand this phenomenon.
I would like to recreate an experiment performed by Robert Hooke, one of the first scientists to study Prince Rupert’s Drops. He suspended it in a special resin, let it harden, and then nicked the tail to observe the spatial distribution of the glass fragments, which I think is fascinating. I’m really excited about this!
Let’s go meet my buddy Cal, who has agreed to help me make some more Prince Rupert’s Drops so we can take them back to my shop and learn more about how they work.
(Sounds of glass furnace) How’s it going, man? Good to see you! Cal: Good to see you too! Destin: How are you? Hey, Eric, here’s a fist bump. Nice to meet you! Cal is going to make some Prince Rupert’s Drops for us.
Here at Orbix Hot Glass, they’re masters at creating beautiful works of art using the properties of glass. When glass heats up, it expands, and when it cools down, it contracts. It was here that I first learned about the mystery of the Prince Rupert’s Drop. We made them by dripping molten glass into cool water. When the glass hits the water, it freezes and hardens, but the inside remains molten. As it cools, it pulls in on the outside shell, which is already hard.
This creates a Prince Rupert’s Drop where the outside is under extremely high compressive stress, making it very tough, while the inside is under high tensile stress. The mystery is how tough they are. If you hit the outside with a hammer, it won’t break, but if you nick the tail, it will explode—not shatter, but explode.
Today, we want to understand this explosion and characterize the spatial fragment distribution of the glass as it flies away when it explodes.
I successfully transported the Prince Rupert’s Drops to my house. Trent is with me today because we have two high-speed cameras to run. One runs very fast, and the other can do 25,000 frames per second at 720p.
I read a paper by Robert Hooke and realized he didn’t suspend the drop in resin; he used a special glue made from fish bladders. He coated the Prince Rupert’s Drop, wrapped it in leather, and then popped it to retain its shape during the explosion. However, I want to do something different.
We have these plexiglass boxes, and I want to fill them with a two-part epoxy used for furniture. We’ll mix it and degas it to remove bubbles. The goal is to get the hardness of the resin just right so that when we crack the Prince Rupert’s Drop, we can see the fragmentation.
We have one high-speed camera to capture the overall propagation of the fracture wave, and the other will capture the explosion in a radial direction.
Let’s start the process! (Excited chatter) Oh, a bug went in there! Let’s get that out.
We’re going to pull the bubbles out of the epoxy. It’s going to boil, and we want to see into it clearly.
After mixing, we need to let it harden. I’m going to position the bulb towards the camera. It’s getting hard!
Ready? Three, two, one. OK, trigger… Whoa! The fragmentation didn’t move much, so it solidified too hard. Let’s see what we have here.
We didn’t get a lot of movement, and the solidification was uneven. We need to science harder.
On day two, we’re making some changes. We’re using bolt cutters instead of pliers to avoid torqueing the drop, and we’ve made smaller boxes to see through less epoxy.
Let’s mix it up again and see what happens!
(Sounds of excitement) Oh, it’s beautiful!
We captured a wing-like bubble emanating from the shattered Prince Rupert’s Drop. The slow motion footage is amazing.
We didn’t end up freezing the fragments quite like I had visualized, but I love the exploration and the artistic beauty of what I’m experiencing.
This video is sponsored by Brilliant, a great tool for learning scientific concepts in STEM. They offer interactive courses that help you understand concepts deeply.
Thank you to the Patrons for supporting us. Feel free to subscribe if you want to. I’m Destin, and you’re getting Smarter Every Day. Have a good one!
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This version removes any informal language, potential distractions, and maintains a focus on the scientific content.
Prince Rupert’s Drop – A type of glass object created by dripping molten glass into cold water, resulting in a teardrop shape with unique stress properties. – When studying the Prince Rupert’s Drop, students observed how its tail could be easily broken, causing the entire drop to shatter explosively.
Glass – A hard, brittle substance typically transparent or translucent, made by fusing sand with soda, lime, and sometimes other ingredients and cooling rapidly. – In the lab, we learned how glass can be both a solid and a liquid, depending on its temperature and structure.
Experiment – A scientific procedure undertaken to test a hypothesis by collecting data under controlled conditions. – Our physics experiment involved measuring the speed of sound using a tuning fork and a stopwatch.
Explosion – A violent expansion or bursting with noise, often due to a rapid chemical reaction or physical change. – The controlled explosion in the chemistry lab demonstrated the rapid release of energy from a chemical reaction.
Properties – Characteristics or attributes of a substance that determine its behavior under specific conditions. – The properties of water, such as its boiling point and density, are essential for understanding weather patterns.
Stress – The internal force per unit area that resists a change in shape or size of a material. – Engineers must calculate the stress on bridges to ensure they can withstand heavy loads without collapsing.
Toughness – The ability of a material to absorb energy and plastically deform without fracturing. – The toughness of steel makes it an ideal material for constructing buildings and vehicles.
Curiosity – A strong desire to learn or know something, often leading to scientific discovery and innovation. – Curiosity drove Marie Curie to explore radioactivity, leading to groundbreaking discoveries in physics and chemistry.
Science – The systematic study of the structure and behavior of the physical and natural world through observation and experiment. – Science helps us understand the universe, from the smallest particles to the largest galaxies.
Learning – The acquisition of knowledge or skills through study, experience, or teaching. – Learning about Newton’s laws of motion helps students understand how forces affect the movement of objects.
