Glass “drop of Prince Rupert” destroys bullets (3 photos + video)

Still known to medieval glassblowers dropstempered glass, called "Prince Rupert Drops" and having uniquely high strength, was tested by YouTube enthusiasts on the Smarter Every Day channel.

High-strength product "drops of Prince Rupert"formed during the sharp cooling of molten glass when it enters cold water. As a result of an instantaneous decrease in the temperature of the outer layer, a superstrong compressed shell is formed, and the core of the drop is in an extended state. Internal stress and creates a structure with high strength characteristics. The shape of the drop resembles a tadpole with a long and thin tail.

Experimenters from YouTube checked how to leadhimself "a drop of Prince Rupert" in the event of a direct hit by a bullet with high kinetic energy. The experiment was filmed using a camera with a high speed of 15,000 frames per second.

As a result, it turned out that the bullet is not capabledestroy the surface layer of the drop and breaks in a collision, however, the “drop of Prince Rupert” itself did not survive the “execution” - it literally exploded a moment after the collision.

Slow motion revealed the causedestruction of a drop. As a result of the collision of objects in the structure of the droplet, oscillations occur, leading to the destruction of the “tail” of the droplet, which, in turn, leads to the removal of gigantic internal stress and detonation of a seemingly strong structure.