Friday 2 August 2013

Prince Rupert's legacy

Watching a TV programme recently (which is something that I rarely do) I was reminded of the incredible properties of glass.  Can you imagine a glass bulb that will not break when you hit it with a hammer, and yet will explode violently in the event of another tiny intervention.

If not, you will be amazed by Prince Rupert's Drops.  Wikipedia has a good article on the topic (as you would expect), but this video is also spell-binding and explanatory!

1 comment:

John Chapman said...

I came across these a while ago and used them in a story. Something on the lines of the cryptex in the 'Da Vinci Code' which was supposed to release vinegar and dissolve a papyrus message. Vinegar doesn't dissolve papyrus but a measure of concentrated sulphuric acid encased in a quartz vial enclosed in a Prince Rupert drop would.