Prince Rupert's Drop: Resist Hammer Blow, Yet Shatter With A Twitch
Have you ever heard of an object which is as fragile as glass but as indestructible as a tank? Last week I came across one such wonder of science which can be broken with an ease of twitch but can take the blow of the hammer. Of course, it all depends on placement of force. Prince Rupert's Glass drop has an impossible property. Researches were carried out in the 20th and 21st centuries to understand the reasons that why the drop has contradictory properties. But the history of the drop can be traced back to 1660 that is more than 350 years from now when Prince Rupert of the Rhine, brought them to England, thus got the name. They were studied by the Royal Society, and the principles behind the unusual properties might have probably led to the development of the process to produce toughened glass, which was patented in 1874. although they were reportedly being produced in the Netherlands earlier in the 17th century and had probably been known to glass makers for much longe...