Prince Rupert's Drop EXPLODING in Epoxy Resin at 456,522 fps - Smarter Every Day 273

If you're an academic who would like to collaborate on a paper on this topic please reach out. I have lots of data that I didn't share in this video and I think we've made some significant contributions to the body of knowledge in this area. The main reason I wanted to perform this experiment was to better understand the radial fragmentation distribution of the Prince Rupert's Drop. After this experiment, I'm not so sure it works like I originally thought. Also, I really wanted a Prince Rupert's Drop shirt. If you'd like one, as well here's the link! www.smartereveryday.com/store Thanks again to everyone who supports Smarter Every Day on Patreon. I'm sincerely grateful! www.patreon.com/smartereveryday

“Close your mouth” could also apply to me while I’m watching this footage.

You should try deep-pour slowcure epoxy resin next time. It's less exothermic and allows more time to get the right viscocity.

I was expecting you to let the epoxy solidify completely before popping the drops but this is cool too.

Hey! My research group and I(at MIT) just filmed some exploding Prince Rupert's drops at 492,754fps through a polariscope. It looks really cool! All of the internal stress patterns are very visible. There is actually a stress wave that propagates through the drop far ahead of the actual explosion front. It actually creates a standing wave within the glass between the end of the bulb and the explosion front. This standing wave increases in frequency as the explosion moves closer to the bulb head until it finally shatters too. You might find it very interesting. I am currently editing footage to put on my channel, but I thought that you of all people might be very interested in this.

Three recommendations here: - Try letting the resin fully harden, I'm curious if the shockwave is powerful enough to shatter the hardened resin. - Try ballistics gel instead of resin. This should more fully capture the 3d visualization of the drop shattering. - Try clear gelatin, as the ballistics gel may be slightly too hard to allow the glass shards to travel through it. I loved this video and am fascinated by just how FAST these things shatter!

If you want to try this again, try doing it in water and use Laponite RD (rheology modifier). 2% of laponite in water will gel the water enough to suspend a marble. When you add shear (the drop exploding) it will thin to water consistency and then rethicken immediately. Might make for better photography.

Am I the only one who wanted him to put it In and wait until the epoxy got solid and then pop it?

The way you can see the epoxy move is FASCINATING. Fluid dynamics are amazing.

Clear ballistic gel could help you with the perfect amount of goopyness. It's real easy to cast, and you can set the "springback" very accurately.

Love the video! Homogeneous viscosity and hardness is definitely possible. Seems like your resin was struggling with thermal runaway but reducing the volume was a smart move! If you're doing resin experiments in the future and would like any tips just let us know :)

If the internet was made of more of videos like this the world would be a better place. Thank you.

Awesome work, I love resin so much. That's almost all the videos I do now. Keep up the good work.

If you do this again you might try resin meant for casting. This kind of epoxy is formulated for making strong thin surfaces, and as you found can kick unevenly from self-generated heat.

I love that you showed the entire first day of things going wrong. This is science, and if youtube videos don't show that part, children get really discouraged when things don't go their way with experiments. As educators (both formally and just as parents), we need to normalize failure of first N attempts, and the strive to keep trying. This is the way

The shockwave through the epoxy on the second attempt was phenominal! I would definitely purchase the third one as paper weight for my desk.

You had me hooked on the snatch block videos and now I'm addicted, thanks for the fun knowledge!

"I guess it exploded, like everything else..." genuine joyful laughter. You, and this channel are a gift. Thank you.

I learn something new every day! Never heard of a PRD before today - this was an awesome experiment

I've seen this video in my feed hundreds of times and NEVER watched it. Bay, am I dumb! This is one of the coolest things I have ever seen.