{"id":68710,"date":"2026-11-06T20:05:18","date_gmt":"2026-11-06T20:05:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cp.snarskis.lt\/index.php\/2026\/11\/06\/princo-ruperto-stiklo-lasas-atlaiko-milziniska-smugi-bet-iskiles-uodegoje-subyra-i-dulkes\/"},"modified":"2026-11-06T20:05:18","modified_gmt":"2026-11-06T20:05:18","slug":"princo-ruperto-stiklo-lasas-atlaiko-milziniska-smugi-bet-iskiles-uodegoje-subyra-i-dulkes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cp.snarskis.lt\/index.php\/2026\/11\/06\/princo-ruperto-stiklo-lasas-atlaiko-milziniska-smugi-bet-iskiles-uodegoje-subyra-i-dulkes\/","title":{"rendered":"Princo Ruperto stiklo la\u0161as atlaiko mil\u017eini\u0161k\u0105 sm\u016bg\u012f, bet \u012fskil\u0119s \u201euodegoje\u201c subyra \u012f dulkes"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"entry-content no-share\">\n<div class=\"jeg_share_button share-float jeg_sticky_share clearfix share-monocrhome\">\n<div class=\"jeg_share_float_container\"><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"content-inner \">\n<div class=\"instaread-player-slot\" data-instaread-version=\"4.6.0\" style=\"min-height:144px\"><\/div>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/cdn.zmescience.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/Prince_Ruperts_drops.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"768\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.zmescience.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/Prince_Ruperts_drops-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-314152\"><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Example of Prince Rupert\u2019s drops. Image via Wiki Commons.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Prince Rupert\u2019s drops are tadpole-shaped pieces of glass. But they don\u2019t behave at all like you\u2019d expect. Strike the fat end with a hammer and, astonishingly, the glass will likely stay intact. Snap the thin tail, however, and the entire drop can explode into thousands of glittering fragments.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">So, what gives?<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Scientists have known about these objects since the 17th century, and have been working to understand them ever since. Modern experiments have finally revealed how the trick works. A Prince Rupert\u2019s drop is essentially a tiny reservoir of frozen mechanical stress \u2014 its surface squeezed powerfully inward while its core strains to pull apart. But that\u2019s just the short version.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And even after nearly 400 years of investigation, researchers are still finding new things inside these peculiar glass objects.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"h-a-glass-object-loaded-like-a-spring\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">A glass object loaded like a spring<\/h2>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Prince Rupert\u2019s drops from like this.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A blob of molten glass falls into relatively cold water. The outside solidifies almost immediately, while the interior remains hot and soft for longer. The result looks like a clear glass tadpole: a rounded head narrowing into a long, delicate tail.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But the important part is invisible.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><a href=\"https:\/\/cdn.zmescience.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/the-harder-than-steel-prince-ruperts-drop-exploding-v0-yk4pvoxslji01.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"500\" height=\"235\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.zmescience.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/the-harder-than-steel-prince-ruperts-drop-exploding-v0-yk4pvoxslji01.png\" alt=\"Tadpole-shaped piece of glass with a round top and and long narrow tail\" class=\"wp-image-314151\"><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">GIF via Reddit<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As the outer layer cools, it becomes rigid. The hotter interior then cools and tries to contract. But the already-solid shell restrains it.<\/p>\n<div id=\"mlb2-103181833205712508\" class=\"ml-form-embedContainer ml-subscribe-form ml-subscribe-form-103181833205712508\" style=\"margin:20px 0 20px 0\">\n<div class=\"ml-form-align-center\">\n<div class=\"ml-form-embedWrapper embedForm\">\n<div class=\"zme-signup-container\" id=\"zme-main-container\">\n<div class=\"zme-close-btn\" title=\"Close\">\u00d7<\/div>\n<div class=\"zme-header\">\n<h2>Get smarter every day&#8230;<\/h2>\n<p>Stay ahead with ZME Science and subscribe.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"zme-form-wrapper ml-block-form\">\n<div class=\"zme-input-group\">\n<p>                            <button type=\"submit\" class=\"zme-submit-btn primary\">Sign Up Free<\/button><br \/>\n                            <button disabled style=\"display: none\" type=\"button\" class=\"loading\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"ml-form-embedSubmitLoad\"><\/div>\n<p>                            <\/button>\n                        <\/div>\n<div class=\"zme-options-grid\">\n<div class=\"zme-option-card\">\n<p>                                <label for=\"opt-daily\" class=\"zme-card-label\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"zme-card-top\">\n                                        <span class=\"zme-card-title\">Daily Newsletter<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"zme-check-circle\"><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>                                    <span class=\"zme-card-desc\">The science you need to know, every weekday.<\/span><br \/>\n                                <\/label>\n                            <\/div>\n<div class=\"zme-option-card\">\n<p>                                <label for=\"opt-weekly\" class=\"zme-card-label\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"zme-card-top\">\n                                        <span class=\"zme-card-title\">Weekly Newsletter<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"zme-check-circle\"><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>                                    <span class=\"zme-card-desc\">A week in science, all in one place. Sends every Sunday.<\/span><br \/>\n                                <\/label>\n                            <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"zme-privacy\">\n                            No spam, ever. Unsubscribe anytime. Review our <a href=\"https:\/\/www.zmescience.com\/privacy-policy\/\" target=\"_blank\">Privacy Policy<\/a>.\n                        <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"ml-form-successBody row-success\" style=\"display: none\">\n<div class=\"ml-form-successContent\">\n<h2>Thank you! One more thing&#8230;<\/h2>\n<p>Please check your inbox and confirm your subscription.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">When the process ends, the drop has trapped a remarkable pattern of residual stress \u2014 stress that remains inside a material even when nobody is pushing or pulling on it.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The surface sits in compression, meaning its glass is squeezed together. The interior sits in tension, meaning it is effectively being pulled apart. Neither side can relax.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That difference gives the drop its extraordinary properties.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/cdn.zmescience.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/abc455c7-3104-4258-a472-bbde6d09fba6.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.zmescience.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/abc455c7-3104-4258-a472-bbde6d09fba6-1024x576.png\" alt=\"Illustration of a Prince Rupert&apos;s drop showing the areas where tension and compression are at work. \" class=\"wp-image-314153\"><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Illustration: ZME Science.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In 2016, researchers <a href=\"https:\/\/pubs.aip.org\/aip\/apl\/article\/109\/23\/231903\/32394\/On-the-extraordinary-strength-of-Prince-Rupert-s\">used an optical technique<\/a> called integrated photoelasticity to reconstruct the stress field inside Prince Rupert\u2019s drops. They measured compressive stresses of roughly 400 to 700 megapascals near the surface \u2014 enormous values for glass. Experimental drops with heads only several millimetres across survived compression loads exceeding 10,000 newtons, although sufficiently large loads could still destroy them.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For perspective, 10,000 newtons is roughly equivalent to the weight of a one-tonne mass under Earth\u2019s gravity. That\u2019s an extraordinary load for a glass object small enough to rest in your palm.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"a-tough-but-not-unbreakable-glass\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">A tough, but not unbreakable glass<\/h2>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-9-16 wp-has-aspect-ratio\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<div class=\"jeg_video_container jeg_video_content\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Strangely enough, Prince Rupert\u2019s drops aren\u2019t somehow intrinsically harder than ordinary glass. They\u2019ve just been preloaded in exactly the direction that makes surface cracks difficult to start.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But the protection comes at a price. The very stresses that defend the outside of the drop leave its interior much more vulnerable to destruction.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If a crack penetrates that protective shell and reaches the tensile region, the situation reverses.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Instead of suppressing the crack, the internal stress drives it forward.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It\u2019s like a spring wound so tightly that the smallest failure in the right place releases everything at once.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"the-fracture-races-faster-than-a-jetliner\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">The fracture races faster than a jetliner<\/h2>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/cdn.zmescience.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/025f0e2b-3614-4a07-94ec-eff04d6f5e34.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"819\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.zmescience.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/025f0e2b-3614-4a07-94ec-eff04d6f5e34-819x1024.png\" alt=\"Graph showing how fast a crack in a Prince Rupert&apos;s drop travels, faster than the speed of sound\" class=\"wp-image-314150\"><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Illustration: ZME Science.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The tail provides the easiest route into that spring.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Its narrowing geometry means a fracture in the right part of the tail can reach the stressed interior. Once it does, the stored elastic energy begins feeding the crack.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The result is not simply one crack cutting the drop in half. It\u2019s a chain reaction of fractures.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In a landmark <a href=\"https:\/\/www.researchgate.net\/publication\/232982865_The_explosive_disintegration_of_Prince_Rupert&apos;s_drops\">1994 experiment<\/a>, Srinivasan Chandrasekar and M. Munawar Chaudhri filmed disintegrating Prince Rupert\u2019s drops at rates reaching about 500,000 frames per second.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The crack front raced from the tail toward the head at roughly 1,450 to 1,900 metres per second \u2014 up to 6,840 kilometres per hour, several times faster than a passenger jet.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As the fracture travelled through the tensile core, it repeatedly split into branches. Those branches divided again. Within microseconds, a single crack became a dense network of fractures.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That branching, not a mysterious internal explosion, pulverizes the drop.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The researchers also tested another explanation: perhaps a shock wave was racing through the glass and blasting it apart. But their high-speed experiments found no sufficiently strong separate stress wave to explain the destruction. The cracks themselves were doing the damage.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"prince-rupert-s-drop-meets-modern-tech\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">Prince Rupert\u2019s drop meets modern tech<\/h2>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Researchers haven\u2019t stopped studying these objects. Modern imaging has revealed just how extreme the process becomes.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In 2021, researchers <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nature.com\/articles\/s41467-021-22595-1\">examined the fragments<\/a> using high-resolution X-ray micro-computed tomography, essentially performing a three-dimensional scan of the debris.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">One drop had shattered into at least 21,847 separate fragments. Some of the pieces they measured were only about 50 micrometres across \u2014 thinner than a human hair.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But strangely, there was a hidden pattern to these fractures. The fragments weren\u2019t distributed randomly across every possible size. The researchers found characteristic fragment scales of about 0.31 millimetres and 0.064 millimetres. That suggests the internal stress of the drop helps determine how finely it breaks.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In other words, the stresses don\u2019t just determine whether the glass breaks. They also help shape the debris it leaves behind.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/cdn.zmescience.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/MS55ZhvaB44uRVWXXZw0n975s3Ly3caU2qt98StdlQZuvF7dfFakRhIchP6XmUlLKf_nI-75ueYl_7vwPrp7YZwWmHxjdCaxXoAZyKY9ghMVQUMwo31Gtj-TwBOlmtbtsrN1JQyfJBL9oD211aFsNm3HPj18AYXFr5hkIXNkWCAxkn0wytI87Y-UY3kN40cv.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1024\" height=\"510\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.zmescience.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/MS55ZhvaB44uRVWXXZw0n975s3Ly3caU2qt98StdlQZuvF7dfFakRhIchP6XmUlLKf_nI-75ueYl_7vwPrp7YZwWmHxjdCaxXoAZyKY9ghMVQUMwo31Gtj-TwBOlmtbtsrN1JQyfJBL9oD211aFsNm3HPj18AYXFr5hkIXNkWCAxkn0wytI87Y-UY3kN40cv-1024x510.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-314148\"><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Fragments on Prince Rupert\u2019s glass. Image credits: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nature.com\/articles\/s41467-021-22595-1\">Kooji at el<\/a> \/ Nature Communications.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This finding matters well beyond a laboratory curiosity. Scientists have long studied how brittle objects fragment, from ceramics and safety glass to rocks. Prince Rupert\u2019s drops offer an unusually clean system in which the energy driving fracture is already stored inside the material before the first crack begins.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">There is one small caveat to the famous demonstration. Snapping the absolute finest tip of the tail doesn\u2019t always destroy the drop. That extremely thin portion can carry relatively little residual stress. The fracture must reach far enough into the stressed structure to trigger the cascade.<\/p>\n<div class=\"jnews_inline_related_post_wrapper right\">\n<div class=\"jnews_inline_related_post\">\n<div class=\"jeg_postblock_28 jeg_postblock jeg_module_hook jeg_pagination_disable jeg_col_2o3 jnews_module_310686_0_6aee1e73562a2   \" data-unique=\"jnews_module_310686_0_6aee1e73562a2\">\n<div class=\"jeg_block_heading jeg_block_heading_5 jeg_subcat_right\">\n<h3 class=\"jeg_block_title\"><span>Related<strong>Posts<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"jeg_block_container\">\n<div class=\"jeg_posts \">\n<div class=\"jeg_postsmall jeg_load_more_flag\">\n<article class=\"jeg_post jeg_pl_xs_4 format-standard\">\n<div class=\"jeg_postblock_content\">\n                        <span class=\"jeg_post_title\"><br \/>\n                            <a href=\"https:\/\/www.zmescience.com\/science\/archaeology\/glass-factory-israel-54720\/\">Israeli archaeologists uncover roman-period glass factory underpinning trade throughout the empire<\/a><br \/>\n                        <\/span><\/p><\/div>\n<\/article>\n<article class=\"jeg_post jeg_pl_xs_4 format-standard\">\n<div class=\"jeg_postblock_content\">\n                        <span class=\"jeg_post_title\"><br \/>\n                            <a href=\"https:\/\/www.zmescience.com\/other\/great-pics\/bridge-glass-china\/\">1000 ft Long, 600 ft High Suspension Bridge Opens in China \u2013 and it\u2019s Transparent<\/a><br \/>\n                        <\/span><\/p><\/div>\n<\/article>\n<article class=\"jeg_post jeg_pl_xs_4 format-standard\">\n<div class=\"jeg_postblock_content\">\n                        <span class=\"jeg_post_title\"><br \/>\n                            <a href=\"https:\/\/www.zmescience.com\/science\/chemistry\/glass-molecules-energy-fractal-wells-432543\/\">Glass molecules jam to form fractal wells<\/a><br \/>\n                        <\/span><\/p><\/div>\n<\/article>\n<article class=\"jeg_post jeg_pl_xs_4 format-standard\">\n<div class=\"jeg_postblock_content\">\n                        <span class=\"jeg_post_title\"><br \/>\n                            <a href=\"https:\/\/www.zmescience.com\/science\/news-science\/ideal-glass-simulation\/\">Physicists Simulate Legendary Ideal Glass for the First Time: It\u2019s Hard Like a Diamond But Looks Like a Liquid<\/a><br \/>\n                        <\/span><\/p><\/div>\n<\/article><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"module-overlay\">\n<div class=\"preloader_type preloader_circle\">\n<div class=\"module-preloader jeg_preloader dot\">\n\t\t\t\t            <span><\/span><span><\/span><span><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t        <\/div>\n<div class=\"module-preloader jeg_preloader circle\">\n<div class=\"jnews_preloader_circle_outer\">\n<div class=\"jnews_preloader_circle_inner\"><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"module-preloader jeg_preloader square\">\n<div class=\"jeg_square\">\n<div class=\"jeg_square_inner\"><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"jeg_block_navigation\">\n<div class=\"navigation_overlay\">\n<div class=\"module-preloader jeg_preloader\"><span><\/span><span><\/span><span><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<h2 id=\"a-mystery-that-reached-the-court-of-charles-ii\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">A mystery that reached the court of Charles II<\/h2>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Prince Rupert did not invent Prince Rupert\u2019s drops. Sorry.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Objects like them were already known on the European continent before they acquired his name. Early sources called them Dutch tears or <em>lacrymae Bataviae<\/em>, although their precise geographical origin remains uncertain. Royal Society records suggest they were well known by the 1650s and may have come from the German region of Mecklenburg.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Their English name came from <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Prince_Rupert_of_the_Rhine\">Prince Rupert of the Rhine<\/a>, a soldier, naval commander, artist and enthusiastic experimenter who brought examples to England in 1660.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">King Charles II became intrigued and sent specimens to the newly established Royal Society for investigation in 1661.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Imagine being one of the scientists asked to explain them in the 17th century, without modern tech and knowledge.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A transparent glass drop lies on a table. Someone strikes its bulbous head. Nothing happens. Then a finger or tool damages the tail and the object appears to turn instantly into powder.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For the natural philosophers of the 17th century, it was an irresistible puzzle.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Sir <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Robert_Moray\">Robert Moray<\/a> reported experiments on the drops to the Royal Society in August 1661. The Society\u2019s archive still preserves his manuscript, An Account of Glasse Drops, dated 17 August 1661.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"17th-century-researchers-did-their-best\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">17th-century researchers did their best<\/h2>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Robert Hooke then subjected the objects to closer study.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In his monumental <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Micrographia\">1665 <em>Micrographia<\/em><\/a> \u2014 better known today for its spectacular drawings of fleas, cork cells and microscopic structures \u2014 Hooke also examined Prince Rupert\u2019s drops.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He realized that the explanation must lie in how the glass cooled, and that the stresses created during cooling were central to its strange behaviour.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Hooke lacked the concepts and instruments needed to map three-dimensional residual stress, but he had landed astonishingly close to the heart of the problem.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It would take more than three centuries for technology to catch up with that insight.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">High-speed cameras could finally follow the fracture. Optical measurements could reveal the invisible forces inside an intact drop. X-ray tomography could count and measure the fragments afterwards.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">What began as an aristocratic curiosity became a remarkably useful laboratory for studying how brittle materials fail.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"prince-rupert-s-drop-and-modern-safety-glass\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">Prince Rupert\u2019s drop and modern safety glass<\/h2>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The principle that protects a Prince Rupert\u2019s drop also appears all around us.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Consider the tempered glass used in shower doors, architectural panels and some other everyday glass products.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Thermal tempering deliberately creates compression at the surface and tension inside. The exact geometry and stress levels differ, but the engineering logic remains the same: since dangerous cracks usually start at surfaces, put that surface into compression.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That makes the glass more resistant to damage. But it also helps explain why strongly tempered glass can suddenly crumble into a multitude of small pieces when a crack finally penetrates the protective layer.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Prince Rupert\u2019s drops are an extreme, three-dimensional example of the same fundamental physics. The 2021 fragmentation research found important similarities between stressed drops and tempered glass plates.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As studies keep showing, the strength of a material doesn\u2019t depend only on what it\u2019s made of. It also depends on the invisible forces locked inside it.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"the-story-is-still-evolving\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">The story is still evolving<\/h2>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In June 2026, researchers <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sciencedirect.com\/science\/article\/abs\/pii\/S0272884226019474\">published a new investigation<\/a> that looked beyond those internal forces and examined something more subtle: the chemistry of the glass itself.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Using atom probe tomography and other analytical techniques, the team investigated chemical variations across Prince Rupert\u2019s drops.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">They discovered that the ratio of potassium to sodium increased from about 0.21 in the interior to 0.32 near the exterior \u2014 a change of roughly 52%.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Why is that interesting? In certain types of chemically strengthened glass, exchanging smaller sodium ions for larger potassium ions can help create compressive stress near the surface. The researchers wondered whether a related compositional effect could contribute to the extraordinary strength of Prince Rupert\u2019s drops.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Their calculations suggested that the measured chemical differences could contribute to a somewhat higher compressive stress near the outer head. But that remains a proposed contribution, not a replacement for the well-established explanation based on rapid cooling.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Four centuries after the Royal Society first investigated these objects, scientists are still finding new details inside them.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And perhaps that\u2019s why Prince Rupert\u2019s drops remain so captivating. They\u2019re not exotic substances or elaborate machines. They\u2019re ordinary glass transformed by an extraordinary cooling process.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\n<div class=\"zme-google-follow-banners\">\n        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/preferences\/source?q=https:\/\/www.zmescience.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><br \/>\n            <img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.zmescience.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Preferred_source_publisher_butto.width-1000.format-webp.webp\" width=\"676\" height=\"213\" alt=\"Add ZME Science as a preferred source on Google Search\"><br \/>\n        <\/a><\/p>\n<p>        <a href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqKQgKIiNDQklTRkFnTWFoQUtEbnB0WlhOamFXVnVZMlV1WTI5dEtBQVAB?hl=en-US&amp;gl=US&amp;ceid=US%3Aen\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><br \/>\n            <img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.zmescience.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/3128386d62367110cebacf04b3d00b3e1738087212514.png\" width=\"564\" height=\"167\" alt=\"Follow ZME Science on Google News\"><br \/>\n        <\/a>\n    <\/div>\n<div class=\"jeg_post_tags\"><span>Tags:<\/span> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.zmescience.com\/tag\/glass\/\" rel=\"tag\">glass<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.zmescience.com\/tag\/prince-ruperts-drop\/\" rel=\"tag\">prince rupert&#8217;s drop<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.zmescience.com\/tag\/tension\/\" rel=\"tag\">tension<\/a><\/div>\n<div id=\"freestar-video-ad\">\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Princo Ruperto stiklo la\u0161as gali atlaikyti mil\u017eini\u0161k\u0105 spaudim\u0105, bet \u012fskil\u0119s plonoje \u201euodegoje\u201c per mikrosekundes subyra \u012f t\u016bkstan\u010dius \u0161uki\u0173.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[14259,53873,53872,11016,13434,53871,50492],"miestas":[],"class_list":["post-68710","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-mokslas","tag-grudintas-stiklas","tag-karaliskoji-draugija","tag-liekamosios-itampos","tag-luziai","tag-medziagu-mokslas","tag-princo-ruperto-lasas","tag-stiklas"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cp.snarskis.lt\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68710","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cp.snarskis.lt\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cp.snarskis.lt\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cp.snarskis.lt\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=68710"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cp.snarskis.lt\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68710\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cp.snarskis.lt\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=68710"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cp.snarskis.lt\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=68710"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cp.snarskis.lt\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=68710"},{"taxonomy":"miestas","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cp.snarskis.lt\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/miestas?post=68710"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}