I thought this was so interesting. A Prince Rupert's Drop can withstand a blow from a hammer and not shattered if it's hit on the ball end! But will disintergrate when slightly damaged on the tail end. So what the heck is a Prince Rupert's Ball? Well from wikipedia .... Prince Rupert's Drops (also known as Rupert's Balls or Dutch tears are glassobjects created by dripping molten glass into cold water. The glass cools into a tadpole-shaped droplet with a long, thin tail. The water rapidly cools the molten glass on the outside of the drop, while the inner portion of the drop remains significantly hotter. When the glass on the inside eventually cools, it contracts inside the already-solid outer part. This contraction sets up very large compressive stresses on the exterior, while the core of the drop is in a state of tensile stress. It can be said to be a kind of tempered glass.The very high residual stress within the drop gives rise to unusual qualities, such as the ability to withstand a blow from a hammer on the bulbous end without breaking, while the drop will disintegrate explosively if the tail end is even slightly damaged. And here's the video that shows all this in action. [video=http://youtu.be/xe-f4gokRBs][/video]
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