in today’s video we are gonna make some
Prince Rupert’s drops and after that
we’re gonna see if we can make some and
liquid nitrogen and if there’s any
difference guys I’m Nate I’m Cali today
we are going to be learning a little bit
about Prince Rupert’s drops and Callie
has done quite a bit of practicing and
researching about those so she’s gonna
be sharing what she has learned to us so
here’s the basic idea we’re going to
take molten glass and drip it into water
to see if we can make some Prince
Rupert’s drops if we can succeed we’re
gonna put those through a series of
tests to test strength and durability
after that we’ll try the same process
with liquid nitrogen
to start us off what is a Prince
Rupert’s drop so a Prince Rupert’s drop
is something that’s kind of an
interesting scientists for hundreds of
years now by taking a piece of molten
glass and dripping it into cool water
what happens is the outside of the glass
cools faster than the inside causing an
incredible internal pressure what that
means is that the head of this drop that
looks like a tadpole is incredibly
strong and can actually even survive
bullet blasts but one flick of the tail
and the entire thing shatters into dust
so to get started it’s actually pretty
simple this is a torch it is matte gas
so this is something that you can pick
up at a local hardware store but of
course adult supervision
maff gas burns hotter than propane or
butane and that’s why we’re using it
here we really want to be able to heat
up the glass really well and keep it at
that temperature until right when it
goes into the water we have some glass
rods here also very simple to find at a
craft store lampworking glass for bead
making and then a pitcher of water we
also have some dollar-store glass just
because we wanted to test it so the best
results that I found so far while there
are many types of glass in the world is
going to be soda lime glass which is the
most common and usually used in lamp
work indeed making and glassblowing
let’s start with a pretty clear piece
just make it as easy on ourselves as we
can so don’t let your tank touch the
water if you
this it came caused ripples and those
ripples can also disturb the tail you
disturb the tail while is cooling the
whole thing looks fatter
focus the heat on the beam of your glass
and there we go our first drop of the
day in your experience trying to make so
many of these what is your approximate
success percentage so I don’t want to
discourage anyone but it’s usually about
three out of ten when it comes to the
colored glasses and what I think that
might be is from the impurities from the
metal oxides that are involved when it
comes to the clear ones almost in 80%
success rate as another warning Prince
Rupert’s drops are as we said highly
explosive now that sounds a little
extreme but they do sometimes combust
just on their own so I like to keep them
in a container at least with walls that
way say if one does decide to break on
us while we’re making others your
cleanup isn’t so bad so you’ll notice
with the larger Prince Rupert’s drops
the tails are much more rigid with these
ones you can kind of even see that it’s
got some bounce to it some flexibility
but down in this area where it starts to
get very rigid you snap that this whole
all right so I’ve got five which should
be enough for some experiments Nate you
want to make some so a couple of things
to note while we’re doing this I have
Nate with his leg out to stabilize the
glass rod as he’s working the reason why
is as the drop Falls we don’t want that
tail disturbed as it hits the water do
not disturb the water if you do decide
to try and make these at home if you
hear a very slight noise as it hits the
water like it hits but nothing else it
probably didn’t take what you really
want is a very awful popping noise as
soon as it hits the water that’s usually
the signal that you have a successful
it’s super full of bubbles right now so
that’s the problem I was having with
anything that was a red or gold color I
don’t think it likes the the gold oxide
too successful and more than two
unsuccessful but those shattered so
badly that like they don’t even have
tails come now
but hey you did it okay the glass rods
we got some pretty good results with
these are all probably real Prince
Rupert’s drops we have a little bit of
this glass we got from the dollar store
does this work so far I have not got
dollar store the last two work I’m not
sure if it’s because it’s full of other
impurities or if it’s a different type
of glass or a silicates in particular
which is normally your cooking ware in
your kitchen tends to shatter you can
make a drop but usually it won’t break
when you break the tail so it’s not a
true Prince Rupert’s drop but I’m
curious to see if we can at least try to
make one with these so the first thing
that we’re gonna do is get rid of this
base here now in the past when I’ve
attempted this tends to shatter so we’re
haha no building no break-in – this time
I want a set of wine glasses that looks
like that modern art made easy very very
fun no if you get it hot I might be able
just cut right through it yeah well it’s
not much to work with but let’s try so
the first thing that I’m noticing is
this is not reacting like our glass rods
from before I’m not sure if this is a
soda-lime glass or if it’s just really
important or like I would assume a
not at all just shattered on impact
we’ve now had many successful Prince
Rupert’s drop just in the water but I
know a ton of you want to see what
happens if we try and make them in
liquid nitrogen so we’ve got liquid
nitrogen we’re gonna see if we can make
some Prince Rupert’s drops in liquid
nitrogen if they form the same way if
they look the same and if they behave
the same way after they’re formed if we
can even get them to form at all now
this is the piece of glass that we’ve
had the most success with so far I’m
pretty sure again that’s because of the
lack of impurities in it so that’s what
we’re gonna try first to hopefully make
a successful Prince Rupert’s drop in the
I yank this
[Music]
moment of truth yes it actually looks
like it’s shattered but stayed in place
so I don’t think this one’s gonna work
very well but this is interesting I’ve
seen videos online where people have
dropped molten glass into liquid
nitrogen the main difference that you
see when you drip molten glass into the
water is that it forms a small bubble on
the inside normally when they drop into
the liquid nitrogen you don’t get that
now this one looks like it’s full of
bubbles so as Kelly was handing this to
me the tail broke off kind of right
where we were saying it looked like it
was separated but it didn’t explode if
that happens to a real Prince Rupert’s
job I wouldn’t be holding anything or if
I was holding anything would just be a
pile of glass dust in this case the tail
broke off so it’s clearly not a Prince
Rupert’s drop but we got something for
him in the connection let’s try a few
the wind picked up and that changes
everything we have a few some failures
this tale has nothing attached to it
this was cool these work cobalt a minute
ago but you can actually watch the frost
as it forms I don’t know what is going
on here I think one drip and touched the
other tails I think it did I think this
was the last one and it’s probably still
like morning or something yeah yeah it
was in liquid nitrogen that’s how hot
molten glasses so you want to be really
careful when you’re making these that
was in liquid nitrogen still hot
so at a glance you can already see this
is the drop that we put into water and
there are a few tiny little bubbles in
there but this is the drop that we put
into liquid nitrogen no bubbles to be
seen and it’s actually more of a uniform
shape so here’s another difference that
I’m saying this is one that we dripped
into water and you can actually see
again that deformation that’s pretty
common in Prince Rupert’s drops but this
one although it did shatter on impact in
the liquid nitrogen if held together one
of the defining characteristics of a
Prince Rupert’s drop is that it’s very
tough on the head but if you clip the
tail anywhere where it’s not flexible it
will shatter and it doesn’t just break
into pieces it turns like to dust and
almost instantaneously so that’s what
that went everywhere I think that shot
glass dust for like 20 feet that jumpin
gazebo I felt it just like a shower of
glass powder hitting my face so and that
happens so so quickly so now let’s try
Prince Rupert’s drop from the liquid
nitrogen and if you take a look at it
absolutely no imperfections and no
bubbles flipping off the tail the tail
broke closer
[Music]
so we have a drop of glass yes but we
definitely don’t have a Prince Rupert’s
drop it cooled down it kept its drop
shape and it’s neat but with the real
Prince Rupert’s drops you clip the tail
they explode into dust but liquid
nitrogen drops they just break wherever
you break them I still want to know how
this is gonna handle hammer blow yep so
that was a pretty light hit and it
didn’t shatter the whole thing but it
broke a lot of pieces off of it I would
say that this is probably regular glass
maybe like a marble um this should be a
real true Prince Rupert’s drop okay
this little piece came from the liquid
nitrogen so so the problem with this is
that there’s actually only 20% of this
drop that is incredibly strong other
than that there are the honey bubbles
really close to the surface and these
are the ones we drop into water so they
are stronger did not absorb all of the
impact tail still got crushed
you can see how fine of a dust that
turns into a really caught most of the
thing as it exploded
we’ve tried smashing these with a hammer
a few times and we’ve gotten some good
hammer strikes but in the end there
keeps being too much vibration on the
tails so let’s try putting these in our
[Applause]
[Music]
the 10th advice I think it did like the
knurling on it okay that right there I
mean I’m sorry about the vice but that
makes me so happy that they’re that
strong I also wonder if you had it a
little bit lower so as close to the tip
as you can get it because that’s where
that 10% strength is I’m gonna like hang
guys so you’ll actually see that I’ve
managed to dent the nerdling now these
are actually exploding fairly quickly
and my only thought on that is it’s
probably because there isn’t even
pressure all the time so I think that
probably has something to do with the
fact these are shattering the way they
are so what we’ve seen here with the
bench vise is that we can put as much
pressure on these as possible I’m
actually hanging off of this thing
there’s a couple of shots where we’ve
got me like all of my weight and I’m
hanging off of it but as soon as I let
up the pressure not move it but letting
up the pressure
that’s when we’re getting the it’s not
really a flash point that’s just when it
starts to combust it just explodes as
soon as the pressure changes on it that
might be because there’s lower pressure
on it suddenly it might be that the
inside of this vise has some sort of
jagged knurling and as we let up on the
pressure it shifts slightly until you
know a point is kind of digging into the
glass or scraping it sideways but it is
interesting because while we’re putting
constant pressure on it it pretty much
doesn’t explode until we let go or try
and release the pressure and if
anybody’s making this at home and wants
to break them we’ve already got
scratches on our glasses and a couple of
Nick’s on our face so wear protection if
you’re doing this like be really really
careful these things when they shattered
they should are hard
hey guys you’ve probably noticed that
since we introduced Cali and our Captain
America shield video every new video has
had secret codes and graphic glitches
and other secret elements hidden into it
keep track of what you see in the
timestamps of when you see it we’ve got
some big prizes to give away and finding the codes might make you our next winner
Prince Rupert’s drops and after that
we’re gonna see if we can make some and
liquid nitrogen and if there’s any
difference guys I’m Nate I’m Cali today
we are going to be learning a little bit
about Prince Rupert’s drops and Callie
has done quite a bit of practicing and
researching about those so she’s gonna
be sharing what she has learned to us so
here’s the basic idea we’re going to
take molten glass and drip it into water
to see if we can make some Prince
Rupert’s drops if we can succeed we’re
gonna put those through a series of
tests to test strength and durability
after that we’ll try the same process
with liquid nitrogen
to start us off what is a Prince
Rupert’s drop so a Prince Rupert’s drop
is something that’s kind of an
interesting scientists for hundreds of
years now by taking a piece of molten
glass and dripping it into cool water
what happens is the outside of the glass
cools faster than the inside causing an
incredible internal pressure what that
means is that the head of this drop that
looks like a tadpole is incredibly
strong and can actually even survive
bullet blasts but one flick of the tail
and the entire thing shatters into dust
so to get started it’s actually pretty
simple this is a torch it is matte gas
so this is something that you can pick
up at a local hardware store but of
course adult supervision
maff gas burns hotter than propane or
butane and that’s why we’re using it
here we really want to be able to heat
up the glass really well and keep it at
that temperature until right when it
goes into the water we have some glass
rods here also very simple to find at a
craft store lampworking glass for bead
making and then a pitcher of water we
also have some dollar-store glass just
because we wanted to test it so the best
results that I found so far while there
are many types of glass in the world is
going to be soda lime glass which is the
most common and usually used in lamp
work indeed making and glassblowing
let’s start with a pretty clear piece
just make it as easy on ourselves as we
can so don’t let your tank touch the
water if you
this it came caused ripples and those
ripples can also disturb the tail you
disturb the tail while is cooling the
whole thing looks fatter
focus the heat on the beam of your glass
and there we go our first drop of the
day in your experience trying to make so
many of these what is your approximate
success percentage so I don’t want to
discourage anyone but it’s usually about
three out of ten when it comes to the
colored glasses and what I think that
might be is from the impurities from the
metal oxides that are involved when it
comes to the clear ones almost in 80%
success rate as another warning Prince
Rupert’s drops are as we said highly
explosive now that sounds a little
extreme but they do sometimes combust
just on their own so I like to keep them
in a container at least with walls that
way say if one does decide to break on
us while we’re making others your
cleanup isn’t so bad so you’ll notice
with the larger Prince Rupert’s drops
the tails are much more rigid with these
ones you can kind of even see that it’s
got some bounce to it some flexibility
but down in this area where it starts to
get very rigid you snap that this whole
all right so I’ve got five which should
be enough for some experiments Nate you
want to make some so a couple of things
to note while we’re doing this I have
Nate with his leg out to stabilize the
glass rod as he’s working the reason why
is as the drop Falls we don’t want that
tail disturbed as it hits the water do
not disturb the water if you do decide
to try and make these at home if you
hear a very slight noise as it hits the
water like it hits but nothing else it
probably didn’t take what you really
want is a very awful popping noise as
soon as it hits the water that’s usually
the signal that you have a successful
it’s super full of bubbles right now so
that’s the problem I was having with
anything that was a red or gold color I
don’t think it likes the the gold oxide
too successful and more than two
unsuccessful but those shattered so
badly that like they don’t even have
tails come now
but hey you did it okay the glass rods
we got some pretty good results with
these are all probably real Prince
Rupert’s drops we have a little bit of
this glass we got from the dollar store
does this work so far I have not got
dollar store the last two work I’m not
sure if it’s because it’s full of other
impurities or if it’s a different type
of glass or a silicates in particular
which is normally your cooking ware in
your kitchen tends to shatter you can
make a drop but usually it won’t break
when you break the tail so it’s not a
true Prince Rupert’s drop but I’m
curious to see if we can at least try to
make one with these so the first thing
that we’re gonna do is get rid of this
base here now in the past when I’ve
attempted this tends to shatter so we’re
haha no building no break-in – this time
I want a set of wine glasses that looks
like that modern art made easy very very
fun no if you get it hot I might be able
just cut right through it yeah well it’s
not much to work with but let’s try so
the first thing that I’m noticing is
this is not reacting like our glass rods
from before I’m not sure if this is a
soda-lime glass or if it’s just really
important or like I would assume a
not at all just shattered on impact
we’ve now had many successful Prince
Rupert’s drop just in the water but I
know a ton of you want to see what
happens if we try and make them in
liquid nitrogen so we’ve got liquid
nitrogen we’re gonna see if we can make
some Prince Rupert’s drops in liquid
nitrogen if they form the same way if
they look the same and if they behave
the same way after they’re formed if we
can even get them to form at all now
this is the piece of glass that we’ve
had the most success with so far I’m
pretty sure again that’s because of the
lack of impurities in it so that’s what
we’re gonna try first to hopefully make
a successful Prince Rupert’s drop in the
I yank this
[Music]
moment of truth yes it actually looks
like it’s shattered but stayed in place
so I don’t think this one’s gonna work
very well but this is interesting I’ve
seen videos online where people have
dropped molten glass into liquid
nitrogen the main difference that you
see when you drip molten glass into the
water is that it forms a small bubble on
the inside normally when they drop into
the liquid nitrogen you don’t get that
now this one looks like it’s full of
bubbles so as Kelly was handing this to
me the tail broke off kind of right
where we were saying it looked like it
was separated but it didn’t explode if
that happens to a real Prince Rupert’s
job I wouldn’t be holding anything or if
I was holding anything would just be a
pile of glass dust in this case the tail
broke off so it’s clearly not a Prince
Rupert’s drop but we got something for
him in the connection let’s try a few
the wind picked up and that changes
everything we have a few some failures
this tale has nothing attached to it
this was cool these work cobalt a minute
ago but you can actually watch the frost
as it forms I don’t know what is going
on here I think one drip and touched the
other tails I think it did I think this
was the last one and it’s probably still
like morning or something yeah yeah it
was in liquid nitrogen that’s how hot
molten glasses so you want to be really
careful when you’re making these that
was in liquid nitrogen still hot
so at a glance you can already see this
is the drop that we put into water and
there are a few tiny little bubbles in
there but this is the drop that we put
into liquid nitrogen no bubbles to be
seen and it’s actually more of a uniform
shape so here’s another difference that
I’m saying this is one that we dripped
into water and you can actually see
again that deformation that’s pretty
common in Prince Rupert’s drops but this
one although it did shatter on impact in
the liquid nitrogen if held together one
of the defining characteristics of a
Prince Rupert’s drop is that it’s very
tough on the head but if you clip the
tail anywhere where it’s not flexible it
will shatter and it doesn’t just break
into pieces it turns like to dust and
almost instantaneously so that’s what
that went everywhere I think that shot
glass dust for like 20 feet that jumpin
gazebo I felt it just like a shower of
glass powder hitting my face so and that
happens so so quickly so now let’s try
Prince Rupert’s drop from the liquid
nitrogen and if you take a look at it
absolutely no imperfections and no
bubbles flipping off the tail the tail
broke closer
[Music]
so we have a drop of glass yes but we
definitely don’t have a Prince Rupert’s
drop it cooled down it kept its drop
shape and it’s neat but with the real
Prince Rupert’s drops you clip the tail
they explode into dust but liquid
nitrogen drops they just break wherever
you break them I still want to know how
this is gonna handle hammer blow yep so
that was a pretty light hit and it
didn’t shatter the whole thing but it
broke a lot of pieces off of it I would
say that this is probably regular glass
maybe like a marble um this should be a
real true Prince Rupert’s drop okay
this little piece came from the liquid
nitrogen so so the problem with this is
that there’s actually only 20% of this
drop that is incredibly strong other
than that there are the honey bubbles
really close to the surface and these
are the ones we drop into water so they
are stronger did not absorb all of the
impact tail still got crushed
you can see how fine of a dust that
turns into a really caught most of the
thing as it exploded
we’ve tried smashing these with a hammer
a few times and we’ve gotten some good
hammer strikes but in the end there
keeps being too much vibration on the
tails so let’s try putting these in our
[Applause]
[Music]
the 10th advice I think it did like the
knurling on it okay that right there I
mean I’m sorry about the vice but that
makes me so happy that they’re that
strong I also wonder if you had it a
little bit lower so as close to the tip
as you can get it because that’s where
that 10% strength is I’m gonna like hang
guys so you’ll actually see that I’ve
managed to dent the nerdling now these
are actually exploding fairly quickly
and my only thought on that is it’s
probably because there isn’t even
pressure all the time so I think that
probably has something to do with the
fact these are shattering the way they
are so what we’ve seen here with the
bench vise is that we can put as much
pressure on these as possible I’m
actually hanging off of this thing
there’s a couple of shots where we’ve
got me like all of my weight and I’m
hanging off of it but as soon as I let
up the pressure not move it but letting
up the pressure
that’s when we’re getting the it’s not
really a flash point that’s just when it
starts to combust it just explodes as
soon as the pressure changes on it that
might be because there’s lower pressure
on it suddenly it might be that the
inside of this vise has some sort of
jagged knurling and as we let up on the
pressure it shifts slightly until you
know a point is kind of digging into the
glass or scraping it sideways but it is
interesting because while we’re putting
constant pressure on it it pretty much
doesn’t explode until we let go or try
and release the pressure and if
anybody’s making this at home and wants
to break them we’ve already got
scratches on our glasses and a couple of
Nick’s on our face so wear protection if
you’re doing this like be really really
careful these things when they shattered
they should are hard
hey guys you’ve probably noticed that
since we introduced Cali and our Captain
America shield video every new video has
had secret codes and graphic glitches
and other secret elements hidden into it
keep track of what you see in the
timestamps of when you see it we’ve got
some big prizes to give away and finding the codes might make you our next winner
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