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.

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

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

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

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 :)

Whoever took the time to make the captions, I commend you for your work disclosing every single sound effect

I think an issue was the too small container. As you pointed out yourself, a shock wave hit the outer walls of the container and was then reflected back to the explosion stopping the explosion from expanding.

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!

US and International HS physics teacher for 24 years now. Your enthusiasm and honesty about your process is inspiring for myself and my students. Your passion for PRDs is terrific stuff. Keep up the good work. You are making a difference.

I used to build composite parts of jets for the military. If you need more build time before the epoxy "goes off", we would put the epoxy into a refrigerator to slow the exothermic reaction. You could do this before or after the mix of the two component strata depending on what your needs are.

Returning to the vid after having to pause for a long while (something needed my attention) and hitting play at 9:42 made what you said next sound like pure technobabble. It was so great haha.

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.

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

love the DTW airport.. i live in columbus so I fly through it rather regularly, awesome video i never even knew what a prince ruperts drop was till now and im fascimnated.. i need to learn more about it

You should probably have collaborated with an epoxy art channel on this, they know the properties and timing of epoxy to a science.

Thanks for letting me help you record 😁 Great video!

I'm curious if a two headed drop can be made and will it work the same

If you're wondering about the wing-shaped bubble, it's the epoxy curing. It shrinks as it cures. and having a void in the middle [the drop] gives air access, so it's peeling apart.

I have done a bit of epoxy work, and the brand I use (Totalboat) actually says to not use a mixer/drill. Probably OK for your purpose, but I did not read that warning before I laid a bar top, and had major problems with the epoxy curing right. Subsequent pours were all perfect, where we hand mixed. Another suggestion, put one of these PRDs into ballistic gel!