Prince Rupert's drops are produced by dropping molten glass drops into cold water. The water rapidly cools and solidifies the glass from the outside inward. This thermal quenching may be described by means of a simplified model of a rapidly cooled sphere. Prince Rupert's drops have remained a scientific curiosity for nearly 400 years due to two unusual mechanical properties: when the tail is snipped, the drop disintegrates explosively into powder, whereas the bulbous head can withstand compressive forces of up to .
