August 3, 2013 Stick Bomb Tutorial

Ok, this might be a bit of a stretch today but stick with me. (groan)

We study tempered glass in material science. We go through the process of tempering - molten glass directly into cool water. The outside hardens quickly, locking in its shape while the inside is still molten and expanded. As the interior cools then, it tries to shrink and can't. So the inside is in tension - pulling inward - while the outside is in compression - being pulled together tightly by the inside glass.

If you don't know what I'm talking about or need the most awesome tutorial and visual of that ever, check out Destin's Prince Rupert's Drop video at 3:25. Destin also mentions that the Prince Rupert's Drop stores mechanical strain energy.

And for some reason this year when teaching tempered glass, the idea of a stick bomb popped into my head. I remember making very basic versions - of these when I was a teenager, but I never made anything approaching the long chains that you can see in the video up above. I am pretty sure, however, that the stick bombs also store mechanical strain energy in their structures - just like tempered glass does.

And it's a heck of a lot easier to have the students make in class than tempered glass is.



Though you can have the students make Prince Rupert's Drops.