Mystery of Prince Rupert's Drop at 130,000 fps - Smarter Every Day 86

From Wikipedia:

 "Prince Rupert's Drops are glass objects 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 surface, while the core of the drop is in a state of tensile stress. It is a kind of toughened 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."

A Polarizing Discovery About the Big Bang!

MIT 8.02 Electricity and Magnetism Lecture 31

Rainbows. A modest rainbow will appear in the lecture hall! Fog Bows. Supernumerary Bows. Polarization of the Bows. Halos around the Sun and the Moon. Mock Suns.

 

MIT 8.02 Electricity and Magnetism Lecture 30

Polarizers. Malus's Law. Brewster Angle. Polarization by Reflection and Scattering.  Why is the sky blue? Why are sunsets red? The sun will set in the lecture hall!

 

MIT 8.02 Electricity and Magnetism Lecture 28

Index of Refraction, Poynting Vector, Oscillating Charges, Radiation Pressure, Comet Tails, Polarization (Linear, Elliptical, and Circular).

 

Circular Polarization

Circular polarization of light.

 

Double Vision - Sixty Symbols

A huge crystal of calcite is used to demonstrate birefringence, a side-effect of light's refraction through certain materials.

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Three polarizers

Tinkering with a LED array and three sheets of polaroid.

 

Polarisation - Sixty Symbols

The strange world of electromagnetic waves!

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How do 3D glasses work - Sixty Symbols

A visit to the toilet is included in Professor Phil Moriarty's explanation of 3D glasses. How do 3D films give us that three dimensional effect?

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