Damage
When the tail end is damaged, the large amount of potential energy stored in the drop's amorphous atomic structure is released, causing fractures to propagate through the material at very high speeds.
Recently an examination of the shattering of Prince Rupert's Drops by the use of extremely high speed video has revealed that the "crack front" which is initiated at the tail end propagates in a disintegrating Drop within the tensile zone towards the drop's head at a very high speed (~ 1450–1900 m/s, or up to ~4,200 miles per hour, a number that in air would be Mach 5.5).
Because of the transparency of glass, the internal stress within these objects can be demonstrated by viewing them through polarizing filters.
Read more about this topic: Prince Rupert's Drop
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