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Mysteriously Exploding Or Disintegrating Glass Objects

Was it warm inside and cold outside? That might have an effect on glass.
 
Glass breaks when the frequency of noise or vibrations are the same as the glass' resonance frequency(or something like that).
 
Shady said:
This happened a few years ago, we had one of those glass jugs that look like a pyrex one, doubt it was tho, i had used it in the microwave, it was washed in the sink, put on a flat tray ready to place in the dishwasher, it had been sitting there approx, 15-20 mins,(it never went in the dishwasher) when all of a sudden it exploded, glass everywhere within a few feet, the glass itself was like when you shatter a windscreen, like little square pieces

Wont use any glass things to cook with now, scared the bejesus outta me it did
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Pyrex dishes do eventually go like this. They're borosilicate glass, which is really hard and can normally withstand being dropped. However, repeated heating/cooling cycles can weaken the glass structure.
 
heisenbear said:
When I was living at home, in my early teens, I was sat with my parents and my visiting grandparents watching the TV. There was a sudden loud 'BANG!' which made us all jump. Then the sliding glass door to the conservatory started to shatter on it's own accord. We all sat and watched as the web of fine cracks slowly spread in the safety glass. It was freaky.
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I get 'crack' noises from my conservatory door too. Been happening for years. Eventually, it'll probably go the same way as yours.
 
Coal said:
It'll be science I expect.
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It's why marching soldiers are told to 'break step' when crossing bridges. If the frequency of their marching steps happens to coincide with any natural resonant frequencies of the bridge, a dangerous resonance could be set up that would shake the bridge to bits.
 
rynner2 said:
It's why marching soldiers are told to 'break step' when crossing bridges. If the frequency of their marching steps happens to coincide with any natural resonant frequencies of the bridge, a dangerous resonance could be set up that would shake the bridge to bits.
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Was being humurous :cool2:
 
Coal said:
It'd depend a lot on the number of soldiers and the type and construction of the bridge I'd have thought. Remember the Millenium bridge?
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No doubt, but given a) a bridge or standard design and moderate size and b) a realistic number of soldiers to be marching over it as a single body, it looks unlikely.

The myth is also pretty old, so perhaps we ought only consider fairly traditional designs.

I fully expect that under lab conditions perfectly replicating a pre-designed model it might be caused; as a 'real world' phenomenon that has happened 'in the wild' and could occur again, I am extremely doubtful.
 
Coal said:
It'd depend a lot on the number of soldiers and the type and construction of the bridge I'd have thought. Remember the Millenium bridge?
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The Millennium Bridge was an example of bad engineering, but it did illustrate the principle.
 
In the Dungeon at Tottington many years back suddenly a glass shelf full of
wine and sherry glasses brock in the middle and the lot crashed to the floor
no one within yards of it landlord did not react at first then started a clean up
as though it was a common occurrence it was the landlord's non reaction that
made it stick in my mind.
 
RaM said:
In the Dungeon at Tottington many years back suddenly a glass shelf full of
wine and sherry glasses brock in the middle and the lot crashed to the floor
no one within yards of it landlord did not react at first then started a clean up
as though it was a common occurrence it was the landlord's non reaction that
made it stick in my mind.
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Makes you wonder why the shelf was made of glass, if it was a common occurrence.
 
Mythopoeika said:
Makes you wonder why the shelf was made of glass, if it was a common occurrence.
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Not a clue there were 3 teared glass selves top one went
brackets were ok as were the two shelves under neath
but glasses cascaded everywhere.
 
Yithian said:
No doubt, but given a) a bridge or standard design and moderate size and b) a realistic number of soldiers to be marching over it as a single body, it looks unlikely.

The myth is also pretty old, so perhaps we ought only consider fairly traditional designs.

I fully expect that under lab conditions perfectly replicating a pre-designed model it might be caused; as a 'real world' phenomenon that has happened 'in the wild' and could occur again, I am extremely doubtful.
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I always thought the soldiers' march causing a bridge failure meme traced back to the 1831 Broughton Suspension Bridge collapse:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broughton_Suspension_Bridge

The collapse occurred while troops were marching across the span, and accounts of the time mention the bridge vibrating in apparent resonance with the marching.

However, the collapse was eventually blamed on a material failure in one or more components in the bridge's anchoring structure. This didn't prevent the army from imposing a policy of breaking lockstep stride when crossing a bridge.
 
EnolaGaia said:
I always thought the soldiers' march causing a bridge failure meme traced back to the 1831 Broughton Suspension Bridge collapse:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broughton_Suspension_Bridge

The collapse occurred while troops were marching across the span, and accounts of the time mention the bridge vibrating in apparent resonance with the marching.

However, the collapse was eventually blamed on a material failure in one or more components in the bridge's anchoring structure. This didn't prevent the army from imposing a policy of breaking lockstep stride when crossing a bridge.
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Many years ago I was working a Beach Boys concert in a 30,000-seat arena, seating on metal bleachers. I looked up to see four or five local stagehands who were not working the show leaving with their families. They said that the entire audience jumping up and down in unison on the seats was going to create a resonance that would collapse them. I didn't have time to panic as the song ended, don't think. I could have stopped it in any case.
 
There's always a way to radio the stage manager to stop a show in an emergency, but what was I supposed to tell him?
 
ive had two occasions of bare light bulbs exploding above me in bathrooms and covering me with broken glass, both times i had just got out of the bath/shower and was wet and naked, first happened in norwich second in new orleans louisiana a few months apart in 1991/2

both times i had been raising a towel over my head and smashed the unshaded glass bulb
 
henry said:
ive had two occasions of bare light bulbs exploding above me in bathrooms and covering me with broken glass, both times i had just got out of the bath/shower and was wet and naked, first happened in norwich second in new orleans louisiana a few months apart in 1991/2

both times i had been raising a towel over my head and smashed the unshaded glass bulb
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I can not remember a bulb shattering in all my 70 years and we have had very few
that have failed, my Daughter on the other hand as had quite a few shatter and bulbs
blow on a weekly basis, have had a test meter on the house but nothing seems amiss.
 
A few months back, there was a period of a few weeks where I had 3 light bulbs blow and shatter glass everywhere when I turned on the light (in the canteen at work). The light bulbs they were using were of a spotlight design that gave off a lot of heat. I think the explanation was that they'd bought a big job-lot of these cheap and nasty bulbs and were just working through them before installing LED lights.
I'd get in to work really early and walk into the canteen to use the snack machines. The room would be cold and turning on the bulbs would create a thermic shock, causing the glass to shatter all over the floor.
Eventually, the building owner took my advice and installed LED bulbs. Problem hasn't occurred since, although we now have nobody to run the canteen.
 
I had the exact same thing happen one evening when playing on my old PS2 with a pint of beer. Static electricity arced out of the television, struck the glass placed a few inches from the screen (due to the condensation created by a cold beer) and blew it up like a bomb had gone off. Needless to say, ones pants were soiled.
 
Mr Spagooter said:
I had the exact same thing happen one evening when playing on my old PS2 with a pint of beer. Static electricity arced out of the television, struck the glass placed a few inches from the screen (due to the condensation created by a cold beer) and blew it up like a bomb had gone off. Needless to say, ones pants were soiled.
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Cathode ray tube, right?
I had an old monitor that zapped me in the face when its power supply went boom. My face tingled for a few days afterwards.
Amazingly, that monitor was fixed by the manufacturer under warranty.
 
Mythopoeika said:
Cathode ray tube, right?
I had an old monitor that zapped me in the face when its power supply went boom. My face tingled for a few days afterwards.
Amazingly, that monitor was fixed by the manufacturer under warranty.
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Ah yes I remember the days when manufacturers actually repaired stuff, and honoured their warranty. Sadly those days seem long gone.

A few years ago I was travelling with a mate in his Vauxhall Frontera, when the rear screen completely shattered out of the blue. We thought that a stone or something had hit it. However it transpired that this was a well known problem with these cars, the problem being a design/ manufacturing fault. Made me jump that's for sure.
 
I can attest this happens. I had a similar experience back in 1998 in my apt. I came home from work and went to the kitchen cabinet to get a glass to pour a beer, now this was my favorite glass of very thick nature and when I opened the cupboard I found that container seemed to have exploded into an almost sand like size with very bottom intact but completely pulverized. Nothing else was touched in the space and there was no bullet holes or anything suggesting anything out of order. The room temp was 68-72 degrees. I had other strange events in that apt as well, things turning on and objects moving when I went next to them. I just wanted to share this . I commanded this to stop in the Lords name and I never had any more events occur.
 
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