a glass was sitting on a counter with nothing in it. it exploded all of a sudden?

Answer 1

ok

Answer 2

Around 1992/93 I bought six small glass tumblers, and three of them exploded. I purchased them at Sainsbury, but they were made in France. They had four rounded sides and rounded corners with a leaf design over each corner. The sides were concave. One exploded soon after the cola in it had been drunk. Some weeks later a second glass exploded shortly after the user had drunk the home-made punch in it. The final one to explode did so some months later - it was actually inside the kitchen cupboard when it happened. We had chosen not to use them because of the potential danger. Ironically, I was telling a sceptical visitor about our glass tumblers at the time of the third explosion. I contacted Sainsbury, and they asked me to take the fragments to my local shop so that they could be despatched onwards for analysis. Sadly I heard no more. This was in a 1980s house (Milton Keynes - lol), and there were no other phenomena that could be described as psychic.

That's just my story - I don't have any explanations. But it can happen!

Answer 3

I have never seen this happen with a glass, but I guess it is possible...

I once saw a fibre-glass car body explode in direct sunlight. There were several distinct small explosions. At first I thought someone was shooting at it. However, as it turned out, it was a new car and drops of water had been caught within the layers of fibre-glass during manufacture. When the car was then left in the sun, the water boiled and caused a small explosion.

Was the glass in direct sunlight?
If so, it could have had a bubble from manufacture that heated or if it was an old glass, it could have had a crack that got water in it.

Answer 4

I've heard this happen too from the next room - not exactly exploded, but shattered.

I'd put it down to internal stresses in the glass (badly made) and following a knock, chip or micro-fracture it 'exploded' as the crack rapidly accerated through the material due to a temperature differential in the material (warm air / cold counter / half in sun). Normal glass cracks into big chunks - high silica content can actaully disintegrate (like automotive head lamps).

Don't worry. No spooks - just a one in a million dodgy glass.

Answer 5

okay i admit it, i laughed after i read this. maybe you just exagerated a little bit. heres what i think happened.

okay was that glass in the fridge or in the freezer for a prolonged amount of time? cause if it was it might have been the reason it exploded. most glass ware can not take the change from really cold, to warm. even if it was not that warm in the house it could have gotten the warmth from your hand when you held it.

thats the only reasonable way.

or you have a poltergeist. i'm kinda being serious here, cause really you never know whats out there. if any more of these disturbances happen, i dunno... call some people who are in the paranormal business, or that show on travel chanel, whats it called?....

Answer 6

Presuming that the glass was kept in the same position for considerable time without any discernable external impetus, there could be several reasons:
1. The Glass was not fully tempered/annealed (A thermal treatment to strengthen glass)
2. Internal micro cracks/voids(bubbles)
3. High pitch sound waves/vibrations in the vicinity e.g. Your microwave
4. Unhomogenous composition of glass
5. Changes in atmospheric conditions(Ambient temperature/pressure)

Any one of these is independently capable of glass shattering on its own. Combination of two or more factors would accelerate the accident.

Answer 7

Having worked behind a bar I learned that glass have a average life of nine hours in the hot glass wash that is used to strilizes them.Due to the tempering process they are made to take alot of knocks so they dont shatter however. After that time in the glass washer they tend to have stresses in them which can make them fraglie and supseptable to shattering into pieces. I suspect that was the same with your glass. It had reach the stage were it was to weak to take tempture changes which caused it to explode.

Answer 8

Is the counter made of metal or wood?
Does it have electronic devices in it or close to it for a significant amount of time?
Does the counter get direct sunlight or face the aircon?
Is there a fridge or frozen water supply?
Are the glasses washed by machine?
Do the glasses ever stay in the refrigarator?
By studying this matrix carefully u hav fund ur anser!!!

Answer 9

If the glass was really hot and it was a cool surface- that can cause the glass to shatter. Also be careful pulling a glass right out of the dishwasher and pouring a cold drink in it!

(I believe because heat causes matter to expand and the counter is so cool it can't handle the changing size and boom!)

Answer 10

That happened to me once. My Mother had a glass swan on the coffee table in her sitting room. She was out of the house at the time and I was just reading in this room and all of a sudden there was this really strange noise and the glass swan had vanished into thin air. Naturally Mother did not believe me that I had not broken her beloved swan. I never understood what happened to that glass swan. Really spooky at the time.

Answer 11

Ignore everyone else as the same thing happened to me a few years ago! And no the glass hadn't been in the fridge or had hot water poured into it. I have heard though that its down to pressure changes in the atmosphere, I'm too much of a pessimist to imagine it to be poltergeists!