Can a object made of glass break on it's own without being moved from it's place?

Question

Can a object made of glass (candle stand - size & shape of an ice cube) break on it's own without being touched or moved from it's place? Please let me know if you need me to be more specific with my question. A very strange incident has occured and it seems very very mysterious

Answer 1

I guess temperature gradients or loud sounds could do it.

Answer 2

There is 2 main phenomenas that can make glass break without moving it:

1. Resonance - if you use the right frequency of sound (say with tuning fork or an electronic device that outputs a sound with high frequency) and the frequency MATCHES the natural frequency of the bonds of the glass atom lattice, then you can make the glass break without touching it b/c you are making the atoms move so much that they break their lattice structure that forms the glass.

2. Temperature - like anything, glass expands and contracts with temperature. Think about how mercury in a thermometer rises or grows as the temperature is increased. This type of behavior is exhibited by everything, including glass. When you take glass and you heat it up to high temps, such as a light bulb, and then you touch it to something very cool like an ice cube - the glass will break - usually violently, because the part of the glass that you touch with the ice cube wants to contract while the rest of the hot glass is expanding.

Hope this helps - good question.

Answer 3

Thermal shock can do such a thing. When materials heat up or cool down, they change size slightly if they can. If they are prevented from doing so, such as being stuck to surrounding material at the original temperature, strong forces can be set up within the body of the material. If these forces are great enough, the object can fracture.

This kind of breakage with glass objects is not uncommon. Breakage from thermal shock is most likely to happen in households when dunking cool glassware into hot dishwater, when pouring hot water into cool glass containers (or cool water onto or into hot glass) or when putting cold water on hot glassware, such as when rinsing hot dishes. Having a piece of glassware suddenly break in your hand can be scary.

Sympathetic (acoustical) vibration can also set up stresses in glass great enough to make it fracture. The phenomenon of opera singers breaking wine glasses with only their voices is real enough but requires the singer to hold a sustained note at the resonant frequency of the object. The candle holder described in the original post would most likely require deafening levels of acoustical energy or really strong excitation at an ultrasonic resonance frequency before it would break from this cause. Neither is likely to occur in everyday experience.

Answer 4

high frequency noises can disrupt the structural integrity of a glass object, also strange changes in temperature can crack a glass object, for example, going from hot to cold can crack some windows and vise versa, describe the incident more an it might provide some clues

Answer 5

I saw the side window of a stock car shatter into a million pieces at the starting line of a drag race. The engine wasn't even being revved up yet.

Answer 6

of course!you can burn it and pour some cold water and it'll break! and if you have an ultrasonic device..use it on the glass!by the way what incident that happen to you?

Answer 7

A drastic change in temperature or a vibration at its resonant frequency could damage it.

Answer 8

Yes it can, by high pitched or ultrasonic sound.

Answer 9

Does your kid have a sling shot or a BB gun?