My glass beer bottle survived a fall from the 10th floor, how, & why?

  • Thread starter Thread starter dzbshea
  • Start date Start date
  • Tags Tags
    Beer Glass
AI Thread Summary
The discussion centers on a personal experience involving a Budweiser bottle that survived a fall from a 10-story balcony without breaking, prompting inquiries into the properties of modern glass bottles. Participants note that glass manufacturing has evolved, resulting in thinner, lighter bottles that are designed to be tougher due to changes in materials and production techniques. The conversation highlights the use of additives and specific cooling processes that create a tension-compression dynamic in the glass, making it more resilient to impacts. Comparisons are made to tempered glass and phenomena like Prince Rupert's drop, which illustrates the strength of glass under certain conditions. Overall, the resilience of the bottle could be attributed to a combination of factors, including the angle of impact and the nature of the surface it landed on.
dzbshea
All of you sound really smart, I have a question for you. This happened in Hawaii, years ago. I was drinking with my highschool friends, we decided who can throw the empty brown Budweiser bottles (the short stocky kind) the furthest from the balcony 10 flights down would go get another round. I went first my bottle seemed to bounce and didn't break! I've never been able to get a satisfactory response to how and why it didn't break. Can anyone tell me why? No wind and sunny day.
 
Physics news on Phys.org
It landed on/in water, or sand, or a pile of leaves, or a fish, or ??? .
 
Reply
  • Like
Likes russ_watters
Nope, it was cement and dirt, no grass, no water!
 
dzbshea said:
I went first my bottle seemed to bounce and didn't break! I've never been able to get a satisfactory response to how and why it didn't break. Can anyone tell me why?
The glass used to make bottles has changed over time. About 20 years ago, I was told that it is now less like glass, and more like a tough, cross-linked plastic. Is there any truth in that story? I have not yet researched the subject, so can anyone fill in the details.
 
Last edited:
Hi, @dzbshea, I like physics since I read at Tipler and Mosca "Physics for Science and Technology" introduction "Nature of Physics": The search for understanding the world we live in has adopted many shapes, or, better said, answers, i.e. Religion, Art, and Science. So from my point of view, there is something missing in the fall of the glass bottle, left aside. But, believe me, it is really amazing.
Best wishes!
 
Glass is a tough beast, some lucky combination of dirt/hit angle could be enough.

You should buy a lottery ticket on that day though.
 
Reply
  • Like
  • Haha
Likes DennisN, Lord Jestocost, russ_watters and 3 others
Bottles now weigh less, have thinner sides, and contain less glass than they once did for a given volume. That change has been driven by manufacturing and transport economics. To
survive, the thinner bottles must be tougher than bottles produced by the old processes.

Here is my guess as to how it is done, and why bottles now bounce.
The glass used now has additives that make it better able to withstand some tension.
The glass is blown in an external mould, then at a critical time and temperature, the bottle is ejected, and the entire external surface is evenly chilled rapidly with an air blast and solidifies. The inside surface is still plastic at that time. As the inside surface solidifies, then shrinks, the inner surface is placed under tension, with the outer surface now being in compression. The glass bottle is then more difficult to break, because a crack on the outside surface cannot be easily opened by an impact, or by a surface scratch.

In effect, the bottle is now made from tempered glass, but unlike tempered window glass where both sides of the pane are under compression, the bottle has only the outer surface under compression, while the better protected inside surface is under tension.
 
Reply
  • Informative
Likes Klystron and Hornbein
There's something called the Prince Rupert's drop, which is purely made of glass that can withstand a centerfire rifle bullet to the face without breaking. When the glass drop is put through a hydraulic press or hit with a hammer, it makes a divot in the steel without getting a scratch. If you snap the tail end, though, the whole thing turns to dust.



There's also a company that makes really tough ... glassware ... that you can't break by throwing it onto concrete.



I'm not sure why your Budweiser bottle was so strong, though, it's meant to be recycled.
 

Hot Threads

Recent Insights

Back
Top