Why will a pebble of spark plug ceramic shatter glass?

Subject: Why will a pebble of spark plug ceramic shatter glass?

Date: Wed Nov 23 10:26:36 2005
Posted by No name entered.
Grade level: 10-12 School: No school entered.
City: No city entered. State/Province: No state entered. Country: No country entered.
Area of science: Physics
ID: 1132766796.Ph

Message:


I recently had my car broken in to, and the police found a broken spark plug 
near by.  I had never heard of a pebble sized piece of the ceramic of a spark 
plug being able to shatter glass, but apparently it's well known throughout 
the joyriding community.  A regular pebble wouldn't shatter glass... Why does 
this happen, and is there anything I can do to keep the glass from shattering?

Re: Why will a pebble of spark plug ceramic shatter glass?

Current Queue | Current Queue for Physics | Physics archives

Try the links in the MadSci Library for more information on Physics.