Fracture-streamer glass

Okay kiddo, have you ever seen a glass that looks like it has little cracks all over it? That's what we call fracture-streamer glass. It's not really broken, but it looks like it is.

Now, let's imagine we have a big block of glass. When we heat it up, it expands and becomes softer. Then, we quickly cool it down to make it harden. However, sometimes the cooling process happens too fast or unevenly, so the glass tries to shrink back to its original size, but it can't because it's now hard. This causes tension, or stress, inside the glass.

This stress can sometimes be seen as thin lines or patterns on the surface of the glass. We call those "fractures." Now, when something hits the glass, the tension is released and the fractures start to spread outwards, creating a "streamer" effect. This makes it seem like the glass is cracking, but it's actually just the fractures spreading.

So, even though it looks like the glass is broken, it's still considered intact and can be used for things like decorative glass panels or mirrors. Pretty cool, huh?