Obscure Burglary Tools of the Day: Ninja Rocks
Ninja rocks are small bits of the ceramic from spark plugs, used by crackheads and jerkoffs to break any of the tempered glass on a car (anything except the windshield). Usually the door glass.
All your average crackhead needs to do to make some ninja rocks is to find a spark plug and smash the ceramic insulator part into about 1/2 to 1/4 inch bits. Then they just need to throw them at a car door glass and steal the 2 dollars in quarters and red Phillies hat from off of my seat while I’m eating Pho in the Vietnamese place. I hate crackheads.
What makes the whole thing so bizarre is that the ninja rocks don’t feel like they could break anything, they’re extremely light. A rock of similar size off the ground wouldn’t do it, but ninja rocks do. Why?
It has to do with hardness. Glass is actually “harder” than iron on the Mohs scale, and spark plug ceramic (technically called “aluminium oxide ceramic”) is much harder than glass. Aluminium oxide ceramic actually rates a 9 on the Mohs scale; diamonds are 10, glass is 6.5, and iron is 4.5. That’s the key to the whole thing, and why it’s surprisingly hard to break a window with a hammer and surprisingly easy to break it with a small, light little shard of innocent white spark plug ceramic.
And so, in conclusion, ninja rocks are interesting, and the next time you see a freaky little crackhead running around Philadelphia with a red Phillies hat and a bunch of broken little ceramic shards, run him over once for me.
Check out this video I found on ze interweb:
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Actually, this works with even smaller pieces of ceramic. I worked as a mechanic and one of the other mechs told me that insulation from a spark plug would break glass.
We had a spare window so I crushed a spark plug and picked up a “wafer” for lack of a better word the size of a paper hole when you punch a piece of paper.
It burst the window quietly and perfectly. I threw it very hard but it was so light I didn’t think it would work.
Amazing.
Words by Adam on July 27, 2008 at 4:11 am | #
I was trying to figure out why someone keeps breaking the spark plugs on my kz650 and came across this:
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_and_why_does_a_spark_plug_break_safety_glass
…talks about positive and negative charges as to why that works. I wonder who’s story is right.
Words by Benj on October 11, 2008 at 5:01 am | #
Dude, thanks for the tip I was trying to figure out how to mug a house and the first thing that actually stopped me from doing it was the how to enter the house without alerting the neighbors. I tried on finding an unlocked window or door but all were perfectly closed. Then I tried on busting the window on the kitchen with a hammer but it would eventually make a hell of a noise and alerte the neighbors…
I hope I can use spark plugs or ceramic to smash the window. Thanks
Words by Devon on December 25, 2008 at 1:26 pm | #
@Devon
If by any chance you have not ‘mugged’ that house yet, let me know where and when you are going to do so. I have been looking for a house to target for a while now.
Words by Accomplice4hire on March 15, 2009 at 8:04 pm | #
Devon your comment should flagged. I can’t believe you’d even admit to breaking into a house and post it on the web you moron. I hope you get caught and get charged with breaking ‘n entry and burglarly.
Words by John on April 10, 2009 at 6:50 pm | #
@John you got trolled.
As for this posting, excellent, thank you! Some a-hole tried to steal a spark plug out of my CB750 (damaging the fins in the process, the prick). I’d read that they used the ceramic to smoke crack out of, which didn’t really make much sense to me…
Words by Jeff on May 6, 2009 at 2:35 pm | #
breaking and entering sucks but, John, do you think that Devon could possible be joking around? get over yourself.
Words by j on May 6, 2009 at 2:46 pm | #
John your comment should be flagged. I can’t believe you lack the ability to understand jokes and sarcasm and then post it on the web you moron.
Words by David on May 6, 2009 at 3:21 pm | #
Or mayube John’s comment should be flagged for a missing sense-of-humor.
Words by Joe Bee on May 6, 2009 at 3:23 pm | #
@ John
he was obviously just kidding…..chhheeeeeiiiiiilllll
Words by zane on May 6, 2009 at 3:27 pm | #
@John
I was going to explain sarcasm to you but I have better things to do.
Words by Wisedome on May 6, 2009 at 3:36 pm | #
Wait, so a brick won’t break glass, but the ceramic will? and yet you can break the ceramic with….the brick?
does that not strike anyone else as a little odd? brick > ceramic > glass > brick?
something else is going on here.
Words by cephyn on May 6, 2009 at 3:38 pm | #
Cool, going on a crime spree after work.
Words by Chris on May 6, 2009 at 3:41 pm | #
@Devon @Accomplice4hire Keep it on the DL, but I know where John lives. I’ll send you the details and we can do it to it. Evenings work for you?
Words by Guywho'snotgoingtomugJohn on May 6, 2009 at 3:43 pm | #
So if the ceramic is much harder how come the brick can break it but not the glass?
Words by Jexie on May 6, 2009 at 3:49 pm | #
John, you’ve been trolled. Welcome to the internet, you’re obviously new.
Words by Nemo on May 6, 2009 at 3:50 pm | #
Hardness and brittleness are measures of two different things. It’s very common to find hard (mohs scale) things are more brittle than soft (mohs scale) things.
Words by Dave Daurelle on May 6, 2009 at 4:24 pm | #
Watch the mythbusters episode where they simulate a car being driven into water and show the best way to escape. They explain how the safety glass works and why its so hard to kick out the windows while your sinking. They even show two over the counter windshield breakers. Its neat stuff.
Words by rep on May 6, 2009 at 5:03 pm | #
Here, this will make you feel better: http://www.the700level.com/2008/10/phillies-fever.html
Words by tom on May 6, 2009 at 5:13 pm | #
The ability of ninja rocks to break glass has little to do with hardness. If this was the case, you could use any unbroken piece of ceramic to get the job done. The reason it works, as demonstrated in the video, is because he broke the spark plug.
Ceramic like that in a spark plug shatters along very fine lines. This produces a fine edge, that will break the window far more effectively than a giant brick. The brick doesn’t do anything because the thing is heavy, but blunt.
Hardness certainly counts for something, but it’s not the main force at work here.
Words by YoDawgIHeardYouLikePhysics on May 6, 2009 at 5:21 pm | #
@ cephyn
We should change the game “Rock-Scissors-Paper” to “Rock-Spark Plug-Glass”
Words by DixieNormus on May 6, 2009 at 5:26 pm | #
I think you’ve *all* been trolled.
I wouldn’t doubt that the pieces of ceramic could scratch or crack the tempered glass, for the reasons stated. But breaking the glass apart like that requires energy, far more energy than human arm muscles could store in a small piece of ceramic by throwing it.
Further, I guarantee the brick contains plenty of minerals that have a higher hardness than the glass. The common way of testing this is by scratching. If you can scratch the glass with the brick, the brick is harder than the glass (just like the ceramic).
I call bullshit on the video.
Words by Chris R. on May 6, 2009 at 5:59 pm | #
Try it Chris R., it’s real. I’ve seen bricks thrown at side windows on cars and take more than one toss. Those little pieces break shit.
Words by D on May 6, 2009 at 8:18 pm | #
Don’t be too quick to call bullshit. Bricks, are after all an aggregate substance, and one of the elements, crushed stone, might be hard enough to scratch glass, but not the clay that makes up most of it. The object doesn’t have the density of it’s hardest constituent.
Actually folks, any old ceramic WILL do. When I was a young punk about 25 years ago in NW Ontario, we used to go robbing cars for beer money, and used nothing but a coffee mug and 3 feet of rope tied to the handle. You just give the coffee mug a few quick swings and launch that sucker through the car window. it only works on safety glass, but it destroys the window without making much of a noise.
Words by Clemoh on May 6, 2009 at 9:04 pm | #
[...] Obscure Burglary Tools of the Day: Ninja Rocks (tags: science ninja diy glass rock Mohs scale ceramic) [...]
Pingback by » Blog Archive » links for 2009-05-06 on May 6, 2009 at 9:08 pm | #
Heh, I think John’s the troll here – he’s the one that got the biggest reaction.
Words by mur on May 6, 2009 at 9:27 pm | #
@ Chris. R.
Why don’t you try it? What are you some kind of christian? Who automatically believes that whatever answer pops into their head is more valid than reality?
And to answer your question, the answer is the energy is in the glass. Tempered glass contains potential energy. That’s how it works. Tempered glass is made by processes which create balanced internal stresses which give the glass strength. But you know, god forbid you would take 15 seconds to actually look something up before assuming your first opinion is the right one.
Words by S.o.G. on May 6, 2009 at 9:31 pm | #
@ Chris R.
I’m pretty sure science just trolled you. “A higher hardness” … really scientific terminology there.
Words by RichardCranium on May 6, 2009 at 10:21 pm | #
maybe john trolled all of you?
Words by dan on May 6, 2009 at 10:54 pm | #
@ Chris R.
I thought that glass like this was designed to shatter into small pieces once broken, as a safety feature. Not entirely sure, but I imagine having a huge sheet of glass fly at me in a car accident would be much worse than many small pieces. The ceramic just needs to be sharp and hard enough to begin the breaking.
Words by Some guy on May 6, 2009 at 11:55 pm | #
@ Cephyn
its like rock paper scissors
Words by jtran on May 7, 2009 at 1:27 am | #
DixieNormus;
The glass is under stress to make it harder and to break into tiny pieces that will not cut you in an accident. how it works – glass
Words by clarity on May 7, 2009 at 5:33 am | #
To all those who think John got trolled, LOL YOU all got trolled by JOHN! He was just lolling around lollsers, ‘sif he didn’t get the joke LOL, oh and also… LOL!
Words by Turdburglar on May 7, 2009 at 6:09 am | #
@Chris R
Try “scratching or cracking” tempered auto glass (any glass except the windshield, which is laminated) without it breaking. Side and back windows in cars shatter, they don’t crack or scratch. Any damage enough to cause even the smallest crack will “pop” the entire door glass, they’re made that way to avoid slicing people up in accidents. Honestly, I’ve tried this; it really works. Really.
Words by Vito on May 7, 2009 at 6:17 am | #
Someone should send this to the tv show, TIMEWARP. Maybe it would make more sense when slowed down…
Words by Jeff on May 7, 2009 at 9:58 am | #
[...] 7, 2009 Obscure Burglary Tools of the Day: Ninja Rocks – “Ninja rocks are small bits of the ceramic from spark plugs, used by crackheads and [...]
Pingback by Interesting Reading #284 - The Blogs at HowStuffWorks on May 7, 2009 at 12:01 pm | #
[...] Sources: – Wikipedia article on Ninja Rocks – Wikipedia article on tempered glass – Wikipedia article on spark plugs – Wikipedia article on Mohs scale – Article from Ride Lust on Ninja Rocks [...]
Pingback by twistedsifter.com on May 18, 2009 at 9:42 am | #
[...] of spark plug on there would actually break the car’s window, which reminded me of something another friend wrote about a burglar tool called “ninja rocks.” Check out the video of a ninja rock vs a [...]
Pingback by How to Make an Emergency Vehicle Escape Keychain | GlueandGlitter.com on July 22, 2009 at 6:06 am | #
if ceramic is so hard, im confused as to how its so easy to break the spark plug?
Words by isaac on September 18, 2009 at 8:46 pm | #
[...] more information, consult your local crack head, or visit this site here for a detailed write up from a victim of Ninja [...]
Pingback by 10 Geeky Car Mods and Must-Have Accessories on September 24, 2009 at 5:47 am | #
sometimes it takes two pieces to break i always lick th sparkplug first its easier
Words by who cares on March 25, 2010 at 10:38 am | #