A dropped vase, a crushed sugar cube and a taking off bubble all have something in typical: They disintegrate in comparable methods, a brand-new mathematical formula exposes.

A French researcher just recently found the mathematical formula, which explains the size circulation of pieces that form when something shatters. The formula uses to a range of products, consisting of solids, liquids and gas bubbles, according to a brand-new research study, released Nov. 26 in the journal Physical Review Letters

Fractures spread out through an item in typically unforeseeable methods, research study has actually revealed that the size circulation of the resulting pieces appears to be constant, no matter what they’re made of– you can constantly anticipate a specific ratio of bigger pieces to smaller sized ones. Researchers believed that this consistency indicated something universal about the procedure of fragmenting.

Instead of concentrating on how pieces form, Emmanuel Villermauxa physicist at Aix-Marseille University in France, studied the pieces themselves. In the brand-new research study, Villermaux argued that fragmenting items follow the concept of “maximal randomness.” This concept recommends that the most likely fragmentation pattern is the messiest one– the one that optimizes entropy, or condition.