‘Fragility’ provides a clue to the mystery of what happens
when a liquid turns into a glass.
Only recently has it become possible to accurately “see” the
structure of a liquid. Using X-rays and a high-tech apparatus that holds
liquids without a container, Kenneth Kelton, PhD, the Arthur Holly Compton
Professor in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis, was
able to compare the behavior of glass-forming liquids as they approach the
glass transition.