I mean, I understand that it’s difficult and has to be a very certain key at a specific volume, but I still don’t understand how that alone is capable of breaking a solid object. And why just glass? What about glass? Surely we can break other stuff too? I’m confused.
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Every object has a frequency at which it swings if stimulated once, like if you tap on a glass, you will hear a ringing of a certain frequency. If you produce a sound of the same frequency, the object will not only preserve its own swinging, but the sound waves will perfectly stimulate it each cycle, making the swinging grow bigger and bigger. A swing is a good comparison. Each time the swing swings back, you give it another push and it swings higher each time.
If the swinging keeps growing, it will eventually reach a point where the object is bent so much with a swing, that it breaks apart.
Glass is special in that it is rather inflexible compared to many other materials and simultaneously it is rather hard. Wine glasses (with which this is usually done) also have rather thin walls. This combination of properties leads to the frequency of the glass being at a pitch that a human voice can reach and to the glass breaking when it swings out beyond a certain point.
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