Glass

Glass is a non crystalline amorphous solid that is often transparent and has widespread practical’ technological’ and decorative usage in’ for example’ window panes’ tableware’ and optoelectronics. The most familiar’ and historically the oldest’ types of glass are silicate glasses based on the chemical compound silica silicon dioxide’ or quartz the primary constituent of sand. Glass is an amorphous material that lacks a long range periodic crystalline structure. Glasses can be formed through several methods but the most common method involves heating raw materials into a molten liquid and then rapidly cooling the liquid in such a way that the atoms remain in a randomly arranged atomic state. Glass is an immensely versatile material; it is used every day in numerous applications’ many that most of us are not even aware of. We use it to drink beverages’ to store food’ and as windows in our homes and automobiles but glass is also used in many unseen applications. For instance glass components are used in medical diagnostic equipment’ electronics’ building insulation’ and as a reinforcement material in things like surf boards’ wind turbines and orthopedic casts. Every day we interact with a myriad of glass forms and compositions. Glass compositions are engineered to exhibit different physical’ chemical’ and optical properties. Different applications demand specific types of glass and manufacturing processes. In commercial glass manufacturing, several glass compositions are commonly used. We’ll briefly highlight three of the most common commercial glass compositions’ their properties’ and typical applications. Soda lime Silica Glasses. Open a refrigerator and take a look at the containers and jars within most likely they are made with soda lime silica glass. Borosilicate Glasses. Phosphate Glasses. Archaeologists have found evidence of man made glass which dates back to 4000 BC this took the form of glazes used for coating stone beads. It was not until 1500 BC that the first hollow glass container was made by covering a sand core with a layer of molten glass. The major environmental impact of glass production is caused by atmospheric emissions from melting activities. The combustion of natural gas fuel oil and the decomposition of raw materials during the melting lead to the emission of CO₂. This is the only greenhouse gas emitted during the production of glass.