Melting Point of Glass
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| Bibliographic Entry | Result (w/surrounding text) |
Standardized Result |
|---|---|---|
| Brown, Theodore, Eugene Lemay Jr. and Bruce Bursten Chemistry: The Central Science. Upper Saddle River, NJ. Prentice Hall 2000: Page 884. | "Quartz melts at approximately 1600 °C forming a tacky liquid. In the course of melting, many silicon-oxygen bonds are broken." | 1600 °C |
| "Glass". World Book Encyclopedia 2000 ed.Chicago,IL. World Book Inc. 2000: Page. 215 | "Melting: The mixture melts at 2600-2900 °F (1425-1600 °C) depending on its composition" | 1425–1600 °C |
| Ellis, Williams. Glass. New York, NY Avon Books Inc. 1998: Page 5. | "The temperature raises to 1500 °F and it seems that it will get no higher. The melting process required a temperature closer to 2500 °F and after two hours, the experiment is curtailed." | 1400 °C |
| Travers, Bridget. World of Invention. Detroit, MI. Gale Research Inc. 1982: Page 286. | "From her success came Nonex, or non-expanding glass, made from borax, alumina, sodium and soda and fired at over 2500 °F. The low thermal quality reduced the danger of breakage." | 1400 °C |
| Schwind, Arlene Palmer M.A. "Glass" Microsoft® Encarta® Online Encyclopedia. 2002: May 29, 2002 | "Depending on it's composition, some glass will melt at temperatures as low as 500 °C (900 °F), others melt at 1650 °C (3180 °F)" | 1650 °C |
The art of glass making traces its roots to c. 3000 BC when it was used as a glaze on ceramic vessels. Over the years, the art of glassblowing was achieved in which huge furnaces of high temperature flames are used to melt the components of glass. These inexpensive raw materials are mostly silica sand (a.k.a. silica sand), soda ash (sodium carbonate) and limestone (calcium carbonate). Depending on it's composition, it can have a melting point of about 1400-1600 °C. However, there are glasses that will melt at lower temperatures but those are not common among commercial nor industrial usage.
The complete process of glass making involves 4 different methods to shape and finish the glass that is in molten liquid form.
- Blowing: A tube is dipped into the mixture, which sticks to the tube and a worker blows on this mixture until it is a hollow tube that can be twisted.
- Pressing: Filling a mold with molten glass forming the shape of a container similar to the shape of the mold
- Drawing: A wise sheet of molten glass is placed into a "float bath" that is a furnace containing molten tin. The glass turns solid at a higher temperature than tin and is removed once the glass is formed.
- Casting: used primarily for production of art glasses and/or lenses. It's left to be cooled and not pressed like the pressing method, forming shapes unobtainable by certain mold.
Glass has had many uses throughout the years. From windows to lenses, to bottles to glass optical fibers, glass is an item that is mass-produced to be used in all areas. A common misconception is that glass is a very weak, brittle material. Its impact strength is not as high as steel but its tensile strength may exceed 5 times that of the best steel
Sai Lee -- 2002
| Bibliographic Entry | Result (w/surrounding text) |
Standardized Result |
|---|---|---|
| World Book Millenium 2000,G, Volume 8, 215, copyright 2000 by World Book Inc. | "The mixture melts at 2600 to 2900 F (1425�1600 �C) depending on its composition." | 1425�1600 �C |
| McGraw Hill,Concise Encyclopedia of Science and Technology, Third Edition, copyright McGraw Hill Inc.1999-2000, 858-9. | "Chemically most glasses are silicates. Silica by itself makes a good glass (fused silica), but its high melting point (1723 �C or 3133 F) and its high viscosity in the liquid state make it difficult to melt and work." | 1723 �C |
| Science and Technology Desk Reference, The Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh Science and Technology Department: 2000. | "A very good electrical insulator and inert to chemicals commercial glasses manufactured by fusing of sand, limestone, and soda at temperatures around 2552 �F to 2732 �F (1400–1500 �C)." | 1400�1500 �C |
Glass plays such an important role in our lives we sometimes take it for granted. It's in our windows of our home, workplaces, cars. We use it to store things such as foods, liquids, medicines, chemicals etc. Since the Egyptians learned how to blast glass around 400 BC that it became an important substance to human existence. Just as glass itself is important, molding glass to fit our needs and wants is too.
Glass can only be molded at very high temperatures. It completely melts/liquifies at approximately 1400 �C to 1600 �C depending on the composition of glass. Glass is made from a variety of substances, depending on the intent of use. Mostly sand, lime and soda are what most glasses are made of. There are many types of glasses ex, bulletproof, tempered, tinted, stained, etc.
Melting is the process where a solid becomes a liquid (ex. ice melts to water) which is more or less abrupt.You see glass doesn't actually melt persay. Rather it goes through a glass phase transition. Meaning that when it comes to glass "melting"it's a more gradual process. It doesn't melt but it keeps on softening until it can sort of flow wherefore we can be able to mold it into whatever shape we desire.
Anand R. Maharaj a.k.a. "Physics is so sexy" -- 2002