Is glass a solid or liquid?

Is glass a solid or liquid Asked by newnoob 56 months ago Similar questions: glass solid liquid Science.

An amorphous solid First off, glass is not a liquid, and the urban myth that old windows are thicker at the bottoms because the glass has slowly flowed downwards is just that- a myth. The thickening at the bottom of some old glass panes is an artifact of old glass pane manufacturing techniques, which didn't create a perfectly flat sheet. The thicker end was usually installed towards the bottom, presumably because it was more stable that way.

Glass is not a liquid. But nor is it, in the technical sense, a solid, because it does not have the crystalline structure characteristic of a solid. The molecules in glass lack an ordered arrangement, but they have enough cohesion to maintain some rigidity, making glass an "amorphous solid", a distinction it shares with lots of common substances like plastic (technically), ceramics, clay, and silly putty.

Check the source link below for a more detailed explanation on the process by which glass forms it's unique "solidness" without being a true solid. Sources: math.ucr.edu/home/baez/physics/General/G... .

Amorphous solid = somewhere between a solid and a liquid = pseudo-solid "Glasses" are amorphous solids, that is, they don't have a regular shape. Essentially the opposite of crystalline solids which have a defined shape. When you break a crystalline solid, it will give flat, well defined faces.

Crystals melt or decompose at definite temps and the change from s to l is usually abrupt. Glass (say window glass) will shatter into irregular faces and curves. There are many different kinds of glass and none really have a melting point.

All pretty much have silicon dioxide as a principle ingredient then something else added: Here are some numbers...keep in mind these are all SOFTENING points and NOT melting points: silica glass: 1580 Celsius soda-lime glass: 695 C borosilicate glass: 820 C aluminosilicate glass: 915 C leaded glass: 630 C glass isn't a liquid. It's a solid with so many 'defects' that the order inherent in a crystal is absent. When I say defects, I'm talking at the molecular level, not physical scratches, and so on.

You may want to recheck that 100 K number you presented. That's 173 degrees Celsius below zero (-280 F)! Glass is formed by melting silicon dioxide (SiO2) which has a melting point of 1710 deg.C.. In its crystalline form, SiO2 has a very ordered structure with each Si atom bonded to 4 O atoms and each O atom attached to two Si atoms.

If the SiO2 is quickly cooled after being melted, the SiO2 "molecules" do not have a chance to get completely lined up in their solid crystalline form and thus an amorphous solid (glass) is formed. Often we like to categorize substances as gas, solid, or liquid.. obviously, glass is somewhere between a solid and a liquid -- some scientists refer to it as a pseudo-solid Sources: http://www.newton.dep.anl.gov/askasci/chem99/chem99017.htm .

It's a glass... One of the principle differences between liquids and solids at the molecular level is how ordered they are. A solid exhibits something which is termed "long range order", meaning that the arrangement of the atoms within it are well ordered even over long distances. The crystal structure in which all of the atoms are arranged in some sort of regular lattice which repeats throughout the solid (in an idealised model) illustrates this.In a liquid we have only "short range order", with a few adjacent molecules being weakly associated with any given molecule (typically by much weaker interactions than those which hold molecules and ionic solids together, things known as van der Waals force and hydrogen bonding).

Over longer distances in a liquid random thermal variations of the positions of the constituent molecules overwhelm any ordering caused by interactions between them. A glass lies between these two definitions: it has "medium range order". There's a stronger relationship between the position of molecules which are not very close to one another than in a glass, but there's still some randomness and certainly more than you would find in a normal solid.

The ability of the molecules within a glass to move allows it to flow, but the stronger ordering than you find in a normal liquid means that it happens much more slowly than it does with a liquid. Glasses are an entire class of materials, things which are also termed "amorphous solids". I'd consider a glass to be one of two things: a very slow-moving liquid, or a solid which flows.

Unfortunately, it's not really possible to classify all things as gases, liquids and solids whatever we're told at school. I've just had a quick look around and this website appears to give another explanation of the things I've just been saying: math.ucr.edu/home/baez/physics/General/G... .

It's a fluid... I know that sounds wrong, but not if you know that a fluid is "a subset of the phases of matter, fluids include liquids, gases, plasmas and, to some extent, plastic solids. " The proof is that if you look as very old (e.g. , colonial era or older) glass windows, the glass is thicker at the bottom. Gravity has caused the glass to flow downward.

1 dgloo, regarding your answer "It's a fluid...": I like the reference to the definition - would like anyone's opinion on whether glass is a "plastic solid" though. Also, on the old glass windows, isnt this increased thickness at the bottom from the old manufacturing process of "spinning" the glass into sheets leaving it thicker on the outsides (and a smart builder would install with thickest bit on bottom)? I wonder if the windows have gotten shorter over time as well indicating that the glass is really flowing down.

Dgloo, regarding your answer "It's a fluid...": I like the reference to the definition - would like anyone's opinion on whether glass is a "plastic solid" though. Also, on the old glass windows, isnt this increased thickness at the bottom from the old manufacturing process of "spinning" the glass into sheets leaving it thicker on the outsides (and a smart builder would install with thickest bit on bottom)? I wonder if the windows have gotten shorter over time as well indicating that the glass is really flowing down.

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If you put liquid medicine in a glass will it be as effective.

Need info. On liquid glass ,that can be used to cover bamboos as a finisher. Also as adhisive ,does anyone know of any?

Need containers with innerwall that can be filled with liquid & other deco~Bottles/soap dishes. Also need beveled glass.

For a new gas fireplace- no doors - a solid glass front - no blower what would be causing a burning smell after 15min on.

Where would I find plastic or glass panels to replace some solid panels on my garage door.

I cant really gove you an answer,but what I can give you is a way to a solution, that is you have to find the anglde that you relate to or peaks your interest. A good paper is one that people get drawn into because it reaches them ln some way.As for me WW11 to me, I think of the holocaust and the effect it had on the survivors, their families and those who stood by and did nothing until it was too late.