Glass Facts
Humans have been making and using glass for thousands of years, and nature has been making glass for even longer. Fast forward to the 21st century, and humans are still producing, using, and benefiting from glass daily. From the glass we drink out of to the glass we peer out of and everything in between, glass is an integral part of our daily lives. But how much do we really know about glass?
To produce glass, sand is mixed with lime and soda ash and heated at extremely high temperatures. After the liquid mixture cools back down, the result is glass.
Combining other minerals with the sand, lime, and soda ash can result in different colored glass. For example, adding nickel oxide to the mix produces violet glass.
That’s 5 times faster than the average airplane, which travels at 575mph!
That’s 5 times faster than the average airplane, which travels at 575mph!
Before that, people made windows out of flattened animal horn.
Despite what you may think, glass is not classified as a solid... a liquid or a gas. When cooled, glass forms an \"amorphous solid\" that allows molecules within the glass to continue moving around.
Experts estimate that the Portland Vase was made sometime between AD 5 and AD 25 in Rome. The Vase is currently in the British Museum, where it has been for over 200 years.
Glass can be recycled endlessly without losing any quality or purity.
Obsidian, a type of natural glass, can form when hot lava cools quickly after being expelled from a volcano.
Glass can be recycled endlessly without losing any quality or purity.
