Glass

This page is based on an oral presentation made by Victoria Acevedo and Alejandra Mendoza.


 * What is glass?**

A glass is an amorphous (non-crystalline) solid material. Glasses are typically brittle, and often optically transparent.The term glass developed in the late Roman Empire. It was in the Roman glassmaking center at Trier, now in modern Germany, that the late-Latin term glesum originated, probably from a Germanic word for a transparent, lustrous substance.Strictly speaking, a glass is defined as an inorganic product of fusion which has been cooled through its glass transition to the solid state without crystallising.



Types of Glass
**- Soda-lime glass** is the most common. It is very resistance to high temperatures and sudden changes of temperature are not good and resistance to corrosive chemicals is only fair.

**- Lead glass** is relatively soft, and its refractive index gives a brilliance that may be exploited by cutting. It is somewhat more expensive than soda-lime glass and is favored for electrical applications because of its excellent electrical insulating properties.


 * - Borosilicate glass** has high resistance to temperature change and chemical corrosion. Not quite as convenient to fabricate as either lime or lead glass, and not as low in cost as lime.

 **-Ninety-six percent silica glass or borosilicate glass**, melted and formed by conventional means, then processed to remove almost all the non-silicate elements from the piece. By reheating to 1200°C the resulting pores are consolidated. This glass is resistant to heat shock up to 900°C.
 * -Aluminosilicate glass** it is similar to borosilicate glass but it has greater chemical durability and can withstand higher operating temperatures. Compared to borosilicate, aluminosilicates are more difficult to fabricate. When coated with an electrically conductive film, aluminosilicate glass is used as resistors for electronic circuitry.

 Glass In Architecture.
While the use of glass in construction was previously quite limited to grand designs and office buildings it is starting to become a core structural and design element in many homes. Glass facilitates natural light and opens up rooms allowing smaller spaces to look bigger as well as facilitating a natural indoor/outdoor flow which often enhances the tranquillity as well as the value of your home.