Glass is an amorphous material, the main component of which is silicon oxide. It is obtained by melting quartz sand, calcium carbonate and sodium carbonate at a temperature of about 1500°C. The glassy mass is cooled, without crystallization. The distribution of the basic structural elements of glass differs from that of quartz, a solid, and is more like the distribution of particles in a liquid. However, unlike a liquid, these particles are not free to move due to the high density of this material.
Glass is an amorphous structure.
Glass is the first man-made plastic. Silicate glass is used to make glass, glassware and optical devices. The basic raw materials for its production are quartz sand (SiO2), limestone (CaCO3) and soda (Na2CO3). A valuable addition is cullet.
In order to obtain the appropriate properties of glass, oxides such as aluminum oxide (increases the mechanical, chemical and thermal properties of glass), zinc oxide (increases the resistance of glass to sudden changes in temperature by lowering the coefficient of thermal expansion), boron oxide (increases the rate of melting, facilitates clarification and reduces the tendency of the glass mass to crystallize) are often added to the basic glass mass.