GLASS

Glass

Definition

Preparation

Composition

Variety

Uses

Definition

Glass is an amorphous, hard, brittle,

transparent or translucent super cooled
liquid of infinite viscosity, having no definite
melting point obtained by fusing a mixture
of a number of metallic silicates or borates
of Sodium, Potassium, Calcium, and Lead.
It possess no definite formula or crystalline
structure.

An inorganic product of fusion which has

cooled to a rigid condition without
crystallizing

Does not have a specific melting point

Softens over a temperature range

Properties of glass
Glass is:

Amorphous

Brittle

Transparent / Translucent

Good electrical insulator

Unaffected by air, water, acid or chemical reagents except HF

No definite crystal structure means glass has high

Compressive strength

Can absorb, transmit and reflect light

Raw materials used in manufacturing glass

Raw Materials

Sodium as Na2Co3 (used in soft glass).

Potassium as K2Co3 (used in Hard Glass).

Calcium as lime stone, chalk and lime.

Lead as litharge, red lead (flint glass).

Silica arc quartz, white sand and ignited

flint.

Zinc is zinc oxide (Heat and shock proof

glass).

Borates are borax, Boric acid (Heat and

shock proof glass).

Glass Components

Formers Network Formation

SiO2, B2O3, P2O5, GeO2, V2O5, As2O3, Sb2O5

Fluxes Softeners
Na2O, K2O, LiO, Al2O3, B2O3, Cs2O

Stabilizers Provide Chemical Resistance

CaO, MgO, Al2O3, PbO, SrO, BaO, ZnO, ZrO

Manufacturing steps

Melting

Forming and Shaping

Annealing

Finishing

Melting process
Raw materials in proper proportions are mixed
with cullets. It is finely powdered and intimate
mixture called batch is fused in furnace at high
temperature of 1800C this charge melts and
fuses into a viscous fluid.

CaCO3 + SiO2 CaSiO3 + CO2

Na2CO3 + SiO2 Na2SiO3 + CO2
After removal of CO2 decolorizes like MnO2 are
added to remove traces of ferrous compounds
and Carbon. Heating is continued till clear
molten mass is free from bubbles is obtained and
it is then cooled to about 800C.

Forming, shaping, and annealing

Forming and Shaping

The viscous mass obtained from melting is poured
into moulds to get different types of articles of
desired shape by either blowing or pressing between
the rollers.

Annealing
Glass articles are then allowed to cool gradually at
room temperature by passing through different
chambers with descending temperatures. This
reduces the internal Strain in the glass.

FINISHING
Finishing is the last step in glass
manufacturing. It involves
following steps.

Cleaning

Grinding

Polishing

Cutting

Varieties of glass
Soda lime or
soft glass

Potash lime or
hard glass

Lead glass or
flint glass

Borosilicate or
Pyrex glass

AluminoSilicate glass

96% Silica glass

99.5% Silica
glass(Vitreosil)

Safety glass

Optical or
Crooks glass

Poly-crystalline
glass

Toughened glass

Colored glass

Wired Glass

Glass Wool

Fiber glass

Photosensitive
glass

Photo-chromic
glass

Neutral glass

Laminated glass

Insulating glass

Sodalime or soft glass

About 90% of all glass is soda-lime glass

made with silica (sand), Calcium carbonate
and soda ash.

The
approximate
Na2CO3.CaO.6SiO2.

They are low cost, resistant to water but not

to acids.

They can melt easily and hence can be hot

worked.

Uses:

composition

is

Window glass, Electric bulbs, Plate glass,

Bottles, Jars, cheaper table wares, test
tubes, reagent bottles etc

Potash lime or hard glass

Potash lime glass is made with silica (sand),

Calcium carbonate and potassium carbonate.

The approximate composition is K 2CO3.CaO.6SiO2.

They posses high melting point, fuse with difficulty

and are less acted upon by acids, alkaline and other
solvents than ordinary glass.

Uses:
These glasses are costlier than soda lime glass and
are used for chemical apparatus, combustion tubes
and glassware which are used for heating
operations.

Lead glass or flint glass

It is made up of lead oxide fluxed with silica

and K2CO3 is used instead of sodium oxide.

Its
approximate
K2Co3.PbO.SiO2.

To get dense optical glasses about 80% lead

oxide is used. Lead glasses has a lower
softening temperature than soda glass and
higher refractive index and good electrical
properties. It is bright lustrous and possess
high specific gravity.

Uses:

composition

is

High quality table wares, optical lenses, neon

sign tubing, cathode ray tubes, electrical
insulators, crystal art objects or cut glass,
Windows and Shields for protection against Xrays and Gamma rays in medical and atomic

Borosilicate / pyrex / jena

glass

It
is
common
hard
glass
containing silica and boron with
small amount of alumina and less
alkaline solids.

It
contains
SiO2(80.5%),
B2O3(13%), Al2O3(03%), K2O(3%)
and Na2O(0.5%). These glass
have low thermal coefficient of
expansion, and high chemical
resistance i.e..shock proof.

Uses:
Industrially used for pipeline of
corrosive liquids, gauge glasses,
superior laboratory apparatus,
kitchen wares, chemical plants,

Alumino-silicate glass

The
typical
approximate
composition of this type of
glass is SiO2(55%), Al2O3(23%),
MgO(09%),
B2O3(07%),
CaO(05%)
and
Na2O,
K2O(01%).

This type of glass possess

exceptionally high softening
temperature.

Uses:
It is used for high pressure
mercury
discharge
tubes,
chemical combustion tubes
and
certain
domestic
equipments.

Safety glass

It is made by fusing two to three

flat sheets of glass and in between
them alternate thin layer of vinyl
plastic is introduced. It is heated
where both the layers merge
together and glass is toughened.

Uses:
It is used as
wind shield in
automobiles and airplanes. On
breaking it pieces does not fly
apart because of the presence of
the plastic layer in between the
glass layers.

Optical or crooks glass

It contains Phosphorus, PbCO3, silicates and

Cerium oxide which has the property to
absorb harmful ultra-violet light. This glass
is given through homogeneity by heating it
for a prolonged period of time. These
glasses have low melting point and are
relatively soft.

Uses:
They are used for making optical lenses.

Poly-crystalline glass

It is new type of glass which is produced by

adding nucleating agents to a conventional
glass batch and then shaped into desired
form. It is then subjected to heating where
nucleating agents forms large number of
micro crystallites. It is not ductile. It
exhibits high strength and considerable
hardness.

Uses:
For making specialized articles.

Toughened glass

It is made by dipping articles still

hot in an oil bath, so that chilling
takes place. This results in outer
layer of articles shrink and
acquire a state of compression
while inner layer are in state of
tension. Such glass is more
elastic to mechanical and thermal
shock. It breaks into a fine
powder.

Uses:
For making window shields of fast
moving vehicles, windows of
furnace and automatic opening
doors.

Coloured glass
Addition of transition metal compounds to glass gives
color to the glass. They are outlined below.
Yellow: Ferric Salts

Green: Ferrous and

Chromium salts

Purple: Magnese
dioxide salt

Red: Nickel and

cuprous salts Cu2O

Lemon Yellow:
Cadmium sulphide

Fluorescent greenish
yellow: Uranium oxide

Blue: Cobalt Salts,

CuO

Greenish Blue Color:

Copper Sulphate

Brown: Iron

Opaque milky white:

Cryolite of Calcium
phosphate

Ruby : Auric Chloride

Wired glass

Wired glass does not fall apart into splinters when it breaks
and is fire resistant. It is made by fusing wire in between
the two glass layers.

Uses:
For making fire resistant doors, roofs, skylights and
windows

Fibre glass

It is transformed into a fine thread of

filament and has got a high tensile strength.

Uses:
Found extensive use for the manufacture of
fabric, reinforcing plastics and production of
thermal insulation materials etc

Photosensitive glass

These are glasses by which

a colored picture may be
developed by exposing the
glass to black and white
negative in ultra violet
light.
The
appropriate
proportions
of
potashalumina glass, mixed with
LiSO3, cerium and Silver
salts have also been used as
photosensitive glass.

Uses:
Photographic development

Glass wool

Glass
fibers
steam
glass
hole.

Uses:

wool consists of tiny

formed by action of
jets on dripping molten
down from very fine

Heat Insulation, for filtration

of Corrosive chemicals, sound
insulation etc

Photo-chromic glass

The three dimensional silicate

network contains large no. of
microscopic particles of silver
halide which on exposure to light
produce color.

Uses:
In making tinted car glasses and
goggles.

Neutral glass

These glasses are highly resistant to chemical attacks and they are specialized soda
lime glass where alkali has been replaced by alumina, boron oxide and zinc oxide.

Uses:
Making Syringes, Injection Ampoules and vials etc.

Laminated glass

The sheets of glass fiber or glass wool are soaked in a solution

of thermosetting plastic like phenol formaldehyde resin and
placed one above the other and then cured under heat or
pressure. It is strong as steel. Non flammable and insulating.
In bullet resistant glass vinyl resins are added in alternate
layers.

Uses:
Shatter, shock and Bullet proof Glass

Insulating glass

Two or more plates of glass are filled with

dehydrated air and the edges are sealed airtightly.

Uses:
Provides thermal insulating and so houses
remain cool in summer and warm in winter.

Fracture / failure of glass

Glass does not have crystal lattice structure

hence it breaks. Fracture is caused by small
imperfections, flaws and irregularity on the
surface of the glass. Flaws are very fine
cracks cause concentration of stress and the
crack proceeds quickly causing a fracture.

Glass
Glass is found in many types of cases. Like paint, it is often involved in
burglaries and hit-and-runs. Glass fragments easily embed in shoes, hair
and clothing of people involved in the breakage of glass. Sometimes glass
fragments can be reconstructed to yield evidence. Reconstruction.
Collection of evidence
It is best to take a representative sample of the glass - this could be the
four corners of a broken window, or all the glass available if the glass
broken is not a window. If more than one type of glass is broken, collect
representative samples of each different type.
Analysis of evidence
Most glass analyses consist of comparing the refractive indices, elemental
compositions and densities of two or more samples.

Glass
The forensic scientist will first of all assess the physical characteristics of the glass:
Refractive index. This is a measure of how much the light is bent, or refracted, as it
passes through the glass.
If a colourless piece of glass is put into water, you can still see it because the water and
glass have different refractive indices. The refractive index of glass does not vary
significantly with temperature, but those of liquids do. If a piece of glass is placed in a
liquid which is then heated, at some point the refractive indices will be identical and you
will no longer be able to see the piece of glass. If the two pieces of glass one the
suspect and one from the scene of crime, have identical refractive indices, then they
are from the same source. Nowadays, refractive index methods are semi-automatic
the GRIM2 instrument measures the refractive index of glass fragments by reference to
calibrated immersion oils and automatically identifies the glass.
Elemental composition. The elements investigated are usually sodium,
magnesium, aluminum, silicon, potassium, calcium, barium and iron.
Density measurements. The density of glass can be measured by flotation
measurements, though this technique is rarely used these days.