What is Glass Made of?

Описание: A short video explaining what glass is, including its chemical structure, why it is transparent, and its properties. I hope that y'all learned something new from this video :)

Timestamps:
00:00 Intro
00:19 Chemical structure of glass
01:03 Transparency of glass
01:42 Properties of glass
02:51 Summary

Music:    • K/DA Beats for Lo-fi Legends | Legends of ...  
Song title: K/DA Beats for Lo-fi Legends
Artist: Legends of Runeterra
Courtesy of Riot Games: https://www.leagueoflegends.com/en-gb...

Sources:
https://www.livescience.com/chemistry...
https://www.explainthatstuff.com/glas...
https://www.scienceabc.com/innovation...
https://www.glazingrefurbishments.co....
https://gharpedia.com/blog/characteri...
   • Why is glass transparent? - Mark Miodownik  

Transcript:
From the screen you are watching this from, to the display shelves of jewelry stores, glass is used everywhere. So then, how does something as ordinary as sand transform into one of the most widely used materials for us humans? In this video, we will go over the chemical structure of glass, why it is transparent, and the interesting properties that glass has.

Despite being see-through, the state of matter of glass isn’t exactly clear. Heh. Glass is actually somewhere between a liquid and solid, called an amorphous solid. It is made from heating sand up to 1,500 degrees (2,700 F), which is made of mainly quartz, or silicon dioxide, and then cooled into different shapes as part of the glassmaking process. As the silicon dioxide melts into a liquid, those molecules become flow-y, but when they are cooled again, instead of becoming orderly and rigid like in a regular solid, they actually connect at random angles in an irregular pattern. This weird arrangement is what makes glass an amorphous solid, it is definitely solid, but its molecules aren’t exactly orderly.

As we might imagine, this arrangement of silicon dioxide is what makes glass transparent. To understand why that is, let’s talk about why everything else isn’t transparent. Every atom has electrons orbiting its nucleus, and instead of orbiting in a neat line, the electrons orbit at different energy levels. When these electrons are hit by light, or photons, they will jump to the next energy level, absorbing the photon in the process. This is why most objects are not transparent, since their electrons prevent the light from passing through the atoms. However, in the case of glass molecules, because of their specific arrangement, the electron energy levels are very spread out. Meaning that the electrons need a lot more energy from the photons to jump levels, making the photons pass right through them instead, and therefore making glass transparent.

Aside from being transparent, there are many properties that make glass an excellent building material. Glass is an excellent insulator, meaning that it retains heat well, making it an ideal material for windows to keep the heat in. It’s also inert, meaning that it doesn’t react with anything because of how stable silicon dioxide is. This makes glass great as a packing material since there wouldn’t be harmful chemicals getting into the food, and great as equipment for science, since glass beakers are able to contain many dangerous chemicals. By altering the glassmaking process, we can make different types of glass as well. Annealed glass is cheap to make and versatile, making it great for glass tables or cabinet doors. Tempered glass is much tougher and more heat resistant, making it great for glass doors and car windows where safety is a bigger concern. And by integrating plastic vinyl layers, we have laminated glass, which is even stronger and safer than tempered glass at the cost of less transparency, making it great for windshields or skylights, which are glass roofs.

And there we have it! Glass is essentially an irregular arrangement of silicon dioxide, making them a unique amphorous solid. Because of this pattern, it is transparent since light isn’t able to interact with the electrons in glass molecules, giving them quite an impressive array of properties. Through countless applications in architecture, vehicles, and day-to-day life, glass is one of the most important materials that we have manufactured. I hope that y’all have learned something interesting today, thank you for your time, and stay hydrated!

#chemistry #glass #explained