The Change of Sand to Glass

Ever wonder where your light bulb and or your wine glasses came from, or how they made these amazing shapes on vases and snow globes well search no further because you have come to the right place.

Glass is one of the most useful materials in the world. IT is one of a few man made products that is easy to create and is highly inexpensive. Glass has countless uses. From preserving foods in glass jars to creating optical lenses for microscopes and telescopes glass does it all.

The basic idea on how people make glass is somewhat similar to the way a cook makes hard candy. The basic ingredients in glass making are silica (sand), sodium oxide (soda), and calcium oxide (lime). Except for silica, the other ingredients can sometimes be substitutes to make different types of glass. For example: Most glass falls under the category of soda-lime glass (typical window glass), but if you substitute lead oxide for calcium oxide then it becomes lead glass (commonly known as crystal).

Glass is generally made up of 72% silica (sand), 15% sodium oxide (soda), 9% calcium oxide (lime), and 4% minor ingredients. These ingredients are not as uncommon as many people would believe. The silica is obtained from sandstone quarries. Sodium oxide comes from soda ash, which can be processed from salt. Calcium oxide can be found in limestone.

After mixing these ingredients, they are heated to a temperature at around 1750°c until it reaches a liquid state. At this point the glass is put into different types of molds, which can be either cooled or blown into so that it would take a different shape. Once the liquid substance has cooled, it becomes glass.

Pictures:

Sand:

Lime:

Glass:

Formula:

SiO2 + Na2O+CaO+heat→?