How is glass made? What are the ingredients of glass?
Common glass contains about 70-72 weight % of silicon dioxide (SiO2). The major raw material is sand (or “quartz sand”) that contains almost 100% of crystalline silica in the form of quartz. Pure silica (SiO2) has a melting point of about 2,000° C (3,600° F), added One is soda (sodium carbonate Na2CO3), which lowers the melting point to about 1,000° C (1,800° F) to simplify processing. However, the soda makes the glass water-soluble, which is usually undesirable, so lime (calcium oxide, CaO), some MgO and aluminum oxide are added for a better chemical durability. The resulting glass contains about 70 to 72 percent silica by weight and is called a soda-lime glass. Soda-lime glasses account for about 90 percent of manufactured glass. Most common glass like Lead and Pyrex glass has other ingredients added to change its properties. Intentional glass making involves the superheating of crushed quartzite sand to produce a hot liquid, placed on a moulder which is then allowed to cool to the c
